“Son, you’ll do all right in this world if you just remember that when you talk you are only repeating what you already know—but if you listen you may learn something. - J. P. McEvoy.
Last week I asked the question: "
What can we do as a society to reduce incidents of gun violence?" I left it open-ended to promote dialogue and include a wide spectrum of solutions for the gun violence problem that's unique to the United States.
For every 100,000 people in the United States, there are 3.21 firearm homicides. In Canada that number is .51, and in the United Kingdom it's .07. This is clearly cultural. Looking at those numbers, it shouldn't matter what side of the gun violence debate you are on. We have a problem with gun violence, and that's something that should not even be up for debate. The question is: What do we do about it?
There was a wide range of answers last week. Some were insightful, and others—well, this being the Internet, you get the idea. One thing I did learn in the past couple of weeks is how easily some gun rights supporters are able to derail conversations. You know the drill: "Knives, baseball bats, steel pipes, etc. kill people, why don't you ban them!" That seems to be a rather popular tack taken by gun rights advocates—not just here, but in almost any forum where these debates take place. It is a weak analogy. Yes, there are homicides committed in which weapons other than guns are used. Yes, you could kill someone with a guitar. However, a guitar is intended to make music. A gun is made to kill. Knives, baseball bats, and steel pipes all have primary uses that do not involve taking a life. So gun rights advocates: Please stop with this argument. I would also suggest that in the aftermath of a mass shooting you don't come out with, "If only someone had a gun." Just stop. It is crass, and shows no empathy for the victims of senseless violence.
I would be remiss if I didn't mention the unreasonable arguments made by gun control advocates. Stop saying you are coming for their guns. I know you are passionate about this, but it is just not realistic. There are solutions to the problem of gun violence in America. Saying you want to take guns away from them only stokes the fears of gun owners and serves to close down any reasonable discussion.
That being said, there was some very good discussion on ways to reduce gun violence. One item that came up several times in last week's comments was that if you own a gun, you should be required to have liability insurance. Without liability insurance, you would be unable to purchase new firearms or ammunition.
Read on for more proposed solutions.
Another suggestion given needs to become a reality before any progress can be made toward reducing incidents of gun violence. When I was a child during the late 60s and through the 70s, drunk driving was somewhat acceptable—even encouraged. This began to change in the early 80s with MADD (Mothers Against Drunk Driving). Drunk driving is no longer socially acceptable, but that shift in public opinion did not happen overnight. It took time—but it did happen. Today, the vast majority of Americans would not even think of drunk driving, and the legal and social consequences of drunk driving can be severe. If you're driving drunk it's no longer an accident: It's a crime.
We can apply this to firearms by no longer calling shootings accidental. If your firearm goes off and shoots someone, or a bullet from your gun goes through a wall, you should be held accountable. If a toddler picks up your handgun and it goes off, you are no longer a responsible gun owner and you should be charged with a crime. If you are the vice president of the United States and you shoot your hunting partner in the face, you should go to jail for being an irresponsible gun owner. In other words, if your guns are not locked up and secured—and something happens, whether you are there or not—you are responsible for what happens with that gun.
Another common theme in the comments was that background checks need to be universal. This should apply whether it is a private sale, gun show, or at a firearms dealer. No loopholes at all. We also need to make it mandatory and simple for health professionals to report a patient who they feel is not mentally stable, and have that information go into the background check system.
Funding for studies on gun violence needs to be restored. It makes it awfully hard to fix a problem if you do not understand what's causing it.
One of the best comments in last week's diary was written by TheBigKahuna. I am re-posting it here in its entirety:
As someone who has grown up in the South and has been around guns most of my life and who has friends and relatives who own numerous guns, I am no "gun-banning" liberal.
Having said that, however, there is absolutely no excuse for doing nothing.
I propose the following:
- Mandatory liability insurance or mandatory bond for gun owners.
- Mandatory registration/licensing of all handguns and all long guns which have more than a 10-round capacity.
- Mandatory periodic proficiency training for those how insist on carrying a firearm on their person.
- Increased taxes on ammunition to fund public awareness campaigns and health costs due to firearms-related injuries/deaths.
- Increased funding for mental/emotional health and intervention programs (i.e., "at-risk" youth).
- Increased funding for research into firearms-related violence as both a public health issue and a public policy issue.
- Mandatory universal background checks for ALL sales.
- Remove the liability exemption from the firearms industry.
- Baseline federal law that defines requirements/responsibilities for concealed-carry on a national basis. In other words, no more patchwork of laws.
Do I expect any of these to be 100 percent effective in preventing future gun-related violence? No. And anyone who proposes any kind of solution claiming that is lying.
The best we can do is work to reduce/minimize gun violence.
Sadly, considering the state of our culture he is correct: The best we can do is work to reduce/minimize gun violence. If we ever want to eliminate gun violence we do need a cultural shift, one in which violence is not seen as the solution to a problem.
I would like to thank everyone for participating last week. Without your participation this diary would not be here. Let's continue the discussion in the comments.