The domestic terrorist attack at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston is another painful reminder of the United States’ self-inflicted wounds. Myriad issues, myriad causes, myriad excuses cannot ignore the fact that the world’s most powerful country will not escape its culture of violence without confronting its obsession with weaponry.
Charleston represents the lingering epidemic of racial hatred in America. That is the foremost lesson that emerges; but the nagging question remains. How and why do mentally ill, lone-wolf assailants hold the country hostage to such insane outbursts? The answer is that they have easy access to weapons that are built to kill other human beings. Too often these weapons end up in the hands of people warped with macho, Rambo fantasies of survival and domination. The U.S. media is littered with celebrities who espouse, or live, on the edge of this make-believe Armageddon. Sports and guns holster a special place in the terror of this cowboy culture.
The world of sports and individual athletes are not exempt from complicity in the irresponsible defense of gun rights and the proliferation of gun violence. There are hundreds of stories involving athletes and illegal possession of guns – sometimes with fatal consequences. Gun culture is espoused and celebrated within the sports world. The four major sports leagues are quick to react to negative PR when athletes are involved with guns; but they have precious little to say about the danger they pose to society.
Sometimes sports are a fantasy world where exceptional humans do unreal things. And sometimes sports are just a dull and depressing reminder that we, as a people, are not as smart as we think we are. Why does sports culture in the United States reflect such an unbalanced perspective on gun rights? The lessons are brutal.
- In May of 2011 major leaguer Luke Scott vomited a buffet of distortions about gun control advocates:
“The real issue behind these people who are gun grabbers, the truth is—based on fact—the reason why is, they want control. They want control of the people. That’s what socialism is and communism.”
- On December 1, 2012 Kansas City Chiefs player Jevon Belcher shot his girlfriend. Then he shot himself at the team facility. Belcher bragged about owning eight guns.
- In January of 2013 The West Fargo Hockey Association announced that it was raffling off 200 guns, including three Rock River AR-15 assault rifles, similar to the Bushmaster AR-15 used in the Sandy Hook attack that killed 20 children.
- In October of 2013 NBA Hall of Famer Bill Russell was arrested trying to carry a loaded gun onto a plane.
The list could go on and on. The murders and suicides involving guns and athletes are too numerous to quantify or qualify in one article. The point is that, on the issue of gun control, the wide world of sports in America reveals the treacherous link between stupidity and violence.
The NFL, the NBA, the NHL, and MLB all have major platforms to send clear and distinct messages to an impressionable American public. Just like cancer awareness and domestic violence they can make a major contribution to society by taking a stand on responsible gun ownership.
