I am proud of my fellow Americans today. Though I do realize it’s just a poll, I was very pleased that nearly eighty percent disagreed with Bob Costas and Jason Whitlock in their assessment of the Kansas City Chief’s player, Jovan Belcher, and his weapon of choice in a murder/suicide. When I originally heard about what Costas said, and that he was quoting Whitlock, I had this immediate insecurity that way too many people would agree with him, and I was so glad that I was wrong.
Though I would like to go into a rant similar to what many other fellow Americans are doing, I will refrain, because I think they are doing a good enough job with it (it has gone seriously viral), and since Costas has had a chance to respond, the controversy has taken a different turn. Yes, I do think Bob Costas and Jason Whitlock should both be fired. My opinion has nothing to do with free speech, this is about using their powerful positions as “SPORTS COMMENTATOR” and “SPORTS COLUMNIST” to exploit personal propaganda. They interjected their personal feelings into a situation that was inappropriate. That is despite the fact that they had no idea what they were talking about, and anyone who agrees with them are as ignorant to the facts as they are.
Costas followed up with a comment that he regretted using the forum that he did, and that people misunderstood him. So, he regrets the forum, because he knows that was wrong, but as for people misunderstanding him, I don’t think nearly eighty percent of viewers/listeners misunderstood him. On the contrary, we heard him loud and clear. Then comes the follow-up by TV news reporters, who in some cases have defended him, citing that he was referring to changes needed in the “gun culture.”
As I see it, there are two gun cultures: lawful and unlawful. We don’t ever hear about the lawful culture, because they are not doing anything wrong. But when someone busts a brain cell or two and goes off on a shooting rampage, the lawful take the heat.
What certain urbanites and news pundits do not realize is that there are law abiding citizens who own guns. There are generations of men and women who have learned to respect firearms, their purpose, and their dangers, and they do not take them for granted. The ignorant don’t realize that people can own guns without evil thoughts in their minds… that they don’t pack a Glock 9 mm with the sole purpose of popping a cap in someone’s a**. No, most people I know who have guns own them legally and use them lawfully and respectfully.
I remember when I was a boy how strict my father was when it came to learning how to handle a firearm. Holding it, carrying it, using the safety button, and to make careful decisions before shooting. We had to be conscious of what was within range anywhere near where we were shooting. We never shot toward a house or structure. There were also laws that dictated how much ammunition a gun could hold, such as a shotgun, which had a plug, etc. These are things we respected and abided by, and the culture that Costas and Whitlock, and twenty-two percent of the poll, obviously know nothing about.
What concerns me most about these controversial comments is how badly it has distracted people from the real issue. Jovan Belcher (allegedly) murdered his girlfriend, then killed himself, because he was mentally ill. How do I know? Well, I will go out on a limb on this one and say that I imagine that most doctors, psychologists, and law enforcement officers would agree with me. What would possess someone to do something like that? It’s the epitome of narcissism and control, the latter of which he didn’t have, so he gained it by using violence. Violence, in this case, which involved a firearm, so naturally people who don’t know anything about guns want to blame the gun.
This is a terrible distraction, because we all know (at least seventy-eight percent of us know) the gun didn’t cause this problem. The tragedy here is that two people lost their lives. Regardless of how hard someone tried to reach Jovan Belcher and help him through his ordeal, no one was there to protect his girlfriend. Remember, Whitlock said, “If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.” Would it have been so wrong if she would have been armed so that she could have protected herself? Because if she had, with proper training, then it is possible that one less person would be dead right now. Doesn’t that make more sense than what Whitlock said?
Let’s just say that Belcher didn’t have a gun, and that he grabbed a butcher knife. Then his girlfriend pulls her .38 and says, “Put the knife down, Jovan.” If he’s not too far gone in the head, then he puts the knife down and two lives are saved. If he charges her with the knife, then there’s a chance she can protect herself. Does the gun exacerbate the situation? No, it minimizes the risk, especially if the victim has proper training in using the gun and defending herself.
We could go on and on with different scenarios, but I’m sure you get my point. The best thing to do at this point is to forget about what is not the problem, and go back further to what is the problem, which was Belcher’s mental state. Professionals in this field like to talk about “tracing the problem.” This is not like doing math, it’s more about evaluation of people, their history, and their lifestyle, and trying to understand where this behavior comes from. I am not about to judge Belcher or his life because I don’t know anything about it (something Costas and Whitlock should consider before opening their mouths). What I do know is that something(s) in his life led him to the point where he made the decision that he did.
It could be a number of things, and there is no perfect solution. But what could anyone have done? We are all guilty of being too busy, too preoccupied, with whatever it is in our lives that consumes us. Work, commuting to and fro, kid’s activities, our activities. Too much of what we do is about “me” and not about others. We say we don’t have time for it, but I can assure you if quite a few Kansas City Chiefs players had a crystal ball and knew what was going to happen before it happened, they would have made time for it.
Well, now is the time to prepare, because it’s going to happen again. Next time it may not be someone you know, then again it might. But just remember, people problems are not gun problems, and football is not the problem either. Guys like Bob Costas and Jason Whitlock … they are an entirely different problem. They, and people like them, should use a personal forum to spout off their ignorance, and not the veins of mass media that empowers them, or was entrusted to them.
Steven Law is the author of Yuma Gold (Berkley, 2011) and The True Father (Goldminds, 2008). Visit his website at www.stevenlaw.com.
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