Dance Varmint

.....Dance Varmint.

The process has begun and it's now time to step to the soapbox for a simple declaration: I don't have a definitive stance on gun control. Or if I do it's deeply rooted and conflicted with guilt, memory, love and fear. A laundry list of your basic emotions that can be called upon to support my beliefs and/or justify my conscience. The truth is that guns, for some strange reason, seem impartial and oddly comforting to me. Perhaps the mug shots of the offenders who surrendered these guns would be more terrifying and intimidating.

The fact is that guns seem to simultaneously comfort and frighten me. It's not the gun that scares me so much, as it is the distorted mind that employs it's devious delivery. More specifically, it's the death of the innocent that makes me sick to my stomach.  I imagine that most rational people think that unjustified killing is a boil on the butt of humanity. But, of course, how does one define "justify"?

I'm glad you asked--

justify:

1 show or prove to be right or reasonable: the person appointed has fully justified our confidence.
2 Theology declare or make righteous in the sight of God.
3 Printing adjust (a line of type or piece of text) so that the print fills a space evenly or forms a straight edge at one or both margins.


For the sake of argument, let's eliminate the third definition and consider the first two entries.


Better yet, let's focus a little tighter and consider the inherent visual narrative of a confiscated gun. You want circumstance and reason? Maybe it's here and maybe it's not. This much I know, each gun has a unique barrel-signature that imprints itself on each bullet that it fires. It also imprints that same indelible signature upon the lives of countless victims, defenders, sportsmen and prey. It's messy and begs resolution. The answer is deeply personal and, for me,  elusive.

Perhaps it would help to observe this dilemma through the lens of a subjective analysis-- the photograph. Let's experiment with the object and literally solarize a polarizing subject.  Let's turn shadow to highlight, evil into good and right into wrong-- let's introduce metaphor.  Guns are good, guns are bad-- perhaps (of course) they can be both.

metaphor:
- a thing regarded as representative or symbolic of something else, especially something abstract.



I think the real question is Why are guns both the sinner and the savior? In other words..... let's consider the ways and justify the means.


oh, btw:

consider:
-think carefully about (something), typically before making a decision: each application is considered on its merits.