An old Nevada rancher refuted me, “Fact checkers? Who believes them?” Reference to Pulitzer Prize credibility danced on the tip of my tongue. But why bother? We used to have a generally accepted consensus on what makes a fact. Now algorithms serve up information fine-tuned to our revealed preferences, making received truth a matter of confirmation bias. What does this have to do with the hard numbers of gun death?
US statute counts three or more dead as a mass killing. Part of that is thugs taking care of business, but they shoot bystanders too. Over half of US gun death is suicide. Most suicides kill only themselves. Some suicides kill others too in a manic scenario, placing their self-annihilation in the mass shooting column. Some shooters believe in a purpose, however deluded, to shape the world.
Estimates suggest private owners have up to four hundred million guns in the US. Household gun ownership was 36% in 1950, 52% in 1970, and 45% now. You can order a palette-load of ammo delivered; 50,000 bullets, no questions asked. Guns in America is like the weather; you can enjoy the seasonal sports, complain about it, dress for it or stay home. Guns aren’t going away.
But things have changed. According to Pew Research, there were 3 “active shooter incidents” in the year 2000, and 61 in 2021. As of June, just halfway through 2023, Wikipedia counts 340 mass shooting events. Why has mass shooting become a crisis? I do not think it is just about too many guns, as they have been with us since a long time and the overall homicide rate is declining. Rather, heartless manipulations and exploitations set us up. Such a broad statement points to significant spikes in the background noise; the gestalt as explanation.
Celebrity, ubiquitous sex, images and influencers fill many men with false expectations. Murky digital currents purposely flood them with insidious material, disinformation and grievance. Failure and isolation compounding emotional trauma is a common thread among mass shooters. These frustrated men usually have “tells” before they act, if only we paid attention to them.
But mental health is in the same bag as the rest of health care, as a profit center. The public-funded mental health services are inadequate to reach people harboring violent urges.
The homeless crisis is another clue. This is not blind economic evolution; powerful interests control the legal framework. Regulations and zoning restrict the housing supply. About 15~20% of home sales go to investors for short-term occupancy like Airbnb. The rental housing pool shrinks and rents rise. The financialized economy sent jobs overseas to low wages and less regulation. The trend of wealth transfer to the upper 1% is shocking, especially as concerns the working poor. Strip-mined of equity, about 1/3 of Americans could not cover a $400 cash emergency. The streets are home to those squeezed out. Research shows a correlation of income inequality to mass shootings.
People come unstuck. Terrorists of whatever stripe dip into the pool of angry people and groom those who carry that violent purpose to shape the world. Right wing ideologies motivate the largest number of political killings in the US, an upward trend.
Background checks, waiting periods, red flags and other sensible restrictions can reduce the hardware available for mayhem. Partisan politics limits this common sense approach.
These sorry trends, a sampling from the catalog, share the through-line of heartless greed and power-seeking. Wealth is inherently a good and natural thing. But today’s mega-wealth legislates the tax code and promotes deeply antisocial and undemocratic schemes. And so, some 50 years ago a loose cabal began funding a quiet long-range program to influence the vote and capture the levers of government. Politicians and editorialists get talking points from ostensibly non-profit think tanks. These partisan outfits, and the appalling Citizens United decision giving flesh-and-blood rights to immortal corporations, allow unlimited anonymous tax-free money to promote the agenda. Media moguls like Murdoch, Sinclair, Musk and Zuckerberg are not impartial.
The agenda rides upon confirmation bias. Tell voters what they want to hear. Gun culture allies with religious, racial, cultural and social ideologies, arousing authoritarian and extremist voters. Acquire the city council, school board, local judiciary, outspend on primaries and elections to take the state government. From there, gerrymandering and targeted voting restrictions secure the grip on power. The Electoral College is the grand prize.
This is not a fevered conspiracy theory. Qualified journalists name the participants and reveal their program, as in Jane Mayer’s Dark Money. Long-game strategy hijacked the Republican Party to concentrate wealth, to subvert the Supreme Court, to elect ignorant hacks, wingnuts, fanatics, racists and outright jackals, and to support insurrection. Mass shootings are mere collateral damage of this contemptuous scheme to grasp power and riches.
The January 6 insurrection was a test run. Gun manufacturers and wealthy players feed the ecosystem of interest groups, lobbyists and politicians promoting resolute gun culture, asserting a 2nd Amendment right of self-defense against supposed government tyranny. The reality is a heavily armed minority eager to impose an extreme agenda upon the majority. One fifth of gun owners have 65% of the guns. University of Chicago research shows about 12 million voters think violence is justified to put Trump in the White House again. This is more than enough to run a terrorist insurgency. Whoever influences the gun polity wields a credible threat of violence, an ace-in-the-hole to force compliance. Trump’s support hardens after two impeachments and four criminal indictments. Death threats became common currency in our political discourse, even menacing the judiciary.
We are at the crux. Media manipulations empower lies, hypocrisy, naked greed, electoral usurpation, armed militias, wealthy sociopaths, racists, fanatics and cynical opportunists. It is a toxic recipe for fascist overthrow. The psychoses that spiral into mass shootings will grow as we continue on this path.
Every local, county or state election counts, as authoritarians exploit every increment of acquired power. Can we avert democracy’s collapse? Get informed. Get involved. Donate to progressive candidates across the country. Join up with the Indivisible Project. Volunteer to write post cards. For God’s sake, before it’s too late, do something, anything, your part large or small, to make the majority’s voice and will into our national project. Before it’s too late.
See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V-oR5VazPhw
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on Supreme Court corruption.
See https://indivisible.org/