Gun Control.

I have been wanting to add my thoughts on this subject for a while, but it seems that we cannot get enough days from a high-profile mass shooting  for my words to seem too soon and not simply a response to the news cycle.

I believe there is a happy medium for this issue, but as per the usual modus operandi of both extremes, any variation other than full compliance with the said extreme idea leads to villainization of any disagreement.

Let me summarize my feelings before fleshing out each point in detail:

--Guns are here to stay.  Accept that.

--It is too easy to get a gun.  Unlicensed gun dealers don’t run background checks.   We have to fix that. 

--I grew up around hunters who used guns responsibly and didn’t go around killing people.  I never witnessed an instance of gun violence in my community of family and friends.  And, by the way--they voted mostly Republican.

--News cycles focus on a mass shooting by a deranged person, either radicalized as a white supremacist, radicalized as a Christian extremist, radicalized as a Muslim extremist, or with a mental condition.

--News cycles ignore the gun homicide rate in several US cities, some with the tightest gun control in the country.  Most of these people committing these gun crimes are not voting Republican.

--We must have strict background checks.

--We must keep people with mental illness and prior violent history from buying guns.

--The Second Amendment is just that—an amendment.

First, let’s tackle that last statement.  How does an amendment become a part of the Constitution?

Two-thirds of Congress must pass the proposal AND three-fourths of all states (either by legislature or constitutional vote) must ratify the proposal.

Can amendments be reversed?  Have they been?  Yes, and yes.

Consider prohibition—the 18^th amendment to the Constitution in 1920 made alcohol sales illegal in the US.  To make a long story short, that didn’t go over very well.  So, in the course of time, the 21^st amendment passed on December 5, 1933, which reversed the 18^th  amendment and made alcohol sales legal once again.

Could a similar repeal of the Second Amendment happen?

--Technically, yes.

Will a repeal of the Second Amendment happen?

--Not in our lifetimes.

We do, without question, need sensible gun laws:

--No one should be able to buy a gun without a reliable background check, and an appropriate waiting period.

--If private gun owners try to sell a gun, they should have to comply with said laws through methods yet to be determined.  You can’t just sell a car without a person registering it if they are going to use it, now, can you?  Guns should be the same.

--The military needs automatic weapons.  Private citizens do not need automatic weapons, or the ability to buy modifications to weapons to make them function as such.  Those should be illegal.

--Penalties for violating the above gun laws should be strong deterrents.

So, why does the media almost ignore the most worrisome, constant gun violence in cities?  I honestly don’t have a good answer for that.  But consider these statistics:

On October 1, 2017, a deranged killer ended the lives of 58 people in Las Vegas.  How many days did it take to have the same number of gun homicides this year in several American cities?  I’m glad you asked:

--Chicago, 58 gun homicides in 28 days

--Baltimore, 58 gun homicides in 68 days

--St Louis, 58 gun homicides in 70 days

--Philadelphia, 58 gun homicides in 105 days

--Kansas City, 58 gun homicides in 115 days

--Houston, 58 gun homicides in 118 days

--Detroit, 58 gun homicides in 121 days

The numbers keep going for large American cities, and this does not even include gun suicides. 
(NY Times, October 6, 2017)

My point is this:  We have a much deeper problem in this country than just the mass shooting that makes ratings in a news cycle.

Other mass killings have happened, including by plane, by big truck filled with fertilizer, by pressure cooker filled with explosives and nails, by car and truck driving into a crowd.  There isn’t a call for a ban of any of those devices or ingredients, but are they any less important or dangerous?  Do those victims deserve less focus on the methods?

This brings me to my second arm of addressing these mass killings:  It is part of the culture of this country to make the big news attention desirable in the twisted mind of these killers.  They know that they will go down in history, have their name repeated innumerable times, and have their own Wikkipedia page.  We as a country “celebrate” the perpetrator and all but forget the victims.  For that I hold our need for a 24-hour breaking news requirement responsible.

The third arm of addressing the mass killings is making mental health treatment more accessible and less taboo.  Until people feel that they have the resources and the support they need to address their personal problems, they will suppress them until they become like one of the pressure cookers used in ways that it was not meant to bring about destruction of innocent lives.

Folks, it’s more than just gun control.  It is about working together, not for a political agenda, but as a people willing to address the problem with one voice and work together for change. 

That means stricter gun laws.  That means that the Right should stop  denying that there is a problem with guns in this country.  That cheapens any valid points that you make advocating responsible gun ownership.

That means the news media and those watching must bringing the focus off of perpetrators of senseless violence.

That means mental health treatment and advocacy must be more accessible to all.

That means coming together as a people resolved to end this cycle of violence.

And, yes, that means that the left should not paint everyone who votes Republican as someone who desires or relishes these violent events.  Doing so cheapens any  valid points you try to make toward gun control.

Finally, here are two last points that I did not make earlier:

--I don’t own  and I never have owned a gun

--I may, soon, own a gun and obtain a legal carry permit.

--I will do so with a clear background check.

May our country find peace,

Anthony