BULLS AND GUNS

Because of my background, Spaniards I know -friends, acquaintances, relatives- hold me responsible for whatever might be going on in the US and want me to offer explanations on the whys and wherefores of certain ills the country has. I try to explain and offer plausible answers often on historical principles. The question of guns and shootings comes up often, mainly because random shootings, and killings, seem to be the order of the day in the country of the free. Why are guns sold as a matter of fact over the counter? Why are there no laws to ban such sales? At this stage of the game and after so many years the short answer is that being realistic, there is nothing to be done about this matter. GUNS in the United States are there to stay. And two good reasons come to my mind: the average American has a fixation with guns and the arms industry moves a lot of dollars and creates much employment. Big business. Excuses other than the second amendment abound, and the one I find most curious is that firearms don´t kill, people, kill. And so, many innocent people are killed every year in a country that is very permissive with arms control, or, better, the lack of it.

 We tend to see the mote in our friend´s eye and not the beam in our eye, and I tell my local friends that there is also a fixation in Spain (and in Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico…) on BULLS. Humane associations fight hard to outlaw “corridas” to no avail. BULLS in this country, also called “fiesta nacional”, are everywhere, in cities, towns, villages, and hamlets. Local festivities always have BULLS, to punish and make suffer. Bulls gored and killed over 15 people this past summer, and every year in Pamplona, in July, youngsters (many are foreigners) end up in hospitals or the Morgue. Nothing is done about it, nothing can truly and realistically be done, as in the case of GUNS in the States. Bullfighting is a fixation with Spaniards, with a huge industry behind it that generates employment to thousands, and millions of euros in revenue and taxes. Big business.

 Just as Americans say that GUNS don´t kill, Spaniards fond of, and partial to, “corridas” and BULLS will tell you that the animal does not suffer and that the confrontation between “toreros” and the animal is fair and even. Besides, they aver, these BULLS have been specially bred for the “fiesta” and lead a good life before entering the arena.

 There are two sides to every coin, of course, but the harsh reality is that in neither case will matters change. Too much is at play. And this business- big business- of guns and bulls will keep on going and no one will ever be able to stop it, sad as this reflection might be.