I first rejected the idea of writing about the mass killings and scores of wounded in Colorado last week. There was already so much being said, and emotions were running high in the country, as we tried to come to grips with yet another mass killing. This horrible incident is another in a line of killings that seem to confound reason, and leave us all wondering why this happens. In just the few years alone, we have seen the Columbine killings, the Virginia Teach massacre, the Fort Hood rampage, and the mass shooting in Tucson that left six dead and a sitting Congresswoman terribly injured. Each time this happens the nation weeps, the nation angers, and the politicians bluster- fearful of saying anything meaningful. The news reporters spend about two or three weeks speculating about the crimes and the criminals. Many of us are caught up in the water-cooler conversations or the earnest talks at family gatherings. We digest each new bit of information about the killers or their childhoods, then apply our best analytical thoughts in search of the reason why it happened. I thought I had nothing new to say, so why get in the conversation? Then it struck me- the reason to comment now is that in a few weeks we will have forgotten about this, like most of the incidents that came before it.
We have adopted an attention span so short that even the most horrific, shocking, and despicable acts fade from our consciousness very quickly. I would guess that most of us (me included) can't remember the name of the young man who shot Gabrielle Giffords and killed the folks in Tucson. You see, once the shock has passed, the dead are buried, and the survivors have resumed their lives, all we are left with is the disturbed young man who shot them and the cold comfort that he will never be free again. We have decided (as a culture) that anyone who can commit such a crime must be insane. We can only cope with these acts by saying they represent insanity- while at the same time loathing the "insanity" defence because we want accountability and punishment. We cannot understand such crimes, so we place the perpetrators in some other-worldly category that allows us to pass it off as too bizarre and impossible to fix. Because we've given these crimes this label we have, in a way, given ourselves permission to do nothing about it- and the mass killings continue.
I contend the insanity of these acts is more useful to us, than it is useful to the perpetrators who commit these awful crimes. As long as we believe that the people who commit these crimes "are so crazy" that no law or no regulation could have possibly stopped them, we can take comfort in never really examining aspects of our society that might have contributed to these events.
Lets step back for just a moment and look at the recipe for these mass killings. They all have the same ingredients. They are mostly committed by young, white men from middle or upper-middle class backgrounds. These young men are social outcasts- most with undiagnosed mental health problems. Others around them note bizarre or unusual behavior, but little or nothing is ever done about it because they stay just on the fringe of functioning. They all have some sort of delusional thinking, but are seen as being bright. And they have access to firearms that are legally obtained. So that's the recipe: Mentally deranged young men with access to massive amounts of fire-power. A friend of mine noted that "crazy is everywhere". In a complex society of over 310 million people such as ours, with so much personal freedom, the odds are good that "crazy" is just about everywhere. There is very little we can do to change that part of the recipe- so it makes sense to change the other part of the recipe. We can limit the availability of the other ingredient: firearms.
Guns in this culture are the sacred cow- Untouchable! The National Rifle Association has used incredible amounts of money and political influence to create the false notion that guns and freedom are completely synonymous and inseparable. There was a time when the NRA actually promoted gun control laws that were reasonable and appropriate. Those times are gone. The NRA is now so "absolutist" that they now promote the idea that any restriction (no matter how reasonable) is unacceptable. Once we get past the actual event- the most disturbing thing about the incident in Colorado is that James Holmes did not break any laws until he pulled the first pin on the gas canister and fired the first shot in that movie house. He was able to arm himself with a military assault rifle, semi automatic handguns, thousands of rounds of ammo, explosives and full tactical gear without ever breaking a law, or even coming to any one's attention. All the ingredients for this recipe were there -and they were all legal. Any lawmaker who dares to inject, even the slightest bit, of common sense into this debate (i.e limiting access to any weapon) will be targeted for defeat by the NRA. The promoters of this gun culture even have many of our fellow Americans convinced that we need more guns on the street in order to curb gun violence. There is not one legitimate bit of data that even remotely suggests that more guns will reduce gun violence- because "law abiding gun owners" will shoot the bad guys. That argument is child-like in its simplicity and it's incorrectness. We train police officers for years to respond to gun violence and they frequently make mistakes- yet we are told to believe that "some guy" with a concealed carry permit can just coolly and proficiently "take out" a crazed gunman with military weapons and body armour in a crowded, panicked, public setting. That is nonsense and it is dangerous thinking.
Every time one of these mass killings happen we have a fleeting conversation about limiting access to firearms. But then the NRA reminds us that "guns don't kill people- people kill people." This time we should actually have the conversation. But not just about the sensational killings that grab the national headlines- we should talk about all the gun killings. On 9-11-01 we lost 3000 people to terrorists. As a result we waged two wars over the last ten years-spent a trillion dollars on homeland security- and gave up a number of personal freedoms. Last year alone over 9000 people were murdered with guns and we can't even have a rational debate on this topic. (in Great Briton the number was 39 last year). The data is clear that every country in the western world that has strict and reasonable gun control laws has many times less gun violence incidents and gun fatalities than we do. The truth is that these are free and democratic societies too. The numbers and the raw data prove this point beyond doubt- but our culture ignores these facts in favor of false beliefs about the necessity of guns. That is our insanity plea. They say that doing the same thing over and over, and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity. Doing nothing (in the face of overwhelming evidence) over and over again while expecting a different result- is also insanity.
We must re-think the propaganda that "guns don't kill people....." In fact "people with guns kill people." Again the evidence is absolutely clear. In America we are eight times more likely to be killed by gun violence than any other developed country. In States with the highest gun ownership rates we also see the highest rates of gun fatalities from assault, and suicide with guns. There is a direct correlation between the easy availability and ownership of firearms and the deaths associated with them. In the sensational cases the "gun people" will tell you that the killer was so bent on killing-so disturbed, they would have found another way. Statistically that just doesn't hold up. Even if it did, we have to ask: why make it easy?
I am not arguing for abolishing all gun ownership in our country. There is a place for limited ownership of firearms. But our sensibilities about guns have been so skewed by the NRA, and the politicians they own, that we have lost our reason on this topic. When Ted Nugent has become the spokesman for American culture, and the authority on our safety- we have indeed accepted the insanity plea.
Gun ownership needs to be limited. Legitimate gun ownership cannot include assault weapons, extended ammo clips and magazines, and the host of other gun industry inventions, whose sole purpose is to kill as any PEOPLE as possible in the shortest time possible. I know there will be those who read this or other similar opinions and disagree entirely and very strongly. I only ask that those who hold those views do the research. Look at the options and weigh the consequences for a society such as ours. Getting rid of the assault weapons is a good place to start and a good first step on the road to a safer country- not a more dangerous one. Remember we lost 3000 on 9-11, but we've lost 99,000 since then to gun violence. Now compare our national responses. Reasonable people have to know that the numbers tell us we must start limiting the availability of guns and begin a cultural change that makes sense. If we can't- then we have accepted "insanity". We can be shocked - angered- or saddened when the next shooting happens- but we can't be surprised.
Thanks for looking in.
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