Son of a Gun

As a child growing up in wartime, I was not unfamiliar with talk of guns. But even in peacetime, especially in America, guns were always literally child’s play. I had my own fake revolver, which fired rubber suction cups, but never worked very well.

This may be the only country which guarantees to its citizens, as part of its fundamental law, “the Right to Bear Arms.” This all came about through the years of armed struggle which succeeded in establishing the political independence of a large group of colonists from their “Mother Country.”

But the mere existence of an armed citizenry does not bring about political turmoil. The opposite conclusion might be reached with regard to the nation of Switzerland, where every male citizen is legally required to have and maintain his own rifle and supply of ammunition.

During World War II, Hollywood made a movie about women training to be part of the military, in the newly formed WAAC (Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps). The title was “Keep Your Powder Dry.”

But nowhere in the film, or in any of its publicity, is the origin of that expression explained. And the viewer is left to assume that the “Powder” must be Ladies’ face-powder. Only well-read people would know that the entire quotation is attributed to the 17^th Century English leader, Oliver Cromwell, addressing his troops as they were about to wade across a river in Ireland. And what he said was “Trust in God – and keep your powder dry.” This referred to the fact that, for the musketry still in use at that time, every soldier had to carry his own gunpowder. 

So, the title of the film since it was about women in war, was a very deliberate pun. This was emphasized in one of the posters made to publicize the movie, which showed its three stars, Lana Turner, Laraine Day, and Susan Peters, all powdering their faces, using their mirrored “compacts,” (which were standard equipment for women in those days) to powder their faces.

Guns in America, however, have a long, and hardly honorable, history, which is inextricably intertwined with the saga of Westward expansion. Having a gun gave the holder the power almost effortlessly to wound or kill any animal or unarmed human. It made heroes of those who could protect the Good from the Bad. But it also enabled those otherwise inclined to do much more Bad.

In American legend, all this was acted out, in a semi-lawless society of “cowboys,” who no longer were merely boys who tended cows. The word “Western” became associated with violent dramas, often involving men wearing, in special holsters, either one or two guns as part of their regular outfit.

One of aviation’s pioneering Wright Brothers, Orville – who survived his brother Wilbur by about 40 years, living through two World Wars to 1948 – was asked if he ever had any regrets about all the evil their invention had brought upon Humanity through its use as a wartime weapon. His reply was that what they had done was like discovering Fire, with all its good and harmful effects – for which whoever made the discovery could hardly be held responsible.

Certain types of guns have acquired almost legendary reputations. The Winchester Repeating Rifle which first appeared in 1873 has been celebrated as “The Gun That Won the West,” with the implication that guns were instrumental in subduing the Native American tribes. However, in the notorious “Battle of the Little Bighorn” of 1876 (Centennial Year of America’s Independence) an entire U.S. Cavalry Regiment with their leader, General George Armstrong Custer, was wiped out by Indians who were themselves heavily armed – not with bows and arrows, but with rifles and revolvers. How did they acquire such firepower? Not by stealing from settlers, but by honest trade with arms merchants.

But American culture has incorporated guns even into its musical theater, as represented by “Annie Get Your Gun,” based on the true story of a performing female sharpshooter named Annie Oakley. Hardly surprisingly, one of its thematic numbers was “You Can’t Get a Man with a Gun.”

It used to be true that police in Britain do not carry guns, and that British law enforcement is based on the idea of “policing by consent,” meaning that most officers rely on the public to respect their authority. That is still largely the case. I remember being taught, as a child, that the “Bobbies” were our friends. “If you want to know the time, ask a Policeman.”