In my essay, I intend to show that further gun control is simply not an option. I argue this point by using parallels in the gaming and movie industry. I show how further gun control will eventually lead to a banning of guns in the US by arguing points both in support of gun control and against “further” gun control.
No guns means less murders and that is a good reason to get rid of guns completely. There are countries that have outright banned the sale, use and ownership of guns, and in those countries the murder and accidental death rate is far lower than in the USA. The other side to this is that countries without guns find other ways to kill people. For example, in Scotland (in Britain) the murder by knife rate is higher than most countries in the world. The counter to this counter argument is that the murder rate is still far lower in Scotland than it is in the US.
US culture is afraid to question the arms business. A TV show called “Family Guy” edified viewers to this point perfectly when it said, “The US is the one place where a person can shoot up a workplace with a thing, and the day after nobody questions banning that thing.” People in the US are afraid to make a real stand against banning guns because the arms trade is a massive one in the USA, which means they control the media and ergo public opinion. The counter argument to this is that people fear giving an inch will result in a mile being taken. There are people that are afraid if gun restrictions are allowed to be put in place even further than they are now, then it starts a slow ride that results in a banning of guns.
This “slow ride” train is not new. The gaming industry is mostly geared towards men, which is why a lot of female characters are sexy and scantily clad. When this is questioned as sexist and changes are called for, the gaming community reacts very angrily because it is the first step down the road to having overweight and ugly female characters in games wearing hoodies and baggy trousers. The gaming community also fears that if they give a little leeway that things will change too much. Ironically, in the area of sexism, the people fighting for less sexualisation in games are pushing women back into ancient times–making it unacceptable for women to be sexy and feminine and insisting they cover up as they did in Victorian times.
Conclusion
Giving an inch may cause activists to take a mile. In other words, if gun supporters do not fight every move on gun control with extreme prejudice, then activists will chip away at gun control until they are banned. The same thing is happening in gaming as Lara Croft’s boobs are considerably smaller than when the character was created and she is less feminine (a tomboy even). Further gun control will start a slide that chips away at peoples’ right to own a gun. Movies and games are caving to similar pressure to the point where the Wonder Woman movie has her in trousers instead of her uniform. Batman wasn’t put in Lycra and superman wasn’t asked to wear a duffle coat. Allowing further gun control would slowly chip away at gun ownership rights in the same way that sexism activists have chipped away at the movie and gaming industry and have made women ashamed to show their bodies in a feminine way.
