Two very good New Yorker articles (links below) on the Second Amendment, the National Rifle Association, and the rightward "conservative" drift of American politics over the last thirty years. The context of course is the recent shootings in Connecticut, but guns are part of a much bigger political picture.
Jeffrey Toobin's article contains a link to Jill Lepore's April 2012 piece. Lepore, in her excellent (but overlong) article, runs through the history of the Second Amendment to the present. In doing so, she demonstrates how the NRA and conservatives on Capitol Hill have, since the Carter administration, drastically altered the amendment's interpretation and used the pro-gun message as a device to instill general (I would argue racist) paranoia as well as weaken the population's faith in the government.
It has become the mission of the GOP to encourage the view that Washington is the problem and something to be feared and despised. Instead, it is recommended the people put their faith in the private sector, a sector which is not only nondemocratic but anti-democratic. This phenomenon, of course, was engineered by the private sector itself, and has the GOP doing its bidding. In other words, the government is peddling anti-government ideology in the service of corporate power, which relies on the government for its advantages and well-being. Corporate power is (quietly) pro-government, but seeks the curtailment of Washington tending to the population's well-being.
The government in this country is relatively well designed, and was done so to provide services. That is Washington's job. It is basically a passive entity set up to receive and carry out orders. The corporate sector over the course of the post-1945 period, and especially from the late 1970s forward, has become increasingly astute at influencing the political process, making Congress its steward, and setting the policy agenda. Between the two parties, the GOP plays the lead role and uses "conservatism" merely as a means of getting people to vote against their material interests. Part of that conservatism is gun enthusiasm, hence the NRA's purpose. The NRA now functions as a lobby and PR firm for the Republican party. When the last thirty years are examined with analytical detachment, the connections emerge and tell a rather unambiguous story.
On occasion, mentally ill people go on killing sprees, and use whatever means they have at their disposal. But there is a larger gun problem in the United States. Part of that problem is cultural; in a sense, the culture itself is ill. But while the country tries to figure that out, which will take time, legislation can yield positive, direct results regarding gun crimes. I don't advocate a zero-gun position; however, the political deviation of the last three decades needs to be looked at quite seriously and corrections need to be made in the area of gun control and gun rights. As correctly observed by Toobin, "The courts will respond to public pressure."
And so will the government. However, at the moment, the major corporate firms are dictating the terms while the population remains reticent. Again, Washington is set up to provide services, though the services go to those who apply the most pressure. And profound corporate pressure is being applied, and the government gladly obliges, because both sectors - public and private - fear and despise the population, Yet, this is how we are supposed to feel about the government. In such a mindset, the notion of the public's possession of the government - of the latter existing for the sake of the former - simply disappears. Conveniently.
Albeit thin, the majority of Americans favor increased gun-control laws. Moreover, 60 percent support, for example, "a law requiring a nationwide ban on high-capacity ammunition clips, meaning those containing more than 10 bullets" (ABC/Washington Post poll). It's a start. And as with so many other policy issues, the margin is well in hand. In general, most Americans do not share the GOP's policy positions; even most people who profess to be conservative are operationally liberal, as is most of the population. So why is the GOP, and its supporters like the NRA, setting the orientation of American politics?
Toobin
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/12/jeffrey-toobin-second-amendment.html
Lepore
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/04/23/120423fa_fact_lepore
