OF CULTURE AND UNLIKELY ROLE MODELS

Among friends and those who know me well, I have garnered something of a reputation as a grammar and terminology Nazi.

This is not to say I claim to be a great grammarian, I'm not, but I have been known to develop a curious twitch while attempting to decipher text messages and Twitter posts.

Anyone curious to witness a full-blown seizure need only refer to the likes of the Greens and Gun Control Australia (GCA) as “gun control advocates”.

There are some abuses of terminology far too grievous to overlook and this ranks high among them, not least for the damage it does to the shooters’ cause.

The term “gun control” suggests a level of responsible moderation completely alien to both the Greens and GCA, both of which are prohibitionist agencies.

In fact there are few genuine gun control advocates outside the Australian shooting fraternity itself.

Most Australian shooters advocate some level of rational and enforceable gun control, earning them the title “extremist gun nuts”, while those who advocate a guns free society are accorded the title “responsible moderates”.

Failure to challenge and correct this deceptive terminology at every opportunity is largely responsible for our current situation, in which realities of moderation and extremism have been surreptitiously reversed.

Few rank and file members of the citizenry believe the Greens and GCA are striving to ban firearms altogether, yet if one whizzes-off to their websites in search of policy it becomes clear this is the formal objective of both agencies.

As a result, when shooters oppose the extremes of Greens/GCA social engineering endeavour, we appear intractable and unwilling to compromise when in fact our position is seldom so petulant.

Of course the second most frequently applied slur is the claim gun owners are adherents of the ominous “guns culture” - oooh boogy! boogy! boogy!

This claim is deployed in order to diminish the validity of both our opinions and our humanity itself. However, I suspect that in reality it may be a well of as yet untapped potential for the shooters’ cause.

There currently exists abundant evidence in our opponents’ own words (quotes, media releases, interviews etc) proving unequivocally that they have identified and acknowledge a “guns culture” in Australia.

Further, they are eager to define it as a culture embraced by anyone who wants to own a gun and is happy for others to own guns too.

They have even gone so far as to tell anyone willing to listen, that every aspect of the guns culture is bad, intolerable, even evil and must not, under any circumstances, be permitted to flourish unopposed.

The culture must be comprehensively stamped out!

This opposition extends to the promulgation of negative and often humiliating stereotypes and insulting epithets, such as weekend cowboys, rednecks, gun nuts and psychopaths etc., ad infinitum.

When such activity is aimed at other cultures – gay culture for instance – and if it is contrived to incite extreme loathing, fear, hatred or marginalisation, it is referred to as bigotry.  

If it is likely to incite violence it may be deemed hate speech.

In either case the activity is an offence subject public condemnation and penalty.

Now while there may be evidence to suggest that homosexuality is not chosen or learned, but determined by the gods, chemistry or random chance, what we call “gay culture” is not.  

It is embraced and public criticism of its legitimacy as a culture will land you in all sorts of hot water.

All we generally acknowledge as gay culture is adopted by choice and inclination, just as the shooters’ culture, from the clothes and camouflage pattern one feels most comfortable in and the make-up one wears, to the guns one is drawn to and the terminology one uses, is all adopted by choice and inclination.

Who knows from whence this inclination flows. Perhaps it’s a drive inherited from one’s parents, or forebears. 

Perhaps it’s the primeval hunters’ instinct resurfacing in some, or perhaps it is even gender related.

To my knowledge there is absolutely no evidence that it is purely learned or environmental and therefore a superficial and correctable affectation.

In fact the most notable difference between the two cultures may be that while homosexuals have identified and embraced gay culture proudly and of their own volition, the guns culture identifier was thrust upon shooters, albeit by some of gay cultures’ most ardent advocates and defenders.

Perhaps it is time we stopped permitting the likes of the Greens to shame us into rejecting our guns culture and instead begin to embrace it and demand respect and equality in line with the principle of tolerance of cultural diversity.

Of course the Greens and GCA would claim the use of ‘culture’ in a negative context is well established and accepted practice and they would be correct, to a point.

Society refers to evils such as the drugs culture, the culture of violence, rape culture, the culture of abuse and even the culture of discrimination and all these 'cultures' have at least one thing in common.

They are all illegal activities under the law and it is considered acceptable to deride, denounce, insult and roundly condemn that which is illegal.

The “guns culture” so liberally applied by the likes of the Greens and others, like gay culture and even aboriginal culture, is not illegal under the law.

In anthropological terms, ‘culture’ refers to “the sum-total of ways of living built up by a group of human beings and transmitted from one generation to another.”  [Oxford dictionary]

Interestingly, the Australian Government fact-sheet on Multiculturalism states:

“Australia’s approach to multicultural policy embraces our shared values and cultural traditions and recognises that Australia’s multicultural character gives us a competitive edge in an increasingly globalised world.

"The approach articulates the rights and responsibilities that are fundamental to living in Australia and supports the rights of all to celebrate, practice and maintain their cultural traditions within the law and free from discrimination.”

The right to celebrate, practice and maintain culture and traditions within the law and free from discrimination – I don’t know about you, but I wouldn’t mind gettin' me a piece of that action!

Perhaps it’s time we took a leaf out of the bestselling book of gay pride, embracing some of the epithets intended to cause offence, demanding respect and investigating legal remedies when that respect is denied.

Anyway, I'll get outaya way now...

©gmallard2016 all rights reserved 

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