San Bernadino Comment And Response

Received a good comment on my post from yesterday, "San Bernadino -- How Will The Right Spin It This Time?"  The comment is worth sharing and thinking about.

1 comment:

1. 
   AnonymousDecember 3, 2015 at 3:50 AM

   There's surely something wrong. Why are people committing these Godawful acts? Is it, "I got these guns, I better go shoot a bunch of people."? Better find the root of the problem than treat the symptom. Now, is there a need for more and better background checks? Yes. Limit magazine capacity? Sure. But we better find out why people's frustration drives them to such violent levels!

   ReplyDelete

Mr. or Ms. Anonymous (and I really don't know who you are, which is fine), I thank you for your comment and I appreciate you taking the time to think about this issue.  There certainly is something wrong.  No doubt about it.

Why are people committing these acts?  Big question.  Many reasons, I suppose, none of them good.  Human beings have engaged in murder, mayhem and atrocities since the beginning of time.

No, it's not "I have guns, therefore I kill people."  Of course not.  Possession of a gun does not automatically result in its use in a mass shooting.

As we continue to try to understand what drives sociopathic gun violence, our primary efforts must also include doing everything we can to reduce that violence now.

It might be helpful to try to work through this whole problem vs. symptom, cause and effect thing.
(Cause is why something happens, effect is what occurs as a result.  Problems have presumed solutions, symptoms help identify problems.)

The problem is American gun violence.  This is obvious and beyond debate.  Surely we can agree on this.  Our country leads the developed world in per capita gun deaths and per capita gun possession.  No other nation comes close.  We're Number One!

The symptom/effect is the shameful number of people killed, maimed and wounded by gun violence every day, month, year, etc.

The root of the problem/the cause is the vast number of firearms available/in circulation and the absurdly easy ability to get even more.  Don't play the crazy-people card.  It's not the mere existence of angry, frustrated people -- it's angry, frustrated people who are heavily armed, or can be at the drop of a hat.  (Would you prefer your pissed-off assailant with a firearm or without?)  And expand your thinking beyond the mentally disturbed.  This has become a sheer numbers problem.  More guns in circulation equals more gun violence/gun death.  Period.  A direct correlation, indisputable.

The classic Time cover from 1968.
A growing problem then, an epidemic now.

We've gone too far in the wrong direction.  Our goal must be to reverse course, to bend the gun violence curve and reduce the carnage by working to reduce the number of guns in circulation.  Progress would be decades-slow but that's OK, as long as we stick to it.  We're talking background checks, registration, fees, buybacks, turn-ins, pricing, taxation, bans on military weapons, no high-capacity magazines, no bulk ammo purchases, no gun show loophole, insurance, testing, licensing, renewals, and civil and criminal penalties, etc.  Make it harder to get a gun, not easier.

There is no perfect solution.  Gun violence will never be eliminated, but it can be greatly reduced -- if we want it to be, if we take all reasonable measures.  And we should start.  It's time.

Maybe you're crazy, or criminal, or a terrorist.  Or maybe you're a safe and responsible gun owner, a regular model citizen.  Either way, here's the simple truth:

Guns don't kill people, they just make it easier.  And the more guns we have, the easier it gets.

Can we agree that reducing the number of lethal weapons is desirable?