Gun Crazed Americans

Gun Crazed Americans

            Robert A. Levine  4-25-23

What is it about America that makes a portion of its populace so avidly love guns? With all the injuries and deaths in our nation as the result of guns, one would think there would be an aversion to guns. But no! The leading cause of death among children and teenagers is not some esoteric infectious disease but the result of guns. This includes both homicides and suicides. There are more gun deaths in the United States than in all other advanced societies combined. What is wrong with us?

All the mass shootings that have occurred in schools and public places in the last two decades have done nothing to permanently restrict the number of guns in circulation. In fact, though there are more guns than people in our nation, sixty million more weapons were bought by Americans in the last three years. So many of the deaths caused by guns are the result of mistakes by the shooters, hitting the wrong target or mistaking the person shot for a criminal. In just the last two weeks we have had two deaths and a serious injury caused by gun owners imagining they were being home invaded when people have turned into the wrong driveway. A simple mistake results in death. And it is possible the shooters will face no criminal charges if they believed they were at risk and were protecting their homes.

Our romance with guns is based on the Constitution’s Second Amendment which the Supreme Court interpreted as allowing civilians to possess unlimited guns. However, the Second Amendment is certainly open to interpretation and could indicate that gun ownership should be limited to members of organized militias. But guns have now been part of American history and folklore since before the Revolution and it would be impossible for the government to ban the hundreds of million guns that are now out there. In fact, many of the gun owners believe conspiracy theories and keep their guns to protect themselves from government intrusion. For some, guns are a reaffirmation of a man’s masculinity, even though women are also gun owners. The supposedly high crime rate is another reason that people own guns to protect themselves in case they encounter criminals. But as we have seen, they are likely to shoot innocent people as much as criminals. An Opinion article in the New York Times on Sunday noted that there were more than 4300 young people who died in America in 2020 from guns, while the Netherlands the previous year had two deaths that were gun related. According to the Brady Center, 321 people in the US are shot every day and 111 are killed daily. Gun violence costs the American economy at least $229 billion yearly. And the NRA and gun lobbyists ignore the statistics. Shocking, no! Crazy, yes!

We are not going to rid America of the proliferation of guns that has occurred. But we can take commonsense measures to reduce the carnage from guns. From 1994 to 2004, when assault weapons were banned, the number of mass shooting and deaths was down significantly according to the Department of Justice. This ban did not include weapons already possessed but the purchase of new assault weapons. It is time to ban all assault weapons as they are weapons of war and should not be in civilian hands. They can be repurchased by the government and no new ones sold. Obviously, Republicans are not going to support this no matter how many mass shootings occur. It will have to wait until the Democrats control both houses of Congress and the Presidency and can override or discard the filibuster.

The nation also needs to change the carry laws. The only people who should be allowed to carry guns on their person should be those who show they are in danger without them. Stand your ground laws should also be abolished as citizens thinking they are defending their property may kill others by mistake. Ghost guns made by computers should be banned as well with severe penalties to anyone who makes one. Background checks must also be strengthened significantly and a waiting period added before people can obtain guns.  All these measures will not end unnecessary gun deaths but they will greatly lessen the toll of lives taken. But will common sense prevail?

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America the Outlier

America the Outlier

            Robert A. Levine 1/24/23

Being an outlier nation can be either good or bad depending on the issue in question. With high GDP or per capita wealth it is obviously good being an outlier in a positive direction as America is. In terms of income inequality being high, it’s bad to be an outlier. In a number of areas such as cost of health care, availability of child care and various social programs, America is a negative outlier. However, probably the worst aspect of American life where the nation is an overwhelming outlier is in the number of gun deaths and mass shootings, where no other nation in the world is even close to the mayhem seen in America.

In fact, the next ten advanced nations added together do not match the annual number of gun deaths in America. The reason for the excessive number of gun deaths is simple. America has more guns per capita than any advanced nation. Actually, there are more guns in circulation in the U.S. than the number of people. And not only are there more guns, people have access to automatic weapons and enlarged magazines to augment the number of bullets a weapon can fire before it has to be reloaded. This allows more people to be killed when a gunman decides that he wants to become a mass killer for one reason or another. (Women are rarely involved in mass shootings.)

Domestic terrorists associated with white nationalist groups are one of the sources of mass killers, usually aimed at minority groups.  However, the two recent mass shootings in California show the disease has spread to Asian-Americans who previously might have been considered targets. However, the two largest groups of people involved in mass killings are mentally deranged individuals and criminal gangs, the latter often using guns to settle turf wars with other gangs. Domestic violence is another factor in mass shootings usually limited to family members.

Aside from mass killings, individual lives are often taken in criminal activities, personal vendettas, or from mentally disturbed individuals. There are also more gun deaths by suicide in America than in any other country. The answer to cutting down on the epidemic of gun deaths is straight forward: cut down on the number of guns. This is merely common sense, but the National Rifle Association, gun lobbies and right-wing zealots are opposed to any common sense measures to reduce gun deaths, claiming that “guns don’t kill people, people do.” They claim that the Second Amendment to the Constitution gives Americans the right to own an unlimited number of weapons of all types. However, the Second Amendment is ambiguous in its wording and could be interpreted in several ways, including that arms should be possessed by militia members. The Second Amendment was also written at a time when automatic weapons with extended magazines were not available and when ghost guns that are not registered could not be made by computers at home.

There is no reason for America to be an outlier with its number of gun deaths. Gun ownership should be limited to rifles for hunters and pistols for home self-defense, or for special situations to allow carry outside the home. The majority of Americans want automatic weapons, extended magazines and ghost guns banned and some surveys show that many gun owners feel the same way. But the power of the NRA, gun lobbyists and the right wing gun activists means that Americans will likely continue to kill Americans at an alarming rate and be an outlier in the civilized world.

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Common Sense vs. Politics on Gun Control

Common Sense vs. Politics on Gun Control

                        Robert A. Levine

There appears to be great hoopla among politicians in Washington over the new proposed gun control bill which will likely become law on a bipartisan basis. Unfortunately, it accomplishes very little because Republicans remain afraid of the gun lobby and the NRA. While it may put a crimp in the ability of 18 to 21 year olds to obtain guns instantly, they will still be able to get guns after an extended background check. The ‘red flag’ law may be of some value, but will depend on domestic partners, relatives or neighbors reporting someone as unsuitable to possess weapons. People may be reluctant to report individuals to the police because of repercussions if the weapons are not taken away or are returned after a certain period.

It is clear that the best way to prevent mass shootings is to ban assault weapons from the general public. While a case can be made for possession of pistols in the home for self-defense and rifles for hunting, there is absolutely no reason why civilians should be allowed to possess assault weapons or extended magazines. Assault weapons are weapons of war and large magazines allow more bullets to be shot at a faster rate without reloading. Why aren’t these weapons purposefully engineered for mass killings and quick killings during wartime banned for civilian use.

We all know why. Pure politics. The NRA and gun lobby gives campaign funds and advertises for those who support the easy purchase of assault weapons and advertises against those who want to make possession of assault weapons more difficult. During the ten years that an assault weapon ban was in force, from 1994 to 2004, mass killings were decreased, rising again when the ban was allowed to lapse. The initial ban on assault weapons was supported by Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter and received bipartisan backing in Congress.

Common sense tells us that if assault weapons and large magazines were unavailable to civilians, mass killings would decrease. America is the only developed nation in the world that allows possession of assault weapons by civilians, and gun deaths in America exceed those of any ten developed nations combined. The two major causes of death among young people are gun deaths and automobile accidents. It must also be emphasized that at the time the Second Amendment was written, assault weapons did not exist. The Founding Fathers relied on common sense when writing the Constitution and it is likely that the Second Amendment would have been altered if assault weapons had been invented by that time.

The goal of those in this nation who truly want to stop mass killings should be the complete elimination of assault weapons and large magazines in civilian hands. Polls have shown that the majority of the population agrees. Unfortunately, Republicans who refuse to ban assault weapons either lack common sense or are so dependent on support from the NRA and gun lobbyists, or are afraid of them, that they will not act in an appropriate manner to keep assault weapons out of civilian hands.

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