Here's the deal. Or perhaps an alternative interpretation as to why we Americans are so divided about so many social issues, the pro-gun or anti-gun subject being no exception. Perchance, very simply put, one of the reasons is a naïve yet reckless fear of change. Yes, reckless -- as in irresponsibly hindering basic human progress. However, in a world where everything HAS to change and WILL change, it is clearly causing us serious problems and disturbingly, it is costing us human lives as well. Too many of them. This naiveté impairs our ability to adapt and hence evolve both psychologically and socially as a species and consequently, the laws we implement in our society. Therefore, the continued resistance to change (this includes the climate change argument and many other important social dilemmas) in the face of so much evidence is astounding.
Adaptation or Extinction
We all know the infamous declaration ascribed to scientist Charles Darwin that says, "It is not the strongest species that survive, nor the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change." If that is true, then we as a society are doomed unless we ALL learn to grasp the concept of acceptance, change and ultimately adapt to the true needs of the people. It's an essential cognitive modification of our thinking here. If we keep ignoring the fact that our epic aversion to change dominates issues like the gun-law reform conversation, according to Mr. Darwin our days as a civilized society are numbered. Change or die! (he said it, not me).
In light of yet more mass murder shootings in the recent past, which has again brought the gun-law reform issue to the table, we are back to the same resistance to do anything about it. The death toll in mass murder shootings in the U.S. since Columbine in 1999 is shocking. Personally, I believed that after the Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre in late 2013, when 20 little children were murdered along with 6 adults by a mentally ill gun-man, we would see some type of reconsideration of this issue. Yet, no movement from lawmakers was made. Instead we got the typical groundswell of sympathy. But we don't need thoughts and prayers anymore, we need new legislation now. The clock is ticking until the next one occurs.
The GOP and many conservatives are really stuck on this and cannot see the forest for the trees. They are terrified to pull the camera back from the same old movie they have been watching for decades and adopt a wide-angle look at the panorama of the situation -the number of deaths, the mind-numbing statistics, the broken hearts and shattered lives. Accordingly, I assert that it's not only about people being afraid of losing their right to own a gun, but it's about fearing an imagined, calamitous revolution of change that spooks the heck out of many people.
In addition, let's not forget that we as a nation have done this before. This kind of large-scale societal change is no different than altering the landscape of our culture less than 100 years ago when we allowed women the right to vote. It is also no different than opening up our minds and changing our laws about civil rights in the 1960's. And most recently, and with equal and characteristically dragged out opposition, creating space in our traditional thinking by legalizing gay marriage. We adjusted then, so we can adjust again now. Consequently, in the same manner we now look back in disbelief at those closed minded times in our history, I want to believe that someday soon (like, NOW!) after we have cultivated some kind of gun law reform, we will look back in the near future and say things like, "Wow, we used to allow anyone to purchase a lethal weapon?" Or, "It was that easy to buy a firearm in those days? That's crazy!"
Another example of this averseness to human evolution is the tired and decaying rhetoric about outdated family values and the preservation of traditional marriage. We still continue to hear this archaic dialogue from conservatives, notwithstanding the reality. The reality being that for better or worse, the complexion of the American family has drastically transformed over the last few decades (it's embarrassing to have to point this out in the year 2015). As we all know, the American family has evolved into single-parent families, same-sex families, transgender families, bi-racial, blended, etc. Again, whether we like it or not, for better or worse, THAT is life! It is incumbent upon us to adjust.
However, many conservatives, including politicians -especially fundamentally religious ones -deny this reality and keep living in a world of fantasy. Republican politicians like Ted Cruze, Marco Rubio and Mike Huckabee to name a few. Yikes! These guys act like they've been living under a rock for the last 20 years despite their prestigious law degrees and years of experience in public service. They are so out of touch with the true needs of our society that they appear delusional. And most alarmingly, this perpetuation of the delusion (believing in things that are not there) oppresses people and stunts the normal progression of our culture. Yet they remain obstinate (Note: It's not stupidity, it's fear of change).
Remember, everything and I mean everything is in constant, unavoidable flux. Even the earth, the planet we call home, is a living breathing entity that is evolving and shifting as we speak. Nothing can stay the same including humans. So we have to consider our life circumstances and everything we are afraid to embrace the same way. We need to stop trying to control the inevitabilities of life's ever mutable aspects. When we DO try to control the inexorable advancements in our society, it's the equivalent of trying to suppress colossal tectonic plate movements beneath the ground we stand on. So, we naturally must evolve too. Anxiety and excessive worry is not caused by fear of the future, it's caused by trying to control the future.
So, call me crazy but possibly the pro-gun or anti-gun problem is not just a political issue anymore. Perhaps, we should modify the conversation and call it a basic survival of the species issue. Why not? Nothing else is working. We are flat and immovable on this issue. If we don't grow and adapt to the changing times of our country and in this case, if we don't change our laws about firearm accessibility, we could conceivably degenerate as a society and break off into such polarity and disunity that it could start to feel like a modern civil war. The United States of America would turn into the irreconcilable and Divided States of America all over again. Adaptation or extinction? Let's choose wisely, shall we?
As a psychotherapist, every patient that comes through my door wants to feel better. Why else would they come to see me? But for the last 21 years of being in practice, I have noticed that the only way a patient will get better is by altering their behavior around many of the issues they want to feel better about. That means making a firm and conscious commitment, despite trepidations and self-doubt, to at first implement small and measurable changes in their lives. Without this eventual shift, the treatment moves at a snail's pace and often proves ineffective. So, regardless of what they are grappling with, it is always apparent that one of the reasons they are so unhappy is they have stopped evolving. They have stopped opening their minds up to new things and ideas, they have lost their desire to learn, they have ceased taking risks, and they have distanced themselves from loving others and from being loved in return.
Well, it's the same with our nation's problems. We are a sick and divided nation because many of us fear this same change. Hence we try to control it by preserving traditional thinking. But just because it's traditional doesn't make it right or healthy.
Lastly, maybe the nonpolitical method is indeed the best new approach to restart the "guns in America" discourse. Whether it's acknowledging our epic fear of change as I just discussed, or looking at this as a public health issue instead. Quite possibly our lawmakers can make gun safety as effective as other public safety crusades have been in the past. In a recent U.S. News and World Report article, Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director for the American Public Health Association says, "There are ways for us in a nonpolitical manner to make people safer with their firearms in a society. We did it for car accidents. We made cars safer, we made people safer driving their cars and we made the environment safer."
Georges and Charles might be on to something!