U.S. Promoting Gun Culture：Will Premier Chen Have to Bear Arms to Protect Himself？
By Lin Ting-yau
The Storm Media, April 22, 2023
For the sake of their temporary political interests, politicians are not hesitating when it comes to performing double-standard skits. A youngster fired 51 shots at a pawnshop in the Tucheng District of New Taipei. Premier Chen Chien-jen has asked the New Taipei City Government to take responsibility. Regarding the suggestion by Robert O’Brien, former U.S. National Security Advisor, to have millions of Taiwanese own AK-47 rifles, Premier Chen affirmed this suggestion and hoped that the people of Taiwan would have a higher awareness when it comes to self-defense. While American politicians strongly promote gun culture, can Premier Chen only "hold a gun to protect himself"?
The Taiwan card has been frequently used in the U.S. presidential elections. Vivek Ramaswamy, who is currently aiming for the Republican nomination for the presidency made a shocking statement in his political views a few days ago, proposing that the National Rifle Association (NRA) open a branch in Taiwan and let every Taiwanese family have an AR-15 rifle to deter China from taking over Taiwan. This politician shouted "Taiwan, here we come,” attempting to sharpen the Taiwan sword and point it at mainland China.
Looking at the proposal of this Republican politician, there are a total of around 9.1 million households in Taiwan. The price of an AR-15 rifle in the United States is about US$700. If each household gets a gun, this proposal will cost more than US$6.3 billion. The U.S. selling weapons to Taiwan is not the main problem here. The danger is that the guns will not only be aimed at foreign enemies but may also at their own Taiwanese family members. While American politicians are spreading the idea of "gun culture," will the Tsai government simply obey? Will this turn Taiwan into a ghost island?
Taxi Driver Jaw Dropped in Fear of Teenager with Gun
From 88 gunshots in the Xuejia District of Tainan to 51 in Tucheng District of New Taipei City, illegal gun ownership has become an apparent problem in Taiwan. A 17-year-old boy fired 51 shots at a pawnshop in Tucheng on April 20. The juvenile offender took a taxi to commit the crime. The driver, surnamed Hsu, said that he parked on the side of the road to rest, but the boy suddenly opened the door and got into the car, and asked, "Can I go to Tucheng?" After the driver agreed, the shooter, surnamed Liu, told the taxi driver the address of the pawnshop and said nothing afterwards. Only when there was traffic on the way, did he politely ask the driver, “Can you drive faster?"
After arriving at the pawnshop, the young man quietly got out of the car. At rush hour and under the attention of everyone, he took out a modified submachine gun from his backpack and fired wildly at the pawn shop. The driver was shivering in his seat. He wanted to escape but was afraid of being shot by Liu, so he froze and wouldn’t dare move. Afterwards, the boy calmly walked back into the car and said to the driver, "Go to the Daguan Police Station." On the way, the boy took out his mobile phone to contact a lawyer. When he arrived at the police station, he took out a NT$1000 bill and put it next to the driver's seat, got out of the car and left. He even said "thank you" politely before he shut the car door.
There has been an increase in mass shootings in the United States. A teenager was shot and seriously injured. Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old teenager of African American descent in Kansas City, Missouri, was on his way to pick up his twin brother on the evening of April 13, but he went to the wrong address and rang the wrong doorbell. While he was still outside of a glass door, Andrew Lester, an 84-year-old Caucasian homeowner answered the door and shot the teenager in his forehead and right forearm. The Caucasian homeowner said he felt threatened, and the prosecutor released him after a day of investigation. As a result, demonstrations and protests arose across the United States, forcing the prosecutor to restart the investigation.
Whenever a mass shooting occurs in the United States, the basic reaction of politicians like Trump is to avoid talking about gun policy and just condemn the perpetrators. Many Americans are obsessed with gun rights to the point where it is almost like religious worship. Historian Richard Hofstadter put forward the concept of "gun culture" in his article "America as a Gun Culture", which is used to describe Americans' long-term love for weapons that originated from American history associated with political power growing out of the barrel of a gun.
Many American citizens believe that the right to own guns is an American tradition, especially those in the Midwest and southern United States, and that owning guns for defense is part of being American. This originates from the frontier development history of the United States, expanding to the West in the 19th century. Guns were used as self-defense weapons for early Caucasian Americans to resist foreign enemies. Even many liberals support the right to own guns, believing that people owning guns is a natural human right, and prevents the government from slipping into a totalitarian state.
However, since the U.S. Constitution allows people to have the right to own guns, gun violence and deaths related to guns have basically become a daily occurrence in America. In the United States, 45,000 people were killed by guns in a year, and there have been 160 major shootings since the beginning of 2023. There are 850 million guns worldwide, and Americans own 390 million of those. Even South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem proudly said in a speech to the NRA last week: "My 2-year-old granddaughter already owns two guns."
Thus, the NRA continues to grow. It is the largest opposition group to banning guns. It is also the organization with the strongest lobbying ability in the United States, with the strongest control over members of Congress. Due to the amazing profits of the arms industry, they have become important funders of both parties in the United States, and can even influence the careers of politicians.
If the United States exports guns to Taiwan, then it may bring about a culture of gun proliferation. If the NRA really went to Taiwan to set up a branch and taught the Taiwanese how to use guns, copying the political and business relations of the U.S. military industry to Taiwan, and bringing the proliferation of American guns to Taiwan, such a development is frightening to think about. No wonder some netizens have mocked the “American spirit” as being "make money for yourself, Taiwan can die."
Thanks to the power of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP), the process of the "militarization of the police” has been quietly ongoing in Taiwan. In addition to the Army, Navy, and Air Force, there is also the Coast Guard Administration, also known as the "Second Navy." However, it is all still not enough to face a crisis like war. Therefore, drawing lessons from Ukraine, the police force will likely be used for homeland defense in the future.
After the phenomenon of “democracy rum” and “democracy pineapples,” the promotion of “democracy rifles” is something that may happen in the future. Regarding the "benevolent act" of American politicians donating guns, Premier Chen is seemingly obedient, not hesitating to allow Taiwan to be included in the world military-industrial complex, and letting the DPP party-state continue to incite hatred and rake in votes in elections.