Gun Control and Prison Razor Blades

(This was originally written after the Las Vegas massacre in 2018. In the wake of the El Paso and Dayton mass shootings, I’m reposting since we’ve yet to address the serious issue of gun control in our country. Judy aka Momma c.)

As an inmate, and as much as the state tries to suspend our involvement in society we must find avenues such as these to participate. Thank you so much for your time and attention.

Gun Control and Prison Razor Blades

Once again we find ourselves in the aftermath of another mass shooting. Territory that has become all too familiar in recent years. As these incidents grow, in frequency and scope, we still haven't had meaningful discussion of possible solutions. Well, none that include any mention of the one common factor: Guns. 

Just yesterday 17 people slaughtered, and many more injured, when a young man opens fire and begins his killing spree as they were attending school. 58 innocent people murdered and hundreds injured in Las Vegas massacre. The worst in our countries history…well, up to this point. As difficult as it is to stomach, without real change, these will continue to happen. For our elected officials, who are charged with the safety, security, and functioning of our society on behalf of its citizens, can't even have a genuine conversation free from ego and political pandering. The evasive response that "now isn't the time for this discussion" must be called what it is: cowardice and self serving avoidance. Plenty of 'talking' takes place but zero listening. And without both, a discussion is impossible. If the time isn't now then when?

Unfortunately any subject, even remotely, linked to guns in this country is treated with an auditory shut down. Fingers instinctively go in ears and we can't even have a conversation about what has, so clearly, become a problem unique to our society. And so, as ridiculous as it sounds, in an attempt to prevent the plugging of ears, I have to make a disclaimer. So here it is: a sad but necessary disclaimer renouncing any political allegiance or tribalism:

Fuck Democrats and fuck Republicans. Fuck Independents and fuck Socialists. Fuck partisanship and fuck bipartisanship. Fuck any label except citizenship. And fuck anyone who adopts an immovable set of beliefs. Beliefs created by others and adopted as their own to shelter them from any independent and critical thought.

As I write this I am a member of no particular political party. As such, I am free from biased thinking, based on party alliance and tribalism. Free to view individual issues with some reasonable objectivity and pragmatism. So often, our blind allegiance to a particular set of political views becomes stifling to any attempt at addressing the problems we face. One of our responsibilities as citizens of this county, I'd argue one of the most important of responsibilities, is to make honest, well informed, and logical decisions with at least an attempt at some objectivity, about the issues that face us. Or at the very least to take part in some open-minded discussion. A responsibility that the most self proclaimed of 'patriotic' Americans consistently shirk.

I have no vested interest on either side of the gun debate other than the desire for the health and success of our society and the citizens it is designed to protect.

I'm familiar with the arguments on both sides of the debate. We all are, but at some point these arguments aren't even arguments anymore. Arguments would at least be some form of dialogue between disagreeing parties. What we have, in this country, has devolved into nothing more than self affirming talking points yelled at the already converted in an attempt to rile a base and cover their ears. And at some point, if we intend to make any progress, we have to set aside all the convoluted and emotional propaganda that distracts us from actually addressing an issue in a meaningful way.

Just for a moment can we just be people in a society. People who live together and so should be able to have real discussions about the dire problems that face us all. People able to find pragmatic solutions to stop immediate and present dangers?

There, if your fingers are not yet in your ears, we can now talk about the issue of mass shootings.

The whole issue, at its core, seems to boil down to two related questions:

1: Are constitutional rights beyond reproach, even when they are detrimental to the health and safety of the society they are designed to protect?

2: As citizens of this country are we absolved from making sacrifices for the good of the whole of society?

I think both design, as well as history, dictate that the answer to both questions is "no". 

First: Of course constitutional rights are not beyond reproach. Amendments have been and will continue to be made to the constitution to shape and mold it according to the evolving needs of society.

And second: In no way are we absolved from making sacrifices. We make sacrifices of 'freedom' everyday for the sake of the safety and good of society as a whole. Traffic laws, for instance. Are there people who can drive safely at 100mph? Of course there are, but a speed limit is a logical sacrifice necessary for relatively safe road ways.

The grey area of the debate is where to draw the line in each question. I get that. Is it safety at the cost of freedom or freedom at the cost of safety? The debate of the exact location of where that line is to be drawn can and should be hashed out with vigorous debate. I'm just suggesting that when it comes to the more dire issues, issues that need more immediate attention, that we can take some action towards a remedy in a more timely manner. I'd hope that when it comes to the issue of 'gun related mass-murder' that we can agree that it is one act well past the line of acceptable consequences of unfettered individual freedoms. For, if rampant and repetitive acts of mass-shootings can't be agreed upon as being well past the line of acceptability then what is?

At some point theoretical ideals and unrealistic talking points must give way to pragmatism when it comes to the most dire and detrimental circumstances that face society. Other wise we're arguing about how to fix a hole in the ship as we sink to the ocean floor. 

The question of plausibility and a general uncertainty of the results, keeps many people from even entertaining the idea of new gun control laws. There aren't any examples that I can think of that would completely parallel how a newly enacted gun control law would play out in America.Because of the intricate variables and numerous moving parts, an all encompassing experiment seems impossible. But to get a loose idea of what the process and results 'could' be, it would need to be done on a smaller more controllable scale. A place like Americas prison system. Where a similar, albeit imperfect, experiment 'has' taken place. An experiment that I was present for.

When I came to prison in 2014 we shaved with disposable razors. A 'right' to hygiene. A right that goes as far back as anyone in here can remember. And according to the veteran inmates and C.O.'s, things went relatively smoothly (pun absolutely not intended, but slightly enjoyed). 

That's not to suggest that razors weren't misused of their intended purpose and turned into make shift weapons. They were. The blades easily removed and attached to a makeshift handle to create a "buck-fifty". (A "buck-fifty": both a noun and a verb, named after the number of stitches it takes to sew up a slash to the face from the makeshift weapon.) It's not that buck-fifty attacks didn't take place in the distant past. It's just that they occurred very rarely. According to the elder inmates and guards, as little as 2-5 razor slashing, on average, took place in an entire year, depending on the particular prison. And all made a point to say that they only occurred for the most serious of infractions and were used exclusively in the most extreme situations, as a measure of last resort. But something started to change in the 2000s.

A drastic uptick in assaults involving razors began to occur from 2005-2010. What was once a rare occurrence and reserved strictly for informants and child molesters was now common practice and nobody was off limits. People were being slashed for debts of a few dollars, for instant coffee and ramen noodles, gang initiations, perceived disrespect, as a preemptive method to avoid fights. And so on. Needless to say, this presented a new set of problems for a prison system, already knee deep in violence and conflict. 

Whether the increase in attacks were from the exploding gang culture or from the influx of younger inmates is unclear. Though I'm sure it's a combination of factors. In any case the problem continued to grow.

By the time that I came to prison in early 2014 razor slashing had become a weekly occurrence. Within days I witnessed this epidemic first hand. On my way back from chow I saw an inmate with his hands cuffed behind his back being led by a C.O. towards the health care building. The inmate had his state shirt pulled up over his nose, as a makeshift mask. Me and several other inmates stepped aside, as we were ordered, to let them by. As they passed, the inmates shirt slid from his nose and fell to his shoulders. A slash ran from his right ear all the way to the corner of his mouth, connecting the two facial features. His face was filleted into two separate flaps. With nothing to hold the bottom half of his cheek in place, it folded down over his jaw exposing the teeth on the right side of his mouth. He reminded me of a zombie from the Walking Dead. This gruesome display was my introduction to the prison culture. It was my baseline. My average. And I became all too accustomed to, what should have been, completely unacceptable levels and frequencies of violence.

Whether it was the excess medical costs, the threat of lawsuits, or just the general lack of control, the system decided that something had to be done.

Like any bureaucracy, the prison system resists change. I'm sure, as the slashings began to rise in frequency, justifications and excuses were invoked to keep the status quo: There are too many razors already out there. What are they gonna shave with? Electric razors are too expensive. How are we gonna confiscate all of them? 

But no matter how many offenders they took to the hole, how many shake downs they did, or how much they hoped the problem would simply go away on its own, it didn't.

In mid 2014 the 'powers that be' finally had enough and they passed a new institutional policy. In every housing unit, in every prison in the state, a copy of the new policy was posted for all to read. It stated that the disposable razors were being discontinued. That in a month they would no longer be available on commissary. And in three months any disposable razors were to be disposed of. After the determined disposal date, razors would be deemed 'dangerous contraband' and anyone found with a razor in their area of control would be taken to the hole and issued a class1 ticket. The highest of institutional infractions, a 'class1'affects your security level as well as parole eligibility. Further down the page it listed the prices and vendors that offered the electric razors we would now have to shave with. It went on to explain that indigent inmates would be given an electric razor on loan until the debt could be paid off. And we were thanked for our cooperation.

Most inmates were irate about the new policy. I was one of them. 'I' was using the razors for their intended purpose: to shave! Why should 'I' have to give them up because other people couldn't be trusted not to misuse them? 

I had become accustomed to the violence. Even the frequent lock downs that were imposed, sometimes for days, after a slashing, had become normal. I was so conditioned to the razor assaults that I was more concerned with the inconvenience to my routine and personal preferences than with the safety of my environment and my fellow inmates. 

Many inmates used the grace period to order as many razors as possible. Some were to be stashed and sold. Others were to be tucked away for later use. 

The new policy wasn't an instantaneous or perfect solution. The occurrences of buck-fifties didn't drop off immediately. It was more of a slow drip of decline. Just the knowledge that razors were no longer a renewable resource made inmates rethink what a buck-fifty worthy offense was. Over time the incidents of razor related violence happened less and less frequently. After years of loss, use, disposal, and confiscation, the numbers and availability of illegal razor blades dwindled to almost nothing. And inevitably so did the 'buck-fifties'. 

To hear the old timers tell it, its more rare now than its ever been. I've been in my current prison for over six months now and haven't seen or heard of anyone being slashed across the face with a razor. Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time that I heard of someone getting buck-fifties. Its been well over a year.

Is prison now a perfect utopia of a rehabilitative society? Absolutely not! Is it completely safe and devoid of violence? Not at all. Fights and stabbings still take place more frequently than most would like. Is everything better now that the disposable razors, that were so easily misused and turned into weapons, aren't readily available to all? No. But it is 'one less problem' that the inmates and staff within the prison system have to deal with. And with one less, difficult yet preventable problem, we can all get on with the other, less dire and numerous important issues that face us. 

The inmates, the staff, and the entire prison system were affected by the epidemic of razor violence and all the debates and theoretical ideas did nothing to curb the violence. Eventually, a point was reached when it was decided that enough was enough, that something concrete and pragmatic had to be done. And it was. 

The cries of injustice from the inmates, the complaints of the implementation and logistics by staff, and the preferred continuation of the status quo by the institutions were not allowed to stand in the way of the change needed to maintain a safe and functioning prison system. And thank God that there was no influence from an all powerful disposable razor lobby.

In no way do I pretend that this is a perfect representation of the larger and more complex issues that we face with gun control in this country. It is, however, an example of a society that reached a point deemed unacceptable to its proper functioning and to the safety of its citizens. And so a difficult, imperfect, and nearly wholly unpopular decision for the sake of that society was made. A decision made, free from all the external influences and biases, free from partisan talking points and approval ratings, and free from the need to appease constituents. A decision made in order to accomplish a goal for the greater good of those involved.

And if that's not the duty of those in power, then what is? Sadly when it comes to our elected officials it seems to be second to: fundraising and placating for reelection, in order to do more fundraising and placating for another reelection… and so on, for as long as possible. All the while, we the citizens, who they are supposed to be beholden to, live in the real world where real decisions need to be made but rarely are.

And in a way it is our fault. All of this is made possible because our ability to think objectively and critically has atrophied to the point of disability. Which has allowed us to be manipulated through fear and tribalism. To be force fed partisan mantras that have lost all meaning and understanding for those who chant them. A disability that has rendered any conversation rooted in day to day reality impossible. 

This is what happens when people espouse prepackaged "beliefs". Beliefs that they themselves haven't reached through an honest and informed search for truth. Beliefs that they themselves haven't reached through brutal self-awareness and humility. Beliefs that they have never 'truly' even thought about.

As heartbreaking as this to say: Maybe the biggest tragedy isn't the horrendous cases of repeated mass murder of American citizens by firearms while our law makers do nothing. Maybe the greatest tragedy is that there aren't enough people, willing to do the honest and difficult work necessary to come to their own opinions free from bias and tribalism, to do anything to stop it…

We need change, accountability, and 'real' participation in the society we are a part of.

If the time isn't now then when?