Given the way that the Supreme Court currently interprets the Second Amendment, the deeply ingrained culture of gun ownership in this country, and the political power of the NRA, the sorts of rather definitive gun control measures that have vastly reduced homicide and suicide rates in civilized countries such as Australia, Britain, and Japan are out of the question in the U.S. If there is a major shake-up in Congress, the implementation of half-way measures such as waiting periods, background checks, and the banning of military-style assault weapons might eventually be achievable, but don’t expect this to have a major impact on the rate of gun-mediated homicides.
In light of the irrationality of much of the American population on this issue, I believe that the most useful thing we could do to decrease gun-related incidents would be to persuade people that keeping a gun in their home puts their entire family at much greater risk for death by homicide, accident, or suicide.
This isn’t just some liberal’s fantasy – it is the conclusion of careful medical epidemiology. Here is a selection of the pertinent research:
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You will note that the relatively definitive studies by Kellermann et al., published about 2 decades ago in the New England Journal of Medicine, conclude that, after statistical corrections for confounding factors (such as an arrest record, illicit drug use, or prior family violence reports), risk for homicide is nearly 3-fold higher, and risk for suicide is nearly 5-fold higher, in households containing guns.
Indeed, these and comparable findings were so disturbing to Republicans in Congress two decades ago that they blocked CDC funding for further such research.: http://www.thetakeaway.org/.... And it is still difficult to get funding for research of this type – one key reason you might not have heard of such research. This situation might be likened to congressman on the take from the tobacco industry banning government-funded research into the health effects of smoking.
The bottom line is, if you have some narcissistic fantasy that you are going to save your family from an armed intruder by having a gun in your possession, what you are actually achieving is to put your whole family at greater risk of being shot and killed. Here is the conclusion of one study: “For every time a gun in the home was used in a self-defense or legally justifiable shooting, there were four unintentional shootings, seven criminal assaults or homicides, and 11 attempted or completed suicides.”
The notion that most murders are perpetrated by career criminals is completely wrong – most murders are committed by people who are family, friends, or acquaintances of the victim, and who just snap. And there is no way of knowing whether you are capable of snapping in this way – until it happens. You don’t need a past history of psychiatric instability to go temporarily insane when placed under extreme psychological pressure. And if young children are in the home, accidental shootings represent a significant risk. Plus owing a gun makes it ever so quick and easy to commit suicide when you develop a (usually reversible) depression or have just had horrible luck.
I will note that a great many Americans have grown up in a hunting tradition. Owning firearms appropriate for use in hunting may add a great deal of enjoyment to their lives (as a vegan I look a bit askance at this, but to each his own), and may even contribute significantly to their diet. I wouldn’t expect dedicated hunters to give up their sport. But even they should realize that owning firearms does entail some risk to their families.
Fortunately, the percentage of homes in the U.S. containing guns is on the decline. I believe that this decline could be accelerated if it were widely understood that gun ownership is a health menace. I make a point of clarifying to my friends that - with the exception of people who have grown up with a hunting culture and own firearms suitable for use in hunting - I feel that anyone who keeps a gun in their home is either seriously ignorant or a real scumbag. (Naturally I also exempt policemen and security guards from this criticism.) If this point of view became more widespread, I’m sure that over the course of time home gun ownership would plummet, at least among people who aren’t inherently sociopathic or impervious to facts. And this could be expected to reduce gun-induced mayhem to a marked degree.