Guns
I grew up in rural Vermont, and, after 16 years living elsewhere, I’ve come home. My community is diverse in terms of values, backgrounds, and economics (though it is predominantly white). I wouldn’t exactly say that I grew up around guns. My Dah had a shotgun (that we never had to use) to scare off wild animals, and I had no idea where the shells were. I had absolutely no interest in it, moreover, I knew it was dangerous and to stay away from it.
That said, I did grow up around hunters and gun enthusiasts. Probably half the students in my school hunted every fall, and they were proud to be able to help feed their families in the winter. Many kids learned how to handle weapons early in life and treated them with the respect and fear that was warranted. These were not handguns or assault rifles. These were almost exclusively hunting weapons. No one in my valley has ever had any need for a weapon beyond that.
I have very good friends who are extremely pro-gun and pro-2nd amendment (though they do seem to conveniently forget the “well regulated” part of that federal statute), and I have found a way to have a dialogue with them about these weapons.
So, when I say that I abhor guns, that these devices exist exclusively to kill, and that our country has a massive gun problem, I want to be clear that I am not speaking of responsible hunters and gun owners. I’m not talking about individuals who have gone through safety courses, insured that they were correctly licensed, store their weapons safely, and use them to provide their families with food.
Fact: We are the only country in the world where mass shootings are a regular occurrence.
Fact: 3% of Americans own half of the country’s 265 million guns (yes, there are 265 million guns in America and more are made every day).
Fact: (via the LA Times) The AR-15 typically has large magazines, shoots rounds at higher velocities than handguns, and leaves more complex wounds in victims.
If you want to read some more statistics about gun violence in America, please see visit http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/ (for those of you wondering, it was founded in 2013 by former NRA member and gun owner Mark Bryant).
I don’t purport to be an expert on guns. I don’t proport to have an answer to the issue of gun violence in America. What I do know extremely well is human behavior.
It all comes down to the ABCs – antecedent, behavior, consequence. In the case of mass shootings, there is an inciting incident, a trigger that drives the individual (via The Washington Post, out of 153 mass shooters since 1966, 150 of them were men. Almost all of them were between the ages of 20-49, and almost all of them were white) towards the act of violence. The behavior is that act of violence. The consequence for that individual is usually death (88 of the 153 shooters died during their rampages), but can lead to life long incarceration.
And the ABCs for America? The antecedent is yet another violent act. The behavior is outrage or the ubiquitous “thoughts and prayers.” And the consequence? Nothing changes.
Behavior escalates before it improves. So in some respects, I suppose we’re doing the right thing, ignoring the behavior and waiting for it to escalate until it diminishes. But behavior can be modified. Humans, Americans, are not old dogs. We can learn new tricks and we can learn to make things better. By imposing stricter laws, tighter regulations, a buy back program (like the one they implemented in Australia in after the Port Arthur Massacre in 1996), and limited the amount of ammunition (making bump stocks illegal for example), we can prevent these tragedies from happening.
Perhaps you’re wondering if I’m going to talk about mental health (a topic near and dear to my heart). I am. The individuals who commit these crimes are not mentally ill. Generally speaking, people who struggle with extreme mental illnesses such as psychosis, depression, personality disorders, and bipolarity are not violent to others. When a rare individual does become violent, the results can be catastrophic, but less than 3% of mass shooting are committed by people who are mentally ill. There is a massive amount of stigma concerning mental illness in America, and it’s awful.
As someone who struggles with depression, anxiety, binge eating, and depersonalization disorder I know how hard it is to get help and how alone you can feel. I also know that people noticed I was unwell before I noticed it. If someone had come to me, had taken the time to check in with me, make sure I was OK, and offer me support I might not have gotten to the point where I hurt myself. I might not eat my feelings. I might not be so angry at myself. For the rare individual who is struggling mentally and has a propensity towards violence an intervention and offer of support can save lives. I can’t help but wonder if someone had taken the time to talk to the young man in Florida (who was clearly struggling with a lot of anger) instead of discounting or ignoring him, perhaps the most recent tragedy could have been prevented.
It’s a two-pronged approach. Change the rules and regulations surrounding guns. Make them more difficult to get, make those who want to own them go through the extensive training and licensing, and institute a buy back program. And, secondly, instead of taking the cheap and easy “thoughts and prayers, there’s nothing we can do” approach, change the way we treat and interact with one another. Because it’s about guns and what we do with them.
If you’d like to read the articles where I got my information yourself, please check out the following sources:
