guns

Oh well, these things just happen

We just had 59 people killed and over 500 injured at an outdoor concert with many more traumatized by the event. The guy who did this had purchased between 20 and 30 guns and no ‘background check’ flagged him from buying more. He was an ‘average guy.’ So now what?

Twenty children and 6 staff were killed at an elementary school in December 2012. Since then more than 150,000 people in the U.S. have died from gunshots. An average of 33,667 people die per year, including 1,520 mass shootings, that killed at least 1,715 and wounded 6,089.

It’s too hard to solve this, so let’s not really change anything.

Hey, as Bill O’Reilly says mass shootings are “the price of freedom.” Congress seems to agree. Congress Has Basically Done Nothing on Gun Control Since Sandy Hook Shooting. In fact, they have recently enacted legislation that could make events such as yesterday’s even more deadly.

Yes, other democratic advanced societies have mass-shootings occur. Scotland and Australia in 1996; Norway in 2011, France in the last few years. But only in the United States do they come again and again and again and again. No other society on the globe allows massacres to happen without a concerted government response.

If the founders of this country had been this gutless, we would still be an English colony.

If the Abolitionists of the 19th century were less courageous, we would still have legal slavery. If Suffragists in 1890-1920 had given up, women would not have the right to vote. If FDR had caved to massive political pressure and government and economic complexity, we would not have Social Security. I could go on, you know.

We can find a path to significantly reduce gun violence and fully-support the right of individuals as declared in the Second Amendment
  1. who can pass a national background check with all states complying,
  2. and obtain a license to purchase a standard handgun or rifle for personal or family protection and hunting,
  3. if he/she employs technology and physical barriers to prevent unauthorized users (children, mentally ill, intellectually disabled) from accessing the weapon.
    Federal laws should address all of these caveats.

Patriotism? How about we work to end these thousands of unnecessary violent deaths every year? Our gun violence is completely out of control; just look at this chart.

So what would it take?

Ask the Brady family, they started the fight.
  • If we had sensible national gun laws that required registration and a background check, that limited the number of guns a single person could accumulate (unless a registered gun dealer), and put more limits on the types of guns (ex. no semi-automatic) sold to the public.
  • If we had a national gun registry with purchase limitations that was linked to a universal database.
  • If all states participated in and contributed their law enforcement, purchase, and gunshot injury data to that database, equally.
  • If we allowed the nation’s public health system to collect and analyze gun injury and gun death data instead of defunding CDC and NIH research. The Docs are asking, begging for more gun violence data.
  • If we properly funded sufficient and qualified mental health care. Guess what? It’s Mental Illness Awareness Week. In Florida they even made it illegal for doctors to ask patients about guns in the house during a check up.

Speaking of rampant and difficult problems, we now have an integrated food safety reporting system and invigorated standards (thanks to the 2011 Food Safety Modernization Act) that holds food manufacturers and produce suppliers accountable and allows for rapid recalls to prevent massive outbreaks of food-born illness. Are the major food companies going bankrupt? Are their stocks all in the toilet? Have there been massive layoffs? The easy answer is NO.

Yet the system is in jeopardy at the moment; there are clearly not enough inspectors to deal with rogue companies creating more food hazards. What is the legislative response to this? Slashing the FDA budget while they double the defense budget seems to be the answer. In terms of your family’s health and well-being, which budget do you think is more likely to have an impact?

None of reforming our current gun violence epidemic is “impossible.”

When such a tragedy happened in Australia, they did something about it. So what about Australia? What do the data show? Do citizens there still own guns for hunting and self-protection? Yes, somehow they still seem to be operating as an open, democratic and ‘freedom-loving’ society.

It does take the will of the people and the fortitude of legislators to stand up to the intimidation and threats of the NRA and their funders. It would also be helpful if the average citizen could put just a little more effort into detecting ‘fake news‘ by just checking on the facts; they’re out there. Don’t count on social media and search engines to do it for you. As Thomas Jefferson wrote “an informed citizenry is the bulwark of a democracy.”

Don’t count on the Supreme Court doing the right thing.

Even though the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, in an overwhelming Feb 2017 ruling upheld the Maryland assault weapons ban, saying they aren’t protected by the Second Amendment. Want to bet how the Supremes will vote with Gorsuch now on the bench?

The “Second Amendment has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word ‘fraud,’ on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.” -Chief Justice Warren Burger

It’s worthwhile to read this 2014 article by Justice John Paul Stevens.

That means if we actually value “freedom and democracy” we might have to put forth some effort into staying informed. I’m betting most of you won’t, but I’m hopeful that you might change your mind.

I just hope that another 150,000 don’t have to die (quite possibly someone that you know), before we stop shopping, browsing, and playing games long enough to get informed, take a position, and hold our legislators accountable. Skeptical and still not convinced? Read this.

The links are fact and data-based articles, here are some other resources.
Americans are more likely to die from gun violence than drowning, fire, stabbing, choking, airplanes, animal attacks, and forces of nature — combined
Treating Gun Violence as an Epidemic Could Help Us Stanch It
This gentleman makes an eloquent case for more facts and subsequent legislation
Armed With Reason
The Brady Campaign To Prevent Gun Violence is still one of the best non-partisan resources on policy strategy. (I hope you all recall that James Brady (R) was President Reagan’s first Press Secretary when he was shot in 1981.)
In lieu of adequate public health data being collected,
Want to find a qualified psychologist?
Here is a place to Learn about and take action on Mental Health Issues