Gun Violence Stats 

     No matter what side of the aisle on which you find yourself, the issue of gun control is a highly debated and heated topic. As the number of mass shootings rise each year and more and more Americans are losing their lives to these senseless massacres, politicians have yet to come to an agreement on how to approach the issue or if anything should be done at all. However, according to the 20th century philosopher Franz Kafka the simple solution is no solution at all. Kafka is a strong opponent of the bureaucracy and tends to believe that society will inevitably destroy itself, these views are prevalent in all of his work and likely are why he is such a strong opponent of government regulation of guns. 

     Franz Kafka’s controversial philosophies on the fragility of human existence and inevitable societal collapse likely contribute to his call to inaction on the issue of gun control. Writer from the medium.com Sam Dott analyzes some of Kafka's most notable philosophies in his article “Analyzing the Philosophy of Franz Kafka & His Impact on Society” (Dutt). Dutt finds that, in simple words, Franz Kafka is an existentialist who firmly believes that “the individual is faced with a constant struggle” and doesn’t think there is much of a point to fight said struggles as they “can never be fully won but must be constantly fought” (Dutt). His extreme pessimisticism that is extremely preset in his philosophy is likely the reason behind his lack of support in gun control- if doom is inevitable, why fight it? Kafka firmly believes that there will never be a solution to human struggle on any front including on the matter of gun control. Author Elizabeth Winterhalter also took a closer look at Franz Kafka’s philosophies in her article entitled “Franz Kafka’s The Trial—It’s Funny Because It’s True” (Winterhalter). Her editorial style article dives into the nuances of Kafka’s work The Trial which details the struggles of a man trying to navigate a corrupted bureaucratic system meant to represent the legal system. Throughout the work, Kafka finds the man’s efforts futile as they will never truly improve his condition. Winterhalter finds that the message that Kafka was trying to get across in this work as well as exemplify throughout his life was that human struggle is inescapable and trying to fight it will do nothing but make it worse in the end (Winterhalter). Although the issue of gun violence was not as prevalent throughout Kafka’s life, his writing had to do with the “exigent circumstances'' of his time, particularly the rise of facism throughout Europe (Winterhalter). Kafka never directly stated his opinion on the issue of gun violence specifically, but based on the philosophies he shares about similar issues it is reasonable to infer that he would take a firm stance against gun control. Franz Kafka believed that the best solution to social issues is no solution at all due to his existentialist mindset and his acceptance of inevitable societal collapse. 

     In addition to his pessimistic view on the human condition, Franz Kafka was also an extreme opponent of  bureaucratic and legal systems. This strong opposition to institutions gives a foundation to the assumption that he would also be against strict gun regulation. His ideas regarding the bureaucracy explain his likely opposition to gun control. Kafka’s strong and outspoken criticism towards the bureaucratic system were analyzed in Jack Matthew’s, an author from the Foundation for Economic Education, article entitled “Kafka’s Bureaucratic Nightmares” (Matthews). In this article, Matthew explains how Kafka saw the bureaucracy as an agency depriving citizens from their right to self sufficiency and purpose (Matthews). He finds that Kafka’s core criticism of bureaucracy was that bureaucracy nevertheless creates scenarios in which selves become increasingly irrelevant” (Matthews). Kafka feared that increased power in bureaucratic systems would take away from individuality and feelings of individual responsibilities. In the context of historic events happening in Kafka’s lifetime, his distaste for bureaucracy was likely heightened by the rapid spread of Marxist and socialist ideas in the mid 20th century across Europe. As explained by his overall opposition to any social movement, Kafka was also a strong opponent of Marxism. Kafka expressed his anti-marxism philosophy in his work entitled In the Penal Colony that follows the life of a man living in a society overrun by bureaucratic institutions that try to equalize all members of society. The story exemplifies that even when authorities have the best intentions to improve the quality of life for all citizens, intervention is almost never effective and can make societal issues even more prevalent. As Matthews explains, despite a bureaucracies best intentions they will always be“programmed, and therefore not moral at all” (Matthews). The findings of Jack Matthews are similar to that of Sam Dott’s as they both highlight Kafka’s distaste for any sort of equalizer or solution to the human condition. In both aspects of Kafka’s philosophy, the inevitable human struggle and the futility of bureaucracy. In regards to the issue of gun control, Kafka’s opposition to the bureaucracy brings validity to his assumed stance on strict gun regulation. Since any sort of gun regulating policy would have to come out of a government run bureaucracy, it is not a stretch to infer that Kafka would inherently be a critic of the legislation. By creating an even playing field in the world of gun ownership, any gun regulation would have socialist roots that would immediately squash any support of the regulation by Kafka. Kafka views all bureaucratic agencies  as inherently unjust and  potentially dangerous to the individuality of society; his distrust in government organization would likely result in Kafka also not supporting gun control.

     Despite Kafka’s clear opposition to any attempt to find a solution to human struggling and his extreme opposition to bureaucratic agencies that make it reasonable to assume he would not support any form of gun regulation, some analysts of Kafka’s work argue that he would be in favor of some type of gun control. Writer Ivana Edwards of the New York Times explains in her article “The Essence of ‘Kafkaesque’” that Kafka’s anti-bureractic stance is not as straightforward as some make it out to be (Edwards). While some of Kafka’s work may come off as confusing or unclear, his intense opposition to the bureaucracy is clearly expressed across much of his work. As earlier explained, analyst Elizabeth Winterhalter found his essay The Trial to be a dark satirical piece clearly expressing Kafka’s deep rooted distrust and disregard for bureaucratic and legal systems (Winterhalter). It was Kafka’s strong belief that bureaucratic systems take away from a citizen's right to individuality and in the end will do more harm then good. Because of this, it is reasonable to assume that Kafka would be against any gun regulation that would be enforced by bureaucratic agencies. 

     Although Franz Kafka lived in a time where fascism was a more prevalent issue then gun violence, his unique perspective is still relevant and can be applied to modern issues. Kafka felt that any solution to human struggling was futile as suffering is synonymous to life in his eyes. He also believed that any attempt to create total equality among citizens through bureaucratic agencies was inherently dangerous to the idea of individuality. These philosophies that were expressed across many of his works make it clear to see that Kafka would not support the implementation of gun regulation into modern society.

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