Artist Javier Lara Asks America About Gun Control and the Virginia Tech Shootings

My buddy and Venezuelan sculptor Javi emails and asks:

I am so sick of the poor reporting that the USA news are doing about the incident in Virginia, they are talking about everything , but no one is addressing the real problem GUN CONTROL…..what is it going to take for a 6 year old to go to a pre-school and take down 100 kids so is that what is going to take the USA population to demand for changes. U tell me what u think. This is a new work i will do about this sensationalistic news, how long will stay in our TV , and what will be done about it.

The broad conclusion I draw is that we blame video games, music, TV and books and all violent media for creating an atmosphere of permissible violence. Then we completely ignore the overt bully-thug attitude of US foreign and domestic policy. No one wants to talk about how a war’s violence affects those at home as well as those abroad (especially when you play hide-the-bodies). I predict several years after the troops come home from Iraq there will be terrible crimes to come since we don’t take the best possible care of our troops (and gloss over the whole issue of ‘you killed people, here’s how to deal with it”).

As for gun control – I think it has to be a regional or state issue. Rural states see gun control as in ‘I can’t hunt anymore’ and urban states see it as ‘Let’s stop letting the gangs have firearms.’ But at the end of the day – I do not see any reason why assault weapons need to be sold or used by anyone in this country.

If you are such a badass hunter, use a rifle. Or a machete.

If you are such a badass hunter, why don’t you wrestle the bear to the ground and kill it with your bare hands. Let’s see if you can scream ‘Prepare for Glory!’ while a grizzly opens up your viscera.

Yeah. I thought so.

Whoever thought Marilyn Manson’s mantra of Guns God Government would turn out to be so so apt.

I understand guns-as-sport a la archery and have gone to a shooting range myself (it was fun not because I could kill someone but because of the challenge of shooting a target).

Some see guns as power – I see them as fear.

Your turn:

What do you think about the coverage of the Virginia Tech shooting?

What about gun control in the US, elsewhere, in general?

As asked in Bowling for Columbine: Are Americans gun nuts or just plain nuts?


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4 responses to “Artist Javier Lara Asks America About Gun Control and the Virginia Tech Shootings”

  1. JB Avatar

    Well, we have no guns (in theory) but the gangs still get hold of them. On the other hand I can’t help thinking that this guy would have found it a hell of a lot harder to get hold of such a weapon here.

  2. Stephen Esmond Avatar
    Stephen Esmond

    175 people were killed in bombings in Iraq yesterday. They have a national tragedy every single day. And who is behind those killings? President Bush. So who is he to give a convocation for those poor victims in Virginia, when he is ultimately responsible for tens of thousands of deaths. Yet, he is not being held responsible by our country. Justice needs to be fair.

  3. gerda Bernstein Avatar

    Bravo ,I could not have said this any better. GUN CONTROL is an urgent matter in USA for all the hawks that spend millions to lobby the Gun Control Panel. Thanks for taking the time to speak OUT ABOUT THIS URGENT MATTER.

  4. Nicole Girard Avatar
    Nicole Girard

    Guns are not the issue. Canadian residents have more weapons than the US, but they are not as violent as us. It’s not the gun, it’s the hand it falls into.

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