We have a gun violence problem in this country.
Duh, right?
But I have friends who go ballistic if I even say something that simple. If I put that statement on facebook, my feed would light up!
Notice I didn't say anything about taking guns away. I didn't mention gun control. I just said we have a gun violence problem in the United States.
Let the knee jerk reactions begin. Let emotionalism take over. Let people start crying out "Fake News!" Let the red herring arguments begin..."more people die from bike accidents, do we need bike control?" "Knives kill, do we need knife control?" "A gun is a tool, do you want to ban hammers?" "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." "Chicago has strict gun control yet has more murders than any other city." "It's not a gun problem, its a sin problem." "It's a mental health issue."
There may be a slight dose of truth to some of those statements but they ignore the complexity of the issue.
The United States has the highest rate of mass shootings of any industrialized nation on Earth. We have the highest percentage of gun deaths for industrialized nations in the world per capita. Even though America's population makes up only 4% of the world, 50% of the world's civilian held guns are in the United States. There are enough guns in the United States for every man, woman and child in the nation to own one. These statistics rank way above any other nation on Earth.
But let's not be reasonable. We can't rationally think there's any correlation or causality between the number of guns in this country and our levels of gun violence. The NRA says the stats lie. The stats are skewed and inaccurate. Fake news. The sources must unreliable.
Mental heath issue? Yes. Definitely. There's a mental health crisis in this country. But you don't hear that argument thrown out when the shooter is Muslim. Or black. Or an immigrant. The mental health issue only comes up conveniently when the shooter is white. And mass shooters are by far more likely to be white. And male.
If the shooter is Muslim the talk turns towards travel bans. If the shooter is black the talk turns towards criminality and gangs. If the shooter is an immigrant the talk turns towards building a wall. If it's a white guy, then it's all about mental health.
"It's a sin problem." Really? Then let's legalize everything. That's like saying "It's not a murder problem, it's a sin problem." That's absurd. Of course it's a sin problem. But it can also be a law problem. Very few people have problems with seat belt laws. You don't hear people debating the philosophical issues of a government imposing rules on seat belts on its populace. Why not? Because seat belt laws make sense. They save lives.
Just forty years ago we had massive amounts of auto fatalities. No one wore seat belts. Was it a sin problem...people endangering themselves, perhaps leaving their kids orphans? Of course not! Most cars didn't even have seat belts. But as a nation we calmly, and coolly and rationally analyzed the problem. And we, as a society came to the conclusion that seat belts could save lives. Yet some needed further inducement. So laws were put into place. I remember not wearing seat belts. I also remember how strange it was to have to put them on. Now, the opposite is true. I feel strange not putting on my seat belt. Why? Because with the knowledge we now have, it's stupid not to wear a seat belt. Look how our attitudes have changed! And for the betterment of society! All due to rational analysis of a social issue!
So bring up bike accidents as a red herring to distract and I will counter that yes, if you don't wear a bike helmet you are stupid and irresponsible and maybe we need tighter helmet laws. Most motorcyclists are coming around to helmet laws. Why? Because they save lives. Bringing up something that takes more lives than guns doesn't take away from the fact we need to look at gun violence. We are capable of analyzing more than one social issue at the same time aren't we?
Chicago? Yes they have strict gun laws. But those laws are worthless as long as neighboring communities don't have similar laws. Those laws must also work in conjunction with solving systemic poverty and racism in Chicago. No one said it's all about guns, or just about guns. Guns are just one part of the problem...a major problem since they are a device capable of killing people with great rapidity. But let's not be simplistic. Most difficult problems have many many facets to consider.
The CDC is not even allowed to analyze the problem of gun violence because of the immense lobbying pressure of politicians by the NRA. The CDC can't even study the issue. Because the NRA knows what will happen when rationality enters the picture.
People care more about their guns than America's children. Protest that all you want but actions speak louder than words. Guns have become our idols. As a result we can't even begin to have a rational conversation. AR-15s? Seriously? No one needs an assault rifle. They are not meant for hunting. They are not a defensive weapon. They are an assault weapon, a weapon of attack. They are meant to kill human beings. They are meant to kill human beings with great rapidity. And a little league team around the corner from my house was recently selling raffle tickets to win an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. As a fund raiser for a fifth grade baseball team!
I think that needs to be talked about! I think that should cause us to pause! I think that needs consideration!
But the NRA does not want such a discussion to even begin. We are not allowed to analyze the issue. You can't even discuss the issue. That is beyond irrationality.
