“Be afraid, be very afraid!” At least that’s the message that I am receiving from all of the six major media broadcasters I have been following — and rightly so. On Nov. 13, 2015 attackers in Paris killed 130 people, including 89 at an Eagles of Death Metal concert in the Bataclan Theatre.
ISIL, otherwise known as The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, claimed responsibility, stating the assault was in retaliation for French airstrikes at ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq. One day later, investigators confirmed that Abdelhamid Abaaoud — the alleged 28-year-old mastermind behind the attack — was killed during a raid in a suburb of The City of Light.
Two weeks later, in San Bernardino, CA, another mass shooting occurred at a holiday party, killing 14 and injuring 22. What appeared to be another lunatic-driven gun horror similar to the recent attacks taking place at churches, schools, movie theaters and military bases quickly morphed into more suspected ISIL-coordinated terrorism. It would be interesting to understand how anyone — seemingly in their right mind — could just go into their workplace and take deadly aim at their friends and co-workers, but regrettably, we will never know the reason behind their actions, as the two perpetrators were killed by the police while trying to make their getaway.
From reports regarding the killers, we now know they managed to legally acquire four semi-automatic weapons; two of which were rifles considered powerful enough to pierce a bulletproof vest. This is scary stuff indeed, and attacks like these — despite political or religious rhetoric — only fuel America’s continuing debate regarding guns. The fact that the San Bernardino attackers might now be considered terrorists instead of just plain lunatics does nothing to dissuade the advocates who are pushing Congress to pass stricter gun laws.
None of the aforementioned killers are different from any of the other mass murderers who have walked into a public space and opened fire with automatic weapons. The difference lies only in where the blame is placed. In the minds of those who favor stronger gun control regulations, the easy access to assault weapons appears to be the problem. Citing that there are many responsible gun owners in this country who do not go into large crowds and open fire on unsuspecting innocents, the NRA and those who fear that their Second Amendment rights are being threatened reject the idea that the problem is the guns themselves.
Way Back When
This ongoing debate might seem new to some, due to the spate of cop killings, killer cops, terrorism and crazed mass murderers, but the discussion raged on long before the current assault weapon deaths. Spurred on by the assassination of John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy and highly contested by the NRA, President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Gun Control Act of 1968, which prohibited interstate traffic in firearms and denied guns to drug addicts, felons, minors, fugitives and the mentally ill. It also prohibited the importation of surplus military weapons into the United States.
Not surprisingly, the NRA opposition to the bill raged on, and in 1980, the Supreme Court ruled in the case of Lewis v. United States and — I quote here from an article written by Keith Rollins Eakins — “In that case, the Court addressed whether the provision banning the possession of firearms by convicted felons was constitutional. The Court held that the right to bear arms was not a fundamental right and deemed the act’s provisions constitutional because they had a rational basis and had relevance to the purpose of the statute. The Court also restated its earlier holding in United States v. Miller (1939): “the Second Amendment guarantees no right to keep and bear a firearm that does not have ‘some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well-regulated militia.’” The political debate about gun ownership remains vigorous.
Instigated by the attempted assassination of Ronald Reagan, the Brady Act of 1993 basically reiterates the 1968 bill with the addition of required background checks to be conducted upon individuals from a federally licensed dealer. It’s good that there are laws on the books with the intent of protecting the public, but of course there is a loophole that manages to circumvent the law. The 1986 Firearm Owners Protection Act removed the restriction of background checks by loosely defining private sellers as people who do not rely on gun sales as the principal way of obtaining their livelihood. As it stands now, most states do not require background checks for firearms purchased at gun shows from private individuals. C’est la vie: Lawyers, guns and money. So be it.
Back in 1985 — before the TSA, before shoe and underwear bombers, before bulletproof cockpits and before the proliferation of Live Nation — I was on the road touring the world with a Brazilian jazz artist. Back before the music business was overseen by a few corporate entities, we were booked by independent promoters and played everywhere from JVC Jazz to Caribbean concert halls. Some venues were established rooms run by well-known producers, but other venues were fanciful startups by drug dealing wannabes or someone who thought they could turn their small inheritance into a large fortune. I was doing sound for the band, but when the opportunity arose to make a little more cash by taking on the second job of tour manager, I jumped the challenge. At the time, I had very little idea what I was getting into, but making arrangements and collecting cash seemed to be easy enough.
Miami Advice
At one gig in Miami, I was sitting in a trailer doing settlement with a fanciful startup producer and after stuffing wads of cash into my briefcase, the producer looked at me and asked if I was packing. Being distracted — and a bit naïve — I thought he was asking about my travel plans, and without much thought, I offhandedly replied “Don’t worry about it, I’m good,” or something to that effect. He gave me a quizzical look and I called a cab.
While I was sitting there with the producer in that little trailer waiting for the cab to come to take me back to the hotel it dawned on me what our exchange was really about. I am neither a big guy nor an overly tough looking dude, which is probably what elicited the quizzical look when I responded to his question in my cavalier manner, but just to be clear, I was not packing. “Have a drink,” he offered as he popped open a bottle of whiskey. Not wanting to be insulting, I accepted the drink, but a palpable tension had settled in the trailer as we had our drink. He made some small talk and told me it was a good thing I had a cab coming, as we weren’t in the best neighborhood. He assured me that there was nothing to worry about, as he had he had a couple of his guys keeping watch outside the trailer.
I was hoping the cab would arrive soon. My imagination was beginning to fire on all cylinders, and the last thing he was doing was reassuring me. I imagined that, at any moment, “his guys” would burst through the door with guns blazing, and if I left at all, it would be minus my briefcase full of cash. At that moment I heard the cab pull up and, putting on my most phlegmatic front, I said goodbye and sauntered out the door, hoping that I wouldn’t be waylaid before I reached the cab. I admit I was spooked and in a heightened state of anxiety, with my feverish imagination in full swing. I can easily say that if I did have a gun at the time, it would have been in my pocket with my finger on the trigger.
To my great relief, I made it back to the hotel with no extra drama except the one playing out in my head. However, I did realize that, if I were traveling around with large sums of cash, it would be a good idea to get a permit and carry a gun. Be afraid, very afraid.
Anyway, after not much more thought given to the matter at hand, I resigned my position as tour manager and went back to my unarmed position behind the mixing console. “Say hello to my little friend,” indeed!
