Gun violence integral to US society: Activist
Press TV has conducted an interview with Randy Short, an American human rights activist in Washington, to discuss gun violence in the United States.
Press TV: This issue of gun violence certainly has been going for quite a while now especially with the recent shootings we have had. Where do you stand on this issue? Because I know that many Americans are quite sensitive on this.
Short: Well, with balance, I have to look at it in the context of history that as an African-American in the south, we have always had an issue of having access for self-defense, although there are high rates of gun violence that are linked to drugs and crime, which is a problem; and the same is true for the other demographics.
There are too many guns in America but we have to also be honest that America – like Australia or Canada or Brazil, all societies started by the European settlement – came through gun and violence. So, this excessive amount of guns is integral to these European colonial projects.
Press TV: Dr. Short, obviously, the gun lobby plays a big part in this entire debate. How do you feel about its role?
Short: Well, the National Rifle Association in many ways is an extension of the Ku Klux Klan, a right racial terrorist organization that killed thousands and thousands of African-Americans.
So, what are these guns for; they are not for turkeys and not for bears, not machine guns. So, if you have, like I said earlier, a history of domination, racial animus and other things, these weapons are to be used on people like what happened with the bikers in Texas, like what happens all over the country, Columbine. There is a real obsession with guns and violence and there is a culture of prejudice and dislike among Americans that make these quite terrible along with the disparity and wealth, where poor people turn to violence because they are unhappy.
HRM/HJL
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