A Right to Bear Glocks by Gail Collins Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

A Right to Bear Glocks by Gail Collins - Article Example The writer is not ready to blame Loughner alone for this incident; she indirectly mentions that the mentality of the Americans who think it is necessary to have free access to weapons is to be changed. Otherwise, there should be clear distinction between the kind of weapons citizens can bear for self-protection and lethal weapons of mass killing. However, the writer points out how frightened the American political workers and the government are to campaign against the all-powerful National Rifle Association. The title of the article ‘The Right to Bear Glocks’ is highly metaphorical in nature. In one way, it can be defined as the writer asking if the right to arms means the right to bear lethal weapons like Glocks. In another way, it can be defined as the writer mocking at the right to ‘have’ arms as the right to ‘tolerate’ arms. To show how the concept of democracy is misused, the writer narrates the fate of a nine-year-old girl who had recently been elected to the student council at her school. She attended the campaign to learn ‘how democracy worked’ met a   tragic death. In this article, the writer wants to show how a population suffers the perils of their own craze for weapons. Gabrielle Giffords herself was an avid supporter of the right to weapons and by narrating her fate, the writer wants to point out the biblical ideology of ‘all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword’ (Mat 26:52). In addition, another concept the writer indirectly implies is the way innocent people are affected by the actions of others. The writer says proper rules and regulations could have saved the lives of many people including a church volunteer and a nine-year-old child.