Question: Can you share with
us your thoughts on the prevailing issue of gun violence that is creating havoc
in our communities?
Anthony Butler: I think
the easy access to guns and not applying the rules and regulations that
currently exists regarding the restrictions of guns is one of the primary
problem to gun violence. Guns are accessible across state lines, accessible
without background checks at the varying number of gun trade shows and this is
a major problem. I think there is a moral problem too. We’ve become a country
where we think the other person is an adversary so we have this need to defend
ourselves, not by negotiating with the other person, but rather settle our
differences and disputes by a high level of violence, what use to be settled by
an argument is now settled by fatal violence.
Question: what can be done
to at least curb the problem or bring about a complete elimination of illegal
guns in our streets?
Anthony Butler: There
needs to be stricter regulations of guns by way of greater licensing on how
guns are obtained. We regulate automobile through licensing and all kinds of
checks as to who can own vehicles, but when it comes to weapons we do not do
that. Young people and all of us need to understand that violence is not the
first response to things and that your respect of yourself does not come from
other people, your respect must come from yourself and you must know that you are
inherently valuable and no one can take that away from you, and so you don’t
need to permanently disable the other person by killing them in order to create
your own sense of self-worth. We live in a century of cultural violence which
continues with gun violence, with abortion issues, it continues with poverty
issues and things that a great deal of our communities do not see as
worthwhile…we don’t value individual lives. Until we change that notion that
people are inherently valuable, I don’t think anything will change.
No comments:
Post a Comment