Summer Hiroshima Moon
Kate and I talked about the Aurora shootings. I mentioned the unease here with the wildfires, a shooting two weeks ago of a Denver policewoman at an outdoor jazz concert and the everpresent Columbine massacre as background.
My street corner philosophical analysis was this. Colorado is where, today, the West meets contemporary civilization. It is an uneasy coming together. Each January, when I come out for the National Western Stock Show, Colorado fills up cowboy pickups, men and women in Stetson’s, wide belt buckles and cowboy boots.
It’s a rural, rancher culture with traditions rooted in the 19th century. They come here, to the city, together, see many of their own and feel comfortable for a time, the two weeks or so of the Stock Show.
It’s also a violent, one man against the markets and the elements and the wolves and the Indians, culture. The NRA and its insistent drumbeat for gun rights can be seen as an extension of this culture and a reinforcement of it.
Where urban culture and rural culture meet, especially rural Western culture, the thin veneer of civilization can easily strip away. Yes, this was an urban California gunman, but here, in Colorado, our overall cultural superego is conflicted. That leaves space for someone with errant thoughts, just enough space, for them to choose action over anger.
There’s one final thought here. With the Giffords instance in Arizona, the Aurora tragedy and several other spree shootings, I would like to know where all these stalwart citizens packing heat* with their concealed carry licenses were? As far as I know, no one has ever fired a return shot.
“*(the aurora gunman) bought four guns and 6,000 rounds of ammunition, Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said…
In May, he began buying guns and apparently stocking up on the body armor that police said he wore during the shooting: a ballistic helmet and vest, ballistic leggings, throat and groin protector, a gas mask and black tactical gloves.”
7/21/2012 online.
