Once I was asked, “What is the most dangerous country I’ve lived in or visited?” The answer should have been obvious considering that there was a military coup in Thailand while I was there, and going off trail in the countrysides of Cambodia where so many landmines still remain was unthinkable during my visit.
And yet, my answer is always the US.
Almost every day, I hear or read about a shooting death(S) somewhere in this country. It’s rare that I can get through a local evening news without seeing a report of shooting death or an incident of gun violence somewhere in the city or in a city nearby. According to the CDC (Centers For Disease Control National Center for Injury Prevention & Control) website, there are approximately 37 gun related deaths EVERY DAY in the US, 52,447 deliberate and 23,237 accidental non-fatal gunshot injuries, and most disturbingly, 1,520 of the gun deaths were among people under the age of 18* … CHILDREN!
Sadly, these gun-related deaths and incidences have become just numbers and statistics to us, and most Americans are conditioned to shut them off as they have become merely an abstract image like the latest Hollywood action flick.
As citizens of a developed modern country, we go about our daily lives in a dogmatic comfort of believing that we are somehow immune from the horrific events: wars, genocides, poverty and only-god-knows what else that engulfs the world. We are lead to believe … and so many of us are willing to believe that gun violence and gun-related death are an “urban problem”, something that happens only in “poor neighborhoods” and among gang members.
Of course, the news outlets, the media and Hollywood certainly likes to sell that image, and make us believe that if we enclose ourselves in the bosom of suburban (gated) communities, private schools, and in an homogeneous society, somehow we’d be protected from the realities of life. So, isn’t it ironic that so many of these mass shootings in the last decade, Columbine High School massacre, the Virginia Tech massacre, and the 2011 Tucson shooting, occurred in these so-called safe and idyllic suburban areas.
When an unimaginable tragedy occurs, we as human beings try to make sense of it all. With every incident we wonder "How could this happen?"
Like telling a patient with brain tumor that taking an aspirin will alleviate the pain, the media is all too quick to provide random answers. Blame it on the Neo-Nazi Rock music, the futuristic movies where everyone wears black trench coats, the mentally ill … and the list goes on, while the violence continues.
However, one and ONLY common thread that links all these tragic incidences, including the latest shooting in Aurora, Colorado is GUNS! And that all the perpetrators had (easy) access to obtaining them.
To be honest, I’ve never really had a strong opinion about gun ownership. I was neither for nor against it, and growing up in Texas, I thought that owning a gun was as common as having an A/C, which I also come to realize is not a “common” thing for everyone to own. However, over the years, there have been too many gun-related violence and mass shootings all over this country, and especially in the last decade, it seems that not a month goes by without hearing about a mass shooting somewhere … in some idyllic suburban neighborhood, at a school, in a mall, and now, even at a theater.
No matter how “gated” we think our lives may be, or try to protect our children by censoring every song with explicit lyrics and movies with violent theme, the fact and the ONLY fact that remains is that we … America needs stricter gun control laws to prevent any and all individuals from being able to purchase firearms at their whim.
I’m well aware of the supposed conflict this will impose on the Second Amendment. However, I ask myself as a citizen of this country, “Are we going to just wait to become the next victims of a mass shooting or any gun-related violence for that matter?” And as a mother, I shudder at the thought of the day when I'll get a phone call that so many mothers of the children in Columbine, Virginia Tech, and yesterday, in Aurora have gotten.
I’ve always known that what makes America great is our desire to grow, to evolve, to become something better than we were. We, as a country, have always welcomed change, and although we make (and have made) our share of mistakes, and time to time, have been on the wrong side of the history, what makes this country great isn’t that we stick to these wrong decisions but that we try fix them and that common sense always seems to prevail.
I hope that common sense WILL prevail in the matter of implementing stricter gun control laws, and I look forward to the day when mass shootings and gun-related violence become a thing of the past like racial segregation.
* “WISQARS Nonfatal Injury Reports". National Center for Injury Prevention and Control. Retrieved 2006-11-10.
I think that a person who is prepared to take the lives of innocent people will find a way to accomplish their task; whether his/her weapon of choice is a gun or something more subtle like a pocket knife the damage will still be done.
ReplyDeleteI agree that if a person is malicious and disturbed enough, they’ll find a way to harm or to take the life of another person. However, we’re not talking about the ownership of A GUN or one victim. We’re talking about heinous violence and deaths caused by assault rifles and weapons that has killed over 200 people in the past decade. To say and to generalize the discussion of gun control as being needless because “people will always find a way to hurt other people” is like saying that we, as a country, should legalize all drugs because people will always find a way to feed their addiction, and although I’m familiar with the fact that this is the shared sentiment and a standard mantra among those who oppose stricter gun control laws, but for me, and for millions of Americans, it’s just not acceptable anymore.
ReplyDeleteFunnily enough, a statistic that is often missed out is the number of times guns have been used to prevent a crime from occurring.
DeleteAlso note that, weapons that are legal in America, are not automatic ( military style ) guns, but the type where you need to pull the trigger to fire a bullet as well as the semi automatics. Not really sure why I wanted to point that fact out.
I understand the sentiment you are expressing, but gun control may not be the perfect solution to the problem. It is definitely the easiest to turn to at this juncture.
Why drugs are being legalized in the US
Deletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8UtNF-Le2L0
Why we need a plan to end gun violence. http://www.demandaplan.org/
DeleteThere’s really nothing funny about statistics when it comes to gun-related deaths in this country, and obviously, we can pull so-called facts to back up any argument we’re looking to make, although I would hardly call the mere use of the word “often” as factual or statistical. I must admit, I too am puzzled as to what your point is, and I’m not sure whether you understood mine. I’m not looking for a “perfect” solution to all the gun-related violence and mass shootings in this country or claimed to have one … then again, there’s no such thing as perfect solution to anything in life. I’m looking for A solution, an obvious one that has been overlooked and ignored, as we have been distracted by endless discussions that take our attention and focus away from a real problem in our society. And I would hardly call implementing a stricter gun control law the “easiest” solution … if only it was that easy.
ReplyDeleteI have not been very clear in conveying my point. Let me try again.
ReplyDeleteI agree that there needs to be measures that are put in place to curb gun related violence. However it is not in anybodies best interest for the the plan to be a poorly thought out plan aka a knee jerk plan. It was to illustrate this aspect that I pointed to the example of how governments are trying to curb the manufacture, transport and sale of illegal drugs. It has come close to destroy neighborhoods in South America. The US has the highest number of incarcerated people in the world. I believe that to resolve the problem of gun related violence, the solution may not be as simple as limiting easy access to guns. The gun in this recent incident was the extension of the perpetrators intent. The solution would have to involve greater awareness to mental illness, schools having bulletproof doors and then some.
So, do you agree that our society/country has been plagued by gun violence? Do you also agree that it's time we need to find a way to stop these gun-related violence? I ask this because from your comments, I get the sense that you don't seem to understand the gravity of gun-related violence and deaths in our society.
ReplyDeleteFurthermore, to say that advocating gun-control laws is a knee jerk reaction is like saying abolishing slavery was a knee jerk reaction. I know people like to use these key words or phrases which to me have become more like hyperboles to evoke negative feelings towards issues that are morally just, but implementing stricter gun control laws have been an issue that has existed and has been advocated for a long time. Unfortunately it has been crushed by the gun lobbyists and NRA for equally long.
Furthermore, although citing "greater awareness of mental illness and bullet proof door for schools" as being part of the solution is the official mantra of the gun lobbyists, especially in the wake of the horrific and tragic mass shooting in Newtown, but as I've already said, there has been a lot of discourse which are designed to distract the American public from the real issue and the only viable solution to the gun violence, which is and has ALWAYS been implementing stricter gun control laws.
Like I've said, I don't get the sense that you understand how serious gun-related violence are in this country or perhaps, you don't feel that these issues are important. In that case, our discussion isn't about the solution but disagreement on whether you recognize the problem at all.