POST 13: THE US GUN CULTURE

The Founding Fathers of the United States are the individuals of the Thirteen British Colonies in North America who led the American Revolution against the authority of the British Crown and established the United States of America. The term is also used more narrowly, referring specifically to those who either signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776 or who were delegates to the 1787 Constitutional Convention and took part in drafting the proposed Constitution of the United States. A further subset includes those who signed the Continental Association or the Articles of Confederation. During much of the 19th century, they were referred to as either the "Founders" or the "Fathers".

The National Rifle Association of America (NRA) is an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun rights. Founded in 1871, the group has informed its members about firearm-related bills since 1934, and it has directly lobbied for and against legislation since 1975. It is also the oldest continuously operating civil rights organization in the United States.

                          

Steve SACK, on www.startribune.com,

Gun Lobby and Congress (2010)

This caricature is called Gun Lobby and Congress, was mad by Steve Sack, and published on the news website star tribune in 2010. On the foreground, we can see two men in suits talking in front of the American congress. One of them (on the left) represents a gun lobby and he is giving a bribe to the other man (on the right) who represents the congress. They both do not seem to bother about the long trail of blood running down the stairs of the congress. The congress seems to care more about the money he makes out of the Gun Lobby than the consequences. 

Because of that, United States of America have an extremely big number of gun violence per year. In 2010, 67% of all homicides in the U.S. were committed using a firearm, 358 murders were reported involving a rifle while 6,009 were reported involving a handgun; another 1,939 were reported with an unspecified type of firearm. Gun Lobby's bribe the congress, in order to do well on the market. They aren't thinking about the huge consequences  and aren't preoccupied about the victims, they are only focusing on the amount of money they are making out of it.

This image illustrates the corruption that takes place in congress and the pressure they receive from gun lobbyists. We can interpret this image as an criticism of American gun culture.

Dave GRANDLUND, on www.davegranlund.com, 

Second Amendment and NRA (2013)

This caricature is called Second Amendment and was mad by Dave Grandlund in 2013. We can see two statues side by side. The statue on the left is holding a gun and  represents the Second Amendment defined by the Founding Fathers. The other statue (on the right) is in gold, standing on top of a pile of ammunition boxes and is holding multiple guns. It represents the  Second Amendment defined by the NRA, National Rifle Association of America. This caricature shows us how the perception of the American on the Second Amendment has change over the ages. 

The Second Amendment was created in 1791 and gives the right of American people to keep and bear armst for security. However the NRA, an American nonprofit organization which advocates for gun rights, is overusing this right. They are using the Second Amendment as an excuse to take possession of plurality of arms. The NRA statue is shown holding an multiple of guns, when they would only need one. Originally the Founding Fathers wanted to support the natural rights of self-defence, resistance to oppression, and the civic duty to act in concert in defence of the state. They never promoted the idea of buying tones of weapons. Legalized gun possession can be dangerous as the government haven't seem to got much control over the laws imposed to American citizens.

We can interpret this image as an criticism of the abuse of the Second Amendment by the NRA.