Speeding Bullet

Incomprehensible Dianetics: I want to ask you a divisive question, one which, as a man who's impervious to injury personally but deals in a very hands-on way with the criminal element might be perfectly positioned to respond to. What's your stance on gun control?

Superman: I’m not against it. Now let me admit, before we even look at the merits, that I'm biased. Weapons and war had a part in destroying my home.

ID: Uh, could you explain that in a bit more detail, for those of us who don’t buy and feverishly reread the trading cards.

S: Sure. During what was, essentially, a civil rights movement on Krypton, a terrorist breakaway group used what was basically a nuclear gun on the planet. The weapon slowly destabilized the planet, to the point where it basically exploded.

ID: It doesn’t sound like your arguing gun control, but weapons control, which I don’t think anyone would

S: Sure they would- and that’s the thing. You have to draw a line somewhere, don’t you? If I have a right to bear arms to resist the government, but the government has a fighter jet, well then to properly resist, I need a Stinger missile. Or, in all honesty, I could probably use a fighter jet of my own.

ID: So you see a problem with civilian-owned fighter jets?

S: As a concept, maybe not, assuming they became like automobiles, where everyone had one in the garage- and from there you can always make the argument that “an armed society is a polite society.” But in reality, fighter jets are expensive. The only people who would be able to afford them would be the superrich. And while it might not be a horrible thing if Bill Gates or Bruce Wayne owned and operated fighter jets, what about the Lex Luthors of the world? And speaking of Lex, I know for a fact he’s had access to fissile material through LexCorp.’s energy division. Obviously we don’t want him to be able to legally make and keep nuclear weapons.

But really, to take a plane out of the sky, you don’t really need anything too advanced. Barrett is making a 25 mm rifle, right now. 25 mm is a grenade round, usually, but they’re using it for a next-gen anti-materiel weapon. A 25 mm round would punch a hole in an airplane bigger than my fist. Against a fighter jet, well, it’s hard to hit something moving that fast, but against a commercial airliner…

ID: I think we can agree that some level of arms control is necessary.

S: And I suppose there’s a second component to my bias. There’s the destruction of my home world, but on Earth I’ve seen a lot of loss that can be attributed to weapons, too. To pick a specific example, an unlicensed firearm killed the parents of one of my greatest friends- and even though that gave the world the Batman, and even though without that event, he and I likely would never have met, I love him enough that I would gladly lose him to spare him their loss.

ID: You love Batman?

S: The one thing dying really brings you is clarity. I could be stoic, puff my chest out like my dad, and die without admitting who I am to the people I care about- but I don't want to be like that. I'd rather be able to stand, with grace and with dignity, and say how I feel. Bruce is my friend, and I truly, dearly love him.

ID: Okay, but do you believe that more stringent gun laws would have prevented the Wayne’s mugging (and subsequent murder)?

S: On that specific occasion? I have no idea. But generally speaking, tighter gun control laws could make it more difficult for criminals to get guns, and more dangerous for them to use guns against innocent people.

ID: I don’t know if it’s a fair argument you make, because you are, for all intents and purposes, a superweapon- guns do nothing but bring the average person a little closer to your level of potential resistance from the government (or a threat).

S: First, a gun doesn’t give you anything close to enhanced ability- it’s a tool with a very specific purpose. And second, you’re wrong about me- at least me personally. Yes, I do have a lot of power at my disposal, but I’ve always considered it necessary to remain a normal member of human society. So it wouldn’t be right of me to use my abilities to, say, destabilize the American government. I have just as much revolutionary power as any citizen- voting. And if that fails, I have the same right as every other American- the right to leave. To your third, somewhat veiled point, I am a little safer from muggers or people who would try to do me harm, but I think you’re exaggerating my position to make it more contentious. I’m not against guns generally- I’m just for the idea that we control them tightly, that we do everything a responsible but free society can to keep our fellow citizens safe.

ID: Hmm. I’m going to take a flying leap here, but have you ever fired a gun?

Yes. But a lot of my opinions were shaped by the first time I carried one. My father took me hunting when I was little- still too young even to use the .22 he bought me to learn on. But he taught me how to make sure it wasn’t loaded, how to treat it, and respect it- and he made me carry it. And what we found out that day was, with my senses, I made for an excellent tracker. Following just the faintest of smells and tiniest of clues, we stalked a deer for the better part of a day.

When we got close enough, I could hear its heart, and as we closed the distance its metronome thump-thump got louder and louder. The deer was stopped by a small creek, drinking, but even though we had to be too far away for it to hear us, it knew something was wrong. Its head came up, ears alert, eyes scanning. Its heartbeat increased, pounding in my ears as my father raised his rifle. Something primal in me reacted; the deer’s heartbeat in my ears became my own, its fear became my own. I was young, not so fast or strong, and I wasn’t even fast enough to say, “Dad,” before he took the shot.

I ran, reaching through the blurred landscape for the bullet as it spun in slow motion through the air. I was fast enough to grab it, but the impact burst the skin in my palm. But the deer was terrified, first of the gunshot, then of the small boy suddenly rushing at it, and it stumbled as its heartbeat became increasingly erratic, and I watched in horror as it’s heart went from too fast to too slow, then stopped entirely. I didn’t know CPR, but I was going to try and resuscitate it when my dad finally caught up, put a hand on my shoulder and said, “Son.” And I fell to my knees, crying, and then he noticed the blood and said, “Your hand.”

Of course, I didn’t even really notice the pain, and it wasn’t why I was upset. I said, “Dad, we killed it.” And my dad took me in his arms and he said, “No, son, we didn’t. I did. You tried to save it.” But even at that age I knew he never would have gotten anywhere near the deer if it hadn’t been for me.

I didn’t ask him to stop, but my dad never hunted again. He’d still go shooting- he took me to the range a couple of times- but I think he understood, seeing my reaction, the truth that hunters have to sort of bypass on an ethical level- that they’re killing something, and not just that it’s dying, but that it’s dying alone and afraid- that there’s nothing fun or sporting about that.

We’ll be trying to bring you a new section of the interview every Monday. Some of the questions have already been prepared by the interviewer, but to ask Superman a question, leave a comment or send an email to DeathofSuperman@gmail.com.