By Edwin Cooney
Some years ago I was astounded to read that a vacuum packet containing scissors, a bloody piece of gauze, and a portion of boxer Evander Holyfield’s ear bitten off by his opponent Michael Tyson was for sale on the internet. The price was $17,000. I was flabbergasted for two reasons.
First, anyone interested in such a gory specimen, I decided, must be pretty vulgar. Second, it seemed incredible to me that someone who could pay $17,000 for such a packet had precious little cause to ever complain that the government was taxing him or her too much. (Note: it is possible and even likely that the above is merely an urban legend, unfortunately. However, what’s below is too true.) As I write this, I’m now faced with an even more incredulous circumstance.
Before I begin hollering, I need to stipulate that we can’t afford to make this phenomena I’m about to complain of illegal. After all, everyone has a right to be a fool as long as they allow the rest of us to thrive!
A few days ago, I read that George Zimmerman is accepting bids for the gun he used to shoot 17 year-old Trayvon Martin to death. What’s even worse is that someone is apparently willing to pay $250,000 for it.
Now, I’m not interested in legalities. I’ve not the slightest interest in what the National Rifle Association says nor am I much interested in what the anti-gun folks or even what the Constitution of the United States says. I’m troubled about what the willingness of the purported buyer of Zimmerman’s tool of death says about our national state of mind and spirit.
Since reading in the New York Times about Mr. Zimmerman’s attempt to profit from his less than stellar notoriety, I’ve tried without success to find out who owns such historic weapons as John Wilkes Booth’s derringer, Charles Guiteau’s pistol, Leon Czolgosz’s weapon, and Lee Harvey Oswald’s rifle. Nor do I have a clue as to who possesses the guns used by James Earl Ray, Sirhan Sirhan or Arthur Bremer. It’s hard for me to imagine what kind of an individual would want any of these weapons except for their possible monetary value. Of course, people have the right to own them and it’s hard to realistically insist that they aren’t of some legitimate monetary value. The ultimate question is, wouldn’t you have to despise the victim and love the deed in order to purchase one of these death deliverers?
If you love Ronald Reagan, would you pay to own John Hinkley Jr’s pistol? Would a John Lennon fan want to own Mark David Chapman’s gun? Happily, I’ve got my doubts!
I’m perfectly comfortable with the idea that the Smithsonian, the Lincoln Museum or Garfield’s or McKinley’s official museums might own these weapons because, dastardly as they are, they symbolize undeniable events in American history. However, the possibility that an individual might seek to profit from or purchase such unpatriotic tools for monetary or bragging rights is to me beyond acceptability.
George Zimmerman was found not guilty of murdering Trayvon Martin and, on the surface at least, he’s sticking to that verdict. Ah! but wait a minute! Something is telling Mr. Z that his gun is really and truly valuable for a very special reason and that can’t be because the weapon still functions. He must have done something not many people do with their personal weapons. It
was something that causes him to feel a special pride and which that gun, he’s certain, represents.
Perhaps the gun represents a citizen’s determination to protect himself, but if that were the case, why wouldn’t Zimmerman keep it as a reminder to himself of his “responsible, or even heroic act of good citizenship?” Zimmerman has obviously convinced himself that the gun that killed Trayvon Martin has a value perhaps equal to a weapon of war. With whom, or with what people, must George Zimmerman be at war?
I can only guess, of course, but the answer I get is staggeringly unpleasant!
A six figure item has to have a value more worthy than mere cost. Its value must be a value of cause, a cause that commemorates or inspires dangerous conduct traditionally performed by soldiers or, even more scary, warriors! The mission of a warrior is to kill and be celebrated for killing. The tragic truth is that George Zimmerman lives in a society that values killing so highly it is apparently willing to spend its monetary treasure to commemorate some person’s dehumanization and death.
Throughout our history we’ve established institutions to determine the guilt or innocence of the suspicious. These institutions including the judiciary, grand juries, the police and, yes, the Second Amendment are far from either ideal or perfect. However they possess an expectation of restraint against the marauder even in times of danger.
As I see it, George Zimmerman is about as “not guilty” as O. J. Simpson. For the time being, however, he is and should be treated as not guilty as judged. George Zimmerman is legally a free man and as long as he comes under “the tongue of good report,” as the late Kentucky Governor, U.S. Senator, and Baseball Commissioner A.B. (Happy) Chandler would put it, Zimmerman should be given the benefit of all doubt. He has the legal right to sell his gun for whatever he can get for it. Another reality is that we, his fellow citizens, have a right and a responsibility to take note of what he does especially in connection with that most unhappy incident.
Just like the story of O. J. Simpson, the story of George Zimmerman will ultimately unfold revealing who Mr. Zimmerman really is. Had he shown sorrow or humility or a willingness to participate in an effort to overcome racial or cultural misunderstandings, his celebrity would be vastly different than it is today. Perhaps even his gun might symbolize something more noble than it currently does.
Sadly, George Zimmerman appears to be about self-justification in his willingness to make public statements about Trayvon Martin’s parents as they struggle to cope with Trayvon’s death. Even more tragic is the value some obviously well-healed Americans are willing to put on a killer’s gun!
Many would surely insist that these bidders are patriotic Christian Americans. However, as I see it, anyone who’d pay $250,000 for Zimmerman’s gun is little more than a willfully frightened, weak-minded American, no matter how often he or she salutes Old Glory or sings “God Bless America.”
RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED,
EDWIN COONEY
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