US Gun Violence Goes through the Roof

 U.S. Gun Violence Goes through the Roof

• May 14, 2022: armed teen kills 10 people in racist attack in Buffalo, NY.

  

• May 24, teenager guns down 2 elementary school teachers and 19 children in Ulvade, Texas, marking the 27th school shooting this year.

• July 4, 21 year-old opens fire, killing 7 people in Chicago Independence Parade.

Gun violence: homicides, violent crimes, attempted suicides, suicides, unintentional deaths and injuries, are skyrocketing, while the Supreme Court stirs the pot. Ignoring all precedent, last month (6/23), it struck down a New York State law requiring people wanting to carry a concealed handgun in public to have a legitimate reason to do so such as ones place of work or other “proper cause.” Not anymore, now law abiding NY citizens can freely keep and carry a firearm outside the home. The Supreme Court’s ruling will impact gun control laws in California and other progressive states like Massachusetts, New Jersey, Maryland, and Hawaii. Predictably, more people will carry guns resulting in more gun violence and gun-related deaths. 

In response to the clear majority of Americans expressing outrage from across the political divide, fifteen Republicans joined the Democrats to rush through a palliative, a watered down gun safety bill. Making it harder for teenagers to buy a gun, adding intimate partners to the list of domestic abusers, with the caveat that first time offenders who keep a clean record for a few years will be able to buy another gun. It also allotted $750 million to help states implement red flag laws and mental health intervention and prevention programs.

Republicans blame gun violence on mental health problems, Democrats say we should ban assault weapons and high capacity magazines and require more background checks. 

Guns have become the number one cause of death among US children aged 1-19, “killing more people than vehicle crashes, drug overdoses, or cancer” (Center for Disease Control and Prevention report, 2020). Suicides make up more than half of all gun deaths. According to Duff-Brown (see, Stanford Medicine, June 3, 2020), “men who own handguns are 8 times more likely to commit suicide than men who don’t, women who own handguns are 35 times more likely than women who don’t.” Dresier (“Guns and Suicide,” Harvard Public Health) documented in places where exposure to guns is higher, more people die from suicide. Deaths by suicides is higher in rural than urban areas. It has been said that “rural people may be more at risk of committing suicide, due to having mental health problems associated with being isolated or having a ‘go it alone’ attitude, but they are more likely to die, if they become suicidal, because they are using guns.” She showed, “there is no difference in mental illness or in terms of the proportion of people saying they had seriously considered suicide.” Experts say, while suicide risk does increase in people with mental illnesses, there are other environmental factors involved such as availability of guns and reporting of suicides in the media. Just as people with a mental illness may be more prone to committing acts of violence, including self-harm and other forms, the fact remains, the vast majority of people with mental illnesses are not violent.

 

Over the past decade, a number of states have done away with gun licensing requirements. Wikipedia lists 25 that have done so. A person denied a gun license in California, can cross the border and buy a gun in Arizona, or a ghost gun online. The sad emerging truth is anyone who wants a gun can get one.

Kathy Nadeau