Verbicide and “gun violence” ~ Guest Column in The Missoulian By Gary Marbut on 3/25/19
When Jonathan Swift’s character Gulliver traveled to the land of the eminently rational horses, he tried to explain the to-them-unknown concept of a lie. They countered that the core purpose of language is to convey ideas or information, and that if wrong information is deliberately communicated then the core purpose of language is entirely defeated. To deliberately convey wrong information, they opined, is counterproductive, worse than had there been no communication whatsoever.
Such is the case with the term “gun violence.” When a person commits suicide by hanging with a rope, it is not spoken of as “rope violence.” Ditto with drugs. When a person dies in a car accident, it is not reported as “car violence.”
Verbicide is the deliberate misuse of language, too often done to achieve a political advantage not obtainable on a rational playing field.
“Life and language are alike sacred. Homicide and verbicide—that is, violent treatment of a word with fatal results to its legitimate meaning, which is its life—are alike forbidden.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.
Those who don’t understand and don’t like firearms commonly commit verbicide when they describe suicide with firearms, accidents, and self defense all as “gun violence” in order to sway those too lazy to question or think for themselves.
Those willing to trash the value of language with verbicide do not deserve your attention or respect, and should be challenged on their language crime every time.
Yes, Virginia, there is a bit of genuine gun violence in Montana, but not nearly as much as in urban areas of the U.S. What little real gun violence there is here is a small fraction of what the anti-gunners want you to believe with their verbicide by portraying suicide, accidents, and legitimate self defense as “gun violence.”
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Gary Marbut is president of the Montana Shooting Sports Association and accepted in state and federal courts as an expert concerning firearms safety and use.
