On Gun Control

The Surgeon General recently declared gun violence a public health crisis.  And that it is.

For too long we have allowed this outrage to persist under the guise that any action would be a violation of our 237-year-old constitution.  I doubt that our founding fathers intended that changed circumstances should forever be ignored. That’s why they provided for amendments, and we have had 27 of them.

Circumstances have radically changed over the years. When the constitution was written, we had modest police presence, no National Guard and a weak military. A ready, armed militia was deemed important to counter foreign threats and domestic abuses of power. The ‘arms’ back then were single shot muskets that could fire no more than 2 or 3 rounds per minute. Today, an AR-15, with a bump stock, can fire about 400 rounds per minute. Some magazines can hold 100 rounds and can be loaded in seconds.  Quite a different ball game – – – and who needs that firepower outside of the battlefield?

Gun violence is the leading cause of pre-mature death in the U.S.  So far in 2024 there have been 34 school shootings, 9 in colleges & 25 in K-12 schools with 16 dead and 38 injured. In year 2023 there were 42,967 gun-related deaths in America. As of April 30 this year, the GVA lists 5,043 gun homicides. Among 65 hi-income countries, the U.S. ranks highest in gun violence. I would rather that we ranked highest in primary education, longevity, and healthcare, but we don’t, and by a wide margin. 

Some would combat the problem in schools by arming the teachers, turning schools into armed fortresses, instead of dealing with the root problem by mitigating access to lethal weaponry by the criminal and unstable. Just as in the opioid crisis where too many see the solution as attacking the suppliers instead of concentrating on reduction of domestic demand. If there is no demand, supply will disappear. After a 1996 mass shooting, Australia quickly enacted responsible gun control measures. Today, the gun violence rate in Australia is one tenth of that in the U.S.

According to a CNN and SSRS Institute poll, 64 % of Americans are in favor of stricter gun control laws, but regrettably too many of our elected representatives are in the pocket of the powerful NRA. I am ashamed that those we have elected to look after the best interest of all of us have failed to agree on simple, no-brainer, legislation that would require more rigorous background checks to keep lethal weapons out of the hands of the irresponsible and to ban hi-capacity, rapid-fire weapons that have no place in a civil society. 

_ – – – Just the view of a common man