JustObey.org
Guns or Roses?
The Gun Debate in the USA
By Tore Bostrup 2/23/2018
In a country deeply divided on politics, the issue of gun ownership is one that is highly charged. In the wake of mass murders, we instinctively ask ourselves: “What can we do to prevent this?” When those mass murders are perpetrated by people with guns, we look at two things – what is wrong with that person, and why do we allow people to have guns. We typically don’t look much further than that.
In 1994 or 1995 I read a newspaper article predicting a future in which we would see more and more heinous crimes committed by increasingly younger people. While I don’t remember the details of the article, this prediction stood out to me as being well founded in the article, and it seemed to match what I observed around me. We are seeing this prediction come true, while at the same time many crime statistics are improving. So what is happening to us?
I remember another article I read in the same newspaper back around 2009. It dealt with the movies coming out, and it read like a Who’s Who or What’s What of evil, crime, violence and black magic. And of course we all remember how Hollywood used to defend their movies when criticized for violence etc. “Movies Portray Reality”, “Violence can add to the artistic depiction of real life”. Yeah, right.
But back to the main subject: Guns and Violence.
We’re not discussing whether guns kill or whether people with guns kill. People use guns to kill. They also use knives, blunt objects, their hands and feet, and other methods including cars, bombs, car bombs or other specialized implements. Guns belong to the fairly deadly implements (“A third of patients with gunshot wounds (33.0 percent) died compared with 7.7 percent of patients with stab wounds” according to Penn Medicine News https://www.pennmedicine.org/news/news-releases/2014/january/survival-rates-similar-for-gun). 71.5% of all murders in the US in 2015 involved firearms (https://www.fbi.gov/news/stories/latest-crime-statistics-released). And guns allow killing from a distance. Knives typically don’t.
Guns add to the threat of death from an attack. There is no question about that.
The debate goes on to point out how bad the US gun statistics are, and whether the statistics show a correlation between gun ownership and gun violence. Both sides have what appear to be somewhat reasonable claims. When compared with all countries where statistics are available, the US fares better than average. However when compared to “other civilized western countries” (works out to be Canada and Europe not including Russia), the US stands out in a negative way. However, while the guns per capita is close to twice that of the next country in that group, the correlation between gun ownership and gun violence falls apart. The group that has roughly one third to one half the number of firearms per capita (30 or more per 100) includes Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Cyprus, France, Germany, Iceland, Norway, Serbia, and Sweden. Except for Cyprus, all these countries have a gun homicide rate per capita less than about one tenth of that in the US. Those numbers show that there is no correlation. Even excluding Cyprus (at the high end of the comparison countries listed and Iceland at the low end, there is a 6x variation between countries with similar firearms density. Countries outside of Europe show a much different picture, and this is regardless of the firearm density. Again, the variations are major, even within a region (read: continent). (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_firearm-related_death_rate).
And if we dig a little deeper, we find that “In 2014, the worst 2 percent of counties accounted for 51 percent of the murders. 5 percent of counties account for 68 percent of the murders. Yet, even within these counties with all these murders, there are large areas without any murders.” (https://crimeresearch.org/2014/03/comparing-murder-rates-across-countries/)
So unless more that 51% of the guns are found in that 2% of counties, it is pretty clear that the total gun ownership is not the determining factor in gun violence.
Once we realize this fact, we can get to the core of the discussion – what is it we want to achieve? Not what action we should take, which lends itself to promoting agendas of different sorts, but what we want to achieve.
I think we would all want to reduce the number of innocent people murdered. We see the mass shootings and that becomes our focus. Is there anything else that matters?
Well – there is the Second Amendment. From https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/second_amendment:
The Second Amendment of the United States Constitution reads: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed."
SCOTUS ruled in 2008 (supported by additional rulings in 2010 and 2016) that this right is an individual right.
From the text of the amendment, it would seem the Second Amendment has an element of balance of power. It doesn’t talk about guns for hunting, and it isn’t even clear that it intends to include self-defense.
SCOTUS has ruled, however, that at least some regulations are acceptable. Some of those are covered by the Fourteenth Amendment (who can be denied), but some may seem to a lay person to not have clear constitutional support in those two amendments. But that discussion is for another day.
So let’s focus on what can be done to reduce the number of innocent people murdered.
The statistics for the top 50 cities with the highest murder rates in the world is topped by cities that are plagued by drug trafficking, weapons trafficking, and gang wars. (https://www.statista.com/statistics/243797/ranking-of-the-most-dangerous-cities-in-the-world-by-murder-rate-per-capita/)
Armed with all the statistics, it seems obvious that the overall murder rate in the US is tied to other criminal activity with drugs and gangs being major contributors. So until law and order becomes stronger than the crimes, the unfortunate statistics will continue. We need an attitude adjustment in the society that drives people away from crime and drugs. We need to re-establish a value system that fosters a desire to do what is right and good, rather than evil. We need to reintroduce morality that doesn’t end with each person but that is founded in something greater.
That would address the larger issue of total violence. It may also address the outliers – the ones who just decide to commit heinous acts of violence.
At the same time, we can look at some specific trends; specifically those that make us react so strongly. I.e. mass killings, of which terrorist acts and other mass shootings take top billing. But these require different solutions. So we focus on the “other” mass shootings. One trend is that of younger and more violent crimes where guns play a role.
According to http://abtassociates.com/reports/CJTrendsThreeDecades.pdf, the combination of drugs and the easy availability of guns played a significant role in the increased homicide commitment rate for 14-24 year olds. But again, that is general violence, not the mass shootings.
In some of the recent shootings, there have been warning signs that were ignored. But how can we deal with those? Privacy and HIPAA regulations are cited as preventing the use of mental evaluation to be used in determining whether a person should be allowed to purchase a firearm. However, a comprehensive system does not need to expose any details, but rather simply list an objection from a mental health professional, which must be cleared by that professional or practice, or challenged in court. And the minimum age for purchasing a firearm could easily be increased without infringing on the Second Amendment.
But these are just Band-Aids. The real solution is one that brings changed hearts. One that causes us to love one another and return good for evil. One where thing are not relative, but what is right is right and what is wrong is wrong. One that acknowledges the God that our Framers knew. The God that nailed the punishment for our sins upon the cross, so that those who believe in Him may have eternal life.
Quotes:
From “Comparing murder rates and gun ownership across countries”
31 Mar , 2014 Crime Prevention Research Center
https://crimeresearch.org/2014/03/comparing-murder-rates-across-countries/
Finally, murder isn’t a nationwide problem in the United States; it’s a problem in a very small set of urban areas. In 2014, the worst 2 percent of counties accounted for 51 percent of the murders. 5 percent of counties account for 68 percent of the murders. Yet, even within these counties with all these murders, there are large areas without any murders.
From “Crime and Justice Trends in the United States During the Past Three Decades”
January 31, 2000 Abt Associates Inc.
Prepared for National Institute of Justice
Prepared by Douglas McDonald and Peter Finn
http://abtassociates.com/reports/CJTrendsThreeDecades.pdf
These general trends obscure a more dramatic development during the post-1970 period, however. The likelihood of being killed by a young person, and the likelihood of a young person being killed, increased greatly. From 1976 to 1993, the proportion of youths aged 14 to 17 committing homicide tripled and, for 18 to 24 year olds, almost doubled. Indeed, by 1986 the homicide rate for 14 to 17 year olds surpassed the homicide rates for older persons aged 25 to 49 (figure 2).3 The easy availability of guns played a significant role in this, as did the emergence of a volatile market for crack cocaine. The proportion of homicides committed by teenagers and young adults in which they used a gun rose from 56 percent in 1985 to 78 percent in 1994.4
From: “Murder Rates Rising Sharply in Many U.S. Cities”
By MONICA DAVEY and MITCH SMITHAUG. 31, 2015 The New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/1999/06/06/us/film-violence-no-hollywood-defense.html
“President Clinton, who has raised tens of millions of dollars for the Democratic Party among the Hollywood elite, unexpectedly announced on Tuesday that he had asked the Justice Department and the Federal Trade Commission to study whether the entertainment industry was implicitly luring children to watch violent films, listen to sexually explicit music lyrics and play video games that depict mayhem and murder.”
The article goes on to quote “one top producer” defending Hollywood by saying among other things: ““…What do we do? We make movies. We make excitement. We don't make movies to create killers.''
https://deadline.com/2014/01/harvey-weinstein-movie-violence-nra-guns-666796/#!
From “Why Harvey Weinstein’s Comments On Movie Violence Matter”
by Anita Busch January 20, 2014 10:10am Deadline Hollywood
“The insensitivity that the average person has now because of violence is because people have become so used to it. It’s an obsession as well as almost an addiction.”
“Abject violence has proven successful, and as long as it is, it will be produced because it’s profitable. It’s the accepted way of life rather than asking is this the right thing to do?”
https://www.mediaite.com/tv/why-hollywood-doesnt-need-to-be-held-accountable-for-media-violence/
From Why Hollywood Doesn’t Need To Be Held Accountable For Media Violence
by Josh Feldman | 11:34 pm, April 4th, 2013
“There are a couple of interesting points behind what Jillette is arguing here. Firstly, people cannot simply evolve like Pokémon into being violent people just because they saw that in the movies. It’s a depiction of (in many cases) wildly unrealistic violence, and the only way young children are going to be able to duplicate that kind of violence is if daddy has a private arsenal in the basement.”
“Depiction is not the same thing as endorsement.”
“Hollywood does not need to further censor itself, because Hollywood is not driving anyone to commit acts of violence. And neither are video games, for that matter.”
https://clashdaily.com/2013/01/hollywood-violence-self-defense-advocate-looks-to-media-change/
From “Hollywood & Violence: Self-defense advocate looks to media change”
By Regis Giles, Published on January 19, 2013 ClashDaily
“South Florida-based Regis Giles is the creator and owner of the website Girls Just Wanna Have Guns, which promotes women’s self-defense, whether using a gun, Taser, knife, spear, pencil or some form of martial arts. A voice of young conservatives, Giles talked to Variety’s Carole Horst about responsible gun ownership, the media and society’s role in violent acts.
READ THE COUNTERPOINT
Do you see a connection between violence depicted in media and real-life violence?
Absolutely. Media violence is overexaggerated and very theatrical, but you see people in the news copying the violent acts in movies and videogames.
Is one form of media — say, videogames — more dangerous than others?
TV news deals with reality, and I don’t feel that it’s as dangerous as violence in other forms of entertainment. When people are watching series and movies, they are relaxing and watching in comfort. They’re observing a story. With violent videogames, they’re actually partaking in and instigating the violent acts.
We’ve become insensitive to violent images. We see the gruesome, vivid images, and for teenagers watching a movie, it’s not socially acceptable to turn your head in fear and terror. It’s socially acceptable to look straight ahead and not have a reaction, because then you’re viewed as the badass.”