This morning, as I was getting ready to go to work with the TV news on in the background, I heard the anchor say, "Police are still seeking a motive for the deadly shooting rampage in the Carson City IHOP that claimed four lives."
And that got me thinking. Are we all too wrapped up with figuring out the motivation and mentality of murderers -- so much so that we overlook the real opportunities to prevent these tragedies from happening?
So, as a little exercise, I decided to Google the phrase, "still looking for motive." The results were striking.
Even though my search did not include any words like "murder," "shooting," "gun," "death," or even "police," nine of the ten results on the first page were news reports about gun deaths (one was about a stabbing). That alone is testimony to the incredible level of violence we tolerate in this country. The circumstances ranged from drive-by shootings to two murder-suicides. In every case, it seems local media is focused on trying to determine the motive.
Yet, literally none of these news reports focused on the role that the presence of the gun played in nine of the ten stories.
Of course, I know it's the job of the police to look for a motive; but, in the name of prevention, I think we all need to take a long hard look at the other factors that result in the loss of life, especially when they're this obvious.
Now I know that some political activists (of which I am very decidedly not one) may already be screaming at their computers, "Guns don't kill people. People kill people." And, to some extent that's true, and it's always worthwhile to ask ourselves what makes people kill and what we can do about it.
But, it seems, the big question when the news reports another gun death is always "why?" And that hasn't gotten us very far toward solving a problem that claims 35,000 lives every year. At the very least, we also should also be asking, "how?"
Yes, people kill people. But overwhelmingly, it's people with guns. Just purely on the basis of public safety, it is irresponsible of us not to take an honest look at the role that the presence of guns plays too.
If we did -- and we wouldn't even need to scratch too far below the surface -- we would see that just by doing things like educating parents about preventing youth access to firearms, and providing kids with the inspiration and resources to report weapons and threats, we can prevent more than 1,000 youth murders, homicides and accidents every year!
It shouldn't be too much to ask. Both the Brady Center and the NRA, considered on opposite sides of the political "gun debate" must agree that saving children's lives is a priority. Instead of focusing exclusively on figuring out the motives of people disturbed enough to commit murder in the first place, after their victims are already dead, why not also focus on some of the very real things we can do to prevent those deaths in the first place?
Center for Gun Policy and Research - Johns Hopkins Bloomberg ...
N.R.A. Declines to Meet With Obama on Gun Policy - NYTimes.com
Evaluating Gun Policy - Brookings Institution
Obama Administration To Hold Gun Policy Meetings With Goal Of ...
You are off by 5,000. If you are going to rail against firearms, at least get your data correct.
There were 2,854 violence related injury deaths for persons under 18 (at 18, one is an adult), 1,520 firearms related ( 4 per day), I know this is about half of what the Brady Center claims but they include "children" up to 19 years old. The total includes 1,038 homicide, 325 suicide, 112 unintentional, 36 undetermined intent, 9 legal intervention.
As I pointed out previously,
"The Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program teaches children in pre-K through third grade four important steps to take if they find a gun. These steps are presented by the program's mascot, Eddie Eagle®, in an easy-to-remember format consisting of the following simple rules:
If you see a gun:
STOP!
Don't Touch.
Leave the Area.
Tell an Adult."
http://www.nrahq.org/safety/eddie/
The NRA started this program in 1998, I haven't heard anything about the Brady Center's ideas, besides banning guns of course.
It is truly unfortunate that there is so much stifgma and ignorance surrounding mental health issues. Oh! And the criminal skin-flinty allocation of funds on mental health, on every level (parity? What parity?).
http://webappa.cdc.gov/sasweb/ncipc/mortrate10_sy.html
It shouldn't be too much to ask. Both the Brady Center and the NRA, considered on opposite sides of the political "gun debate" must agree that saving children's lives is a priority."
If only there was some way to convey this to children...
"The Eddie Eagle GunSafe® Program teaches children in pre-K through third grade four important steps to take if they find a gun. These steps are presented by the program's mascot, Eddie Eagle®, in an easy-to-remember format consisting of the following simple rules:
If you see a gun:
STOP!
Don't Touch.
Leave the Area.
Tell an Adult."
http://www.nrahq.org/safety/eddie/
The NRA started this program in 1998, I haven't heard anything about the Brady Center's ideas, besides banning guns of course.
Basically they become predators roaming loose in their communities influencing others with similar non-parenting situations to bond together (gangs) where they wreak havoc. Until some way is found to increase parenting skills, instill self discipline and some sort of empathy for their community, the epidemic of violence and gun violence will continue unabated.
We should pass new laws banning guns! Then, we will convert the United States into a crime and violence free paradise.
Just like Mexico, or socialist enclaves like Chicago and Washington, DC...
Although something could be done to make the manufacturers keep track of where each serial number ends up to target those selling guns to people ineligible to purchase them!
Accrodding to the CDC, from 1999 to 2007 (last year of final data), the highest number was 31,224. The average for those years was 29,986.
When you restrict these deaths to violent crimes IOW homicides (not including legal interventions), the highest number in any of those years was 12,791. The average was 11,792.
The firearm did not "play" a role. It was an object used.
"But, it seems, the big question when the news reports another gun death is always "why?" And that hasn't gotten us very far toward solving a problem that claims 35,000 lives every year."
For over 75 years gun control advocates have been increasingly blaming the firearm and passing more and more restrictive gun control laws, and that hasn't done much to solve the problem.
If people focused more on the actual underlying causes of violence and less on the object used, then perhaps we could actually make some headway.
As to lambasting the media, one can also make the case that they focus too much on the firearms, very frequently reporting incorrect information and exaggerating the type and capability of the firearm, an approach actually advocated by some gun control advocates and organizations. For example, it is not at all uncommon to see a TEC-9 (often misspelled Tech-9) incorrectly called an assault rifle, a machine gun, a sub-machine gun, or a machine pistol. Hollow-point bullets are often incorrectly called "cop killers". Low power centerfire rifle rounds are often called "armor piercing".