Loop

 The Governor of California just signed into law a bill that would allow those who have been affected by gun violence to sue irresponsible gun manufacturers and distributors. Governor Newsom introduced the new law by saying that other industries are culpable when their products end up harming consumers. Which is why they have things like recalls on cars whose wheels fly off at high speeds. Or why we have those aggravating childproof caps on medicine bottles. If they didn't, there would be a lawsuit. Child Resistant packaging has been required by law in the United States since 1972. Lug nuts have been required on cars since before that. 

But the part that pinches my brain just a little is the thought of attorneys for the gun industry arguing against this measure. I confess that the idea of a "gun industry" at all makes my head hurt. That there is a marketing program hard at work for every gun manufacturer whose sole function is to get us to buy more guns. If you were to go into the way back machine, you would find a time in our country where gun manufacturers sold guns primarily during wars, when you might need them. For killing the enemy. Once the war was over, there wouldn't be as big a market, save for the rifles used by farmers and more rustic individuals who might need them as tools for providing food. I am guessing that whoever came up with the idea of "needing" a gun for "personal protection" outside of the constraints of wartime, for killing the enemy, got a raise and a corner office. The idea that we could all use a gun because it turns out that the enemy during peace time is your neighbor seems as irresponsible as skipping the aforementioned lug nuts on your new Chevy pickup truck. 

Which probably has a lot to do with the one hundred-plus Americans who die every day because from gun violence. As I typed that last phrase "gun violence," I chided myself for falling into the semantic pit of the vermin who continue to make tens of billions of dollars each year. What else do guns do but create violence? Then there's the creepy phrase "responsible gun owners." By my reckoning, these are the folks who never use their guns for their intended purpose: To maim and kill. Bringing me back to the whole notion of when it would be appropriate to sue a gun manufacturer: When the gun you hoped would kill or maim did not fulfill your needs. "Your honor, when I went to pop a cap in this fellow human being, rather than spraying hot lead, my Compensator 400 emitted a faint squeal and out popped a flag from the end of the barrel that read 'bang.'"

Meanwhile, without any effective TV or magazine advertising, the gun makers have a pretty amazing plan. All these candidates for public office who are happy to show off their wares in their campaign advertisements. And in case you missed any of those, there is a regular news segment called "This Week's Mass Shooting" that keeps us all in the loop. The sad, twisted, bloody loop.