The United States of America, a Country of Cowboys
If the citizens of a country were the reflection of their president, then the United States of America faces its worst period of mental health. Just a few days away from the Parkland shooting, Florida holds one of the most leading firearms events of the year, the Florida Gun Show (FGS), highly and colorfully media-advertised. Irony lays on the fact the fair promises children under the age of 12 free tickets to the show. The FGS is celebrated in a Miami building, a couple hours distant from the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, where the incident took place on Saint Valentine’s Day.
The rally coincided with Florida Gun Show visited by hundreds of people around 40 miles (64 km) away at the Dade County Fairgrounds. Despite many “un-Americans” calls for the show to be canceled, there are over $5 million worth of guns and accessories on display including dozens of assault-style rifles. A strong reason for the organizers does not cancel the show.
Despite the huge banner located in the main entrance of the fair, in which they state they mean no offense to the students and professors killed, they ask the comprehension of the local population regarding the celebration of the event organized months before. The FGS website paradoxically encourages enjoying a wide deployment of fire guns, ammunition, chargers and knives available for those interested in these “novelties”. The FGS billboards set in the Miami- Dade roads have not been removed either.
Jorge Fernandez, one of the hundreds show manager, said Florida Gun Shows, which runs more than 40 shows across the state, decided against canceling due to financial concerns.
On another hand, and exhibitor named Adolfo Ginarte refers that facts don’t care about your feelings,” he said. “Things are going to happen. Life is going to go forward. What happens if I‘m offended by a movie? Are they going to cancel the movie? This isn’t the first time and unfortunately, it’s not going to be the last time.”
It is not unusual that this happens. The 2nd Amendment of the American Constitution states the citizens’ universal rights to have fire guns, a law that validates the social recognition of the National Rifle Association, an organization greatly criticized by social activists but largely supported by politicians due to its “out-of-interest” donations to their campaigns. American people mostly consider these exhibitions the evidence of their right to defend themselves and part of their national essence. Therefore any bill that attempts against the 2nd amendment is taken by many Americans as a mutilation to a sacred good.
However is not odd to see the show area a kid testing a gun. Several families go there with their children even is normal to see a father with his kid in one hand and in the other holding a gun or a rifle. Actually, they see the fire guns as a chance of self-defense. It could be a contradiction because in one hand families want more background checks but every year the gun´s buyers increase coast to coast.
With more than 600 stands, the FGS organizers said so far the most demanded item was an AR-15 rifle, curiously the gun used by Nikolas Cruz, the author of the bloody shooting. One of the sellers of the event speculates the high demand responds to the possibility the government may forbid its commercialization. Made by Colt, the AR-15 was also the gun selected as well by Adam Lanza, who in 2012 murdered 20 kids from Connecticut’sSandy Hook School, and by James Holmes who in that same year filled with wholes dozens of people.
Gun control one of the most debated issues in the Congress and every year main cause of heated discussions. Although recently Trump made accusations against Democrats for doing nothing when they could, they indeed have promoted restriction measures. Nevertheless, Republicans have frustrated those attempts once and again. According to a Gun Violence Archive study, up to the date, more than 1 900 people have died bullet-gunned in 2018. Other alarming figures are: the daily average of people arm-killed in the United States is 96; of which 7 are children or teenagers, and an average of 13 000 people die due to gun’s homicides. And like if it is not enough, the 42 percent of civilians with arms in the world belongs to Americans.
It seems the Cowboys’ land continues being a real Western.
