How Do We Get Ourselves Out of This Mess?
Stopping gun violence has to be a multi-pronged process.
PART 1: Pay Attention to the Facts
The news about the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas had barely broken, but many people had already divided themselves into the usual camps.
Camp A insisted that strict national gun laws and removing all “assault-style” weapons from shelves were the only ways to stop shootings. Camp B emphasized that our country’s supposed lack of mental health resources plays the most prominent role in these situations. A bit smaller than the other two camps, Camp C decried the prevalence of personal shooter video games and their effect on violent offenders.
We are naturally horrified by innocent people being murdered while shopping for groceries, as in Buffalo, or sitting in a classroom, as in Uvalde, and sadly many other places. But if we really pay attention, we realize that gun violence happens every day in many different ways.
Recently in Cleveland, a 14-year-old girl was shot and killed while lying in her bed. A car pulled into the driveway of her family home and someone in the car shot into the house.
In New York City, a 48-year-old man was fatally shot while riding the subway on a Sunday morning. He was on his way to brunch when he was murdered for no apparent reason.
Over Memorial Day weekend, 46 people were shot and nine killed in various incidents around Chicago.
Earlier this month, a native Chinese man barged into a Taiwanese church in Southern California and opened fire, killing one person and injuring five others. Authorities believe his hatred toward Taiwan was the motive for the shooting.
So far in 2022, there have been seven mass shootings in South Carolina, including one inside a mall over Easter weekend. In that incident, nine people were shot, and all of them survived.
In April, a Minnesota man shot and killed four of his family members, including a nine-year-old and a 12-year-old, before he shot himself.
It’s natural to want a one-and-done solution to something as horrific as gun violence. The truth is, getting out of this mess is very complicated and will require more actions than most of us want to admit.
Before we create a plan, we have to deal with some facts:
111 people are shot and killed in the United States every day (bradyunited.org)
Every year, 18,000 children and teenagers are killed or wounded by gunfire (everytown.org)
Black children and teenagers are 14 times more likely to die from gun homicide (everytown.org)
Most mass shootings involve guns that were legally obtained (statista.com)
When gun dealers break rules related to selling weapons, they are seldom held accountable (thetrace.org)
In 2020, rifles/assault weapons accounted for just 3% of gun murders (pewresearch.org)
Most mass shootings happen in private homes (everytown.org)
Police shootings account for 1.3% of all gun deaths (Giffords.org)
Many handguns used in violent crimes have been obtained illegally, often stolen from people’s cars (nbcnews.com)
While personal-shooter video games can bring out aggression in players, research has not shown a direct link between playing the games and committing violent crimes (us news.com)
Most people with mental illness do not commit violent crimes (csgjusticecenter.org)
These facts prove one thing: The gun violence problem in the United States is too diverse to be fixed with a single solution. For the next few days, we’ll take a look at what can be done about gun violence and what is currently holding us back.
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