"The Riddle of the Gun"

Sam Harris is probably best known for his first book The End of Faith, a book criticizing religion.  He is also known for asserting that the Koran is a book that encourages and allows the kind of terrorism we have seen recently.  His most recent book Islam and the Future of Tolerance is a dialogue with British Muslim Maajid Nawaz on ways to curb violence.  My favorite of Harris’s books is Waking Up, a book about spirituality, meditation, and oneness.  As you can imagine, Harris has a lot of enemies and some have made threats on his life.  I was curious about his views on guns in the U.S. but not sure I wanted to listen to his 1 ½ hour podcast “The Riddle of the Gun (Revisited).”  It is, in a sense, tedious.  But his views have interesting differences from both pro- and anti-gun proponents speaking on the topic.

He talks a lot on this podcast but basically his view is that for many, guns are a useful tool. He himself owns guns. However, to obtain and use a gun, licensing requirements should be as stringent as the requirements for piloting a plane and background checks are necessary.  He supports the view from NRA’s Wayne LaPierre that armed guards in schools could increase student safety. He sees no reason to ban assault weapons as handguns alone can do so much damage.  Not bad.