Gun violence in America is a public health crisis, but as a nation we can’t be bothered to demand an end to the power of the gun lobby and the moral cowardice and active complicity of politicians, pundits, and gun manufacturers.
Ten years have passed since the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School. How many lives have been lost or forever changed due to gun violence since that terrible day in 2012? So many that we are numb, desensitized. Think of the TOPS Market, Robb Elementary School, Pulse Nightclub, kill fests that riveted national attention in 2022, only to be swept aside and forgotten by politicians and pundits and lobbyists for the NRA.
The rest of the world looks at America and shakes its head.
A misguided misfit kid named Kyle Rittenhouse kills two people in Wisconsin, gets acquitted, and becomes a media darling and poster boy for the extreme right. Politicians, like the detestable Lauren Boebert of Colorado, pose with their guns at every opportunity; many others in the Lock & Load Caucus do the same.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, as of December 17, 2022 there had been 633 mass shootings. As of that date, deaths from all causes involving firearms numbered 42,529; injuries were 37,425.
The website run by BradyUnited reports that 321 people are shot every single day in this country.
Why do Americans tolerate this? What is it about our history and culture that makes millions of us fetishize lethal firearms? Why can’t we hold a rational discussion about this problem?
Regardless of political persuasion, Americans don’t lose their minds and abandon reason when the government requires them to obtain a license to operate a motor vehicle; the requirement is almost universally accepted as a legitimate safety measure. But suggest applying the same logic to firearms and all hell breaks loose. Tyranny! The Second Amendment! They’re coming for our guns!
Why are the rights of gun owners given more weight and credence than the rights of unarmed citizens? How can we call ourselves free when random gun violence is so prevalent?
Our children endure shelter-in-place drills in school. Many organizations and businesses require active shooter training for their employees. At the market where I work part-time, for example, I am required to complete an online active shooter orientation every year. Run-Hide-Fight is the mantra. Run if you can, hide if you can’t, fight if you must, with whatever is at hand.
How have we arrived at a place where one person’s right to own deadly firearms supersedes another person’s right to live free of fear of being shot in a grocery store, movie theater, nightclub or shopping mall?
Guns. What is it about Americans and guns?
I have never owned a firearm and never will, but I respect the right of my fellow citizens to own a shotgun or hunting rifle, or a pistol for self protection. But that’s where I draw a line. You will try in vain to convince me that citizens have an inherent right to purchase and own military-style assault rifles, large capacity magazines or super-charged ammunition. Even open-carry laws strike me as utterly ridiculous, a remnant of a Wild West mentality.
What the gun makers and their lobbyists and lawyers and investors and political servants advocate and use all their power and influence to sustain is a perverse brand of freedom, one without responsibility. When the next mass killing takes place, watch what happens. After the hand-wringing, the candlelight vigils, the tears, the offer of thoughts and prayers, nothing will change. Unlike hurricanes, floods, earthquakes and wildfires, gun violence is something people can ameliorate with sensible regulation.
But America isn’t a sensible nation, is it? No, America is the Kingdom of Fear.