Good morning,
“THE INSANITY MUST STOP!!!!” So begins the email I received Wednesday morning from Brad Mindlin, regarding the latest in a spate of mass killing in America, this time of defenseless children and their teacher, after the perpetrator shot his grandfather in the face (presumably at close range).
We have 120.5 guns per 100 people in America. Chew on that for a bit. This compares with Canada, the “second place finisher” at 34.7 , 19.6 for France, and .3 for Japan. We are an outlier.
We have a murder rate of 3.4 gun murders per 100,000 people. “Second place” is 0.6 per 100,000 for Canada. We apparently are using these guns to kill other people an awful lot.
EXCUSES, EXCUSES
I have been part of an exchange with a conservative college friend about gun control. His arguments boil down to (a) “guns don’t kill people—people do”; (b) the proliferation of guns is not a root cause of the increase in mass shootings and gun related deaths (this, despite a correlation between our being the most heavily armed developed economy with the highest per capita incidences of mass gun violence), (c) this is all about mental illness (despite our society taking little action in recent years to address those with mental health issues), (d) there already are restrictions on sales of guns to felons (which apparently are of mixed effectiveness), (e) it’s impossible to use mental illness as a criterion for denying access to weapons, because information about mental health is private (not sure that’s right…), (f) we’ve tried restrictions on gun purchase and ownership before and “they just don’t work” (I view this as the “why bother; it’s too hard” argument), (g) the problem we have in this country is “with young men” and our inability to socialize them, and (h) if you want to limit guns “there is a constitutional path” to do so.
As I reread the list of objections to meaningful gun control, as summarized above, I am struck with the sophistry and unwillingness to deal with the likely causes of the meaningfully greater gun violence in America or to see the correlation between the number of guns with their usage.
My friend uses the “well, just amend the Constitution” argument. Easily said—all you gun control freaks should just get together to amend the Constitution (setting aside that the “second amendment” right exists only through ideologically motivated judges’ tortured reading of that amendment ). Let’s be clear that there is no path to a constitutional amendment. We will never have the super-majorities necessary to amend the Constitution on any issue in our lifetimes and with our current political elites.
As to the reference to our inability to deal with “the socialization of young men,” this is a red herring. Is he pointing toward the disproportionate commission of crimes by minority youth in underserved communities? If so, he’s right that we need to deal with that. But let’s remember that the vast majority of mass shootings coming from disaffected, racist, white men. Or his he talking about young white men who feel disconnection, abandonment, futility and grievance because society has left them behind? These are the profile of much of the mass shooting cohort, those with minimal job skills and poor education, fueled by the rhetoric of “replacement theory” and fear of the other. If so, he’s also right. We need to deal with that as well. But it doesn’t change the need for effective gun regulation.
I find it ironic and disturbing that many of the same people who resist gun control of almost any type also share seemingly conflicting views:
They want better policing and less violence. They are all for “law and order,” but are unwilling to commit the resources to reduce the proliferation of guns and ammunition.
They value every life from the moment of conception (but apparently aren’t prepared to protect those lives after birth—either by reducing gun violence or providing better health care and access to early childhood education)
They complain that our schools are failing, yet don’t want to fund them and don’t see the irony of how much time is taken away with “open shooter drills.”
WHAT CAN WE DO TO REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE
While we lead the world in deaths per capita from mass shootings, this represents only a small fraction of gun deaths annually. Many are accidents when a family member finds a loaded gun, a gun is used in a crime, or someone commits suicide. We can do several things right now that could reduce gun deaths. I am not optimistic that our present leadership, in both parties, can mobilize to make this a priority:
1. Reduce the number of guns. Make gun ownership as difficult to obtain as a driver’s license, but add in a background check. If one has more of something, it is axiomatic one will use them.
2. Require trigger locks and gun safes. Prosecute owners if their guns are used in crimes.
3. Reduce the amount of ammunition that can be purchased.
4. Require that all sales require registration, including between individuals and at gun shows.
5. Raise the minimum age to purchase guns.
6. Restrict the ability to carry guns in a vehicle (after all, the very use of the vehicle is a privilege and not a right).
7. Eliminate open carry everywhere.
8. Restrict violent “gun based” games from platforms accessible to children.
9. Get rid of the statutory protection of gun manufacturers from suits in connection with killings.
Two other “big things” we can do right now is demand that our politicians and media personalities cease the violent rhetoric perfected by Mr. Trump. We have to stop allowing the use of violent language and violent memes that encourage people toward violence. The second thing is to reduce hate speech on-line. If you want to see what it looks like, check out www.goyimdefenseleague.com. This is the group that was harassing people in Beverly Hills and West Hollywood the other day.
Let’s be clear—many of these murderers are frequent visitors to hate sites. Many have been sold dangerous conspiracy theories (e.g., pedophiles at pizza joints, “replacement theory” that a cabal of liberals and Jews are trying to replace red-blooded Americans with immigrants, etc.). It is like a chemistry experiment. The ingredients are (a) mental imbalance or susceptibility to suggestion, (b) the motivation to act, as powered by media and politicians, and (c) lots of weapons and ammunition.
There is so much more to do. Here is a great updated article by Nicholas Kristoff on gun control and the demonstrated correlation of gun control with reduction in violence: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2017/11/06/opinion/how-to-reduce-shootings, which includes some excellent data: html?campaign_id=9&emc=edit_nn_20220525&instance_id=62320&nl=the-morning®i_id=56061373&segment_id=93286&te=1&user_id=a8e87691d8819ad3cc52b94b08261ca5
NO MORE “THOUGHTS AND PRAYERS”
The words of Ron Stern on this subject:
“The rabidly racist and antisemitic idea that immigrants, people of color, and Jews are intentionally and deviously destroying America’s essence is at the root of white supremacist terrorism. It is the ideology that drove the murders of innocents at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh, the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, and at the Chabad in Poway. It drove the killing at the Walmart in El Paso, and of course, the most recent atrocity at the Tops grocery in Buffalo. In 2021 alone, the Anti-Defamation League recorded 19 incidents of white supremacist-driven mayhem, murder, and violence. This racist, antisemitic lie is endemic, pervasive, and most alarmingly espoused in a slightly sanitized (but still recognizable) version by a number of influential politicians and mainstream TV personalities.”
FINALLY, A WISH
Brad Mindlin closes with a few simple desires:
I want children to be at school safely without parents being anxious if they will come home safely.
I want people to be able to go to supermarkets and shopping safely without concern.
I want people to be able to go to the houses of worship of their choice with fear.
I want Americans to be safe and be able to live in the land of the free.
Have a good day,
Glenn
From the archives:
Among the critical questions that must be asked of every Republican lawmaker is some form of the following questions: “Are you saying that mental illness stops at our nation’s borders and that other (western) nations don’t have people who are mentally ill? Isn’t it true that the only difference between us and these other nations is that they don’t allow anyone to walk into a store and buy a gun, especially not an assault weapon? Wouldn’t it stand to reason that if we enacted laws like Canada, England, France, Germany, Japan and other industrialized nations that our gun violence would be reduced?