Opinion – ‘Block19’ proves we need gun reform

What has been the response from Culper Precision?

As a UK citizen, it’s quite alienating trying to understand why anybody thought this was a good idea to produce in the first place, aside from the inevitable publicity.

Culper Precision claims that it was created to ‘show new firearms owners that guns are not just for law enforcement or military’. Its statement concludes by stating that it hopes to make the second amendment ‘too painful to tread on’.

Questionable puns aside, it’s likely Culper Precision created this weapon with controversy in mind.

The logo is so close to LEGO’s that there’s no way the company expected to get away with producing this long-term. It also seems to be fairly aggressively against any kind of gun reform or open conversation about the ongoing US weapon problem – New York declared an emergency to tackle increasing levels of gun violence just this week.

For now, the only real positive is that you can’t actually buy it anymore, though that won’t stop another independent manufacturer creating their own gimmicky Glock in order to cause a stir. What’s next, a sniper rifle made from plasticine?

What is the current situation with US gun reform?  

There has been some hopeful movements in Biden’s presidency toward gun control, especially considering how strongly opposed the Trump administration was to any change whatsoever.

Biden has called on Congress to pass ‘common sense gun reform’, which would see a banning of assault weapons, high capacity magazines, and introduce universal background checks. The biggest issue is getting US government and statesmen to co-operate with one another – which has proven extremely difficult over the years.

Many US citizens are uncompromisingly pro-gun and regard any changes as a liberal takeover. Real, grown ass congressmen tweet things like this at Joe Biden for all to see, and any universally agreed changes are likely to forever exist as fantasy.

Hey @JoeBiden – come and take it. Careful, she bites too. pic.twitter.com/NOKWlq5aQv

— Senator Mike Rounds (@SenatorRounds) March 25, 2021

America’s National Rifle Association (NRA) also proves to be a highly influential and stubborn political force that misleadingly equates gun ownership with patriotic values. Its response to gun violence is usually always ‘more guns’.

Trump himself once supported giving teachers weapons to fight back against school shooters. Who doesn’t love a maths lesson from a professor pointing a pistol at you, eh?

It’s clear we’ve a long way to go until things change in any meaningful way. Ironically though, Culper Precision’s bizarre publicity stunt may actually have the opposite of its intended effect, drawing more attention to the need for stricter laws and rigorous profiling of potential gun owners.

Nothing says freedom quite like a LEGO toy gun that’s not actually a toy and could instead kill people. I’m sure that’s what the founding fathers had in mind when they gave the right to bare arms all those years ago.