We're Number 1! (In gun violence)

Its time to get serious, and recognize the validity in both sides arguments

The United States has a gun violence problem, but Red and Blue America see it in seemingly irreconcilable ways.

Small town Red America points to the everyday shootings by pistol-wielding criminals in big cities and sees both a mental health issue and a policing problem.

In the cities and suburbs, Blue America sees mass shootings conducted with military-style semi-automatic rifles called AR15s and calls for limits on firepower.

In refusing to recognize the other side as a little bit right, Red and Blue are making it impossible for us to do what’s needed. The result has been record-high numbers of gun deaths – nearly 49,000 in the most recent year with available data --  with horrendous mass shootings like the recent one in Lewiston, Maine periodically focusing our attention, but only for a moment.

Conservatives in Red communities seem not to realize that mass shootings are most likely to occur in their small cities and towns. With a population of just 36,000, Lewiston lost 18 people on October 25th when a gunman with known mental health issues shot up a bowling alley and a restaurant. Other recent mass shootings have also occurred in Romeoville, Illinois (population 40,000), and in Monroe, Ohio (7,000.) Last year the deadliest mass killing happened in Uvalde, Texas, where 21 people, including 17 children, were killed by a 15-year-old armed with an AR15 and seven high-capacity magazines.

Addressing the problem of mass shootings will likely require limitations or an outright ban on automatic rifle sales. Although many Americans are attached to these guns and consider them a symbol of their sportsman’s lifestyle, no one needs this kind of weapon to bring down a deer or, for that matter, a bear. Indeed, what’s the sport of hunting with an automatic rifle?  And yes, the Second Amendment to the Constitution guarantees the right to own a gun, but its unlikely the founders imagined citizens walking around with rifles that can shoot three or four rounds per second. This, however, cannot include a gun confiscation, and current owners must be grandfathered in. We cannot let perfect be the enemy of…good enough for now.

In the meantime, densely populated cities and suburbs need to do more to catch and prosecute criminals who acquire both legal and illegal guns. It’s not enough to point to the AR-15 and demand they be banned.  As citizens in Chicago, New York, and Los Angeles will tell you, certain neighborhoods have become no-go zones, especially at night, because gunfire is so common. This is unacceptable.

Finally, both sides must demand that authorities enforce the regulations that exist. Although registration and waiting periods are required, loopholes make it possible for people to get all the weapons they want without heeding the law. Similarly, when someone raises a red flag about a gun owner, reporting his or her mental health issues or musing about murder, authorities must act. In the Lewiston case, the shooter’s mental health problems were reported, but the officials who were empowered to do something let the citizen concerns fall through the cracks in the system. Some in the Republican party have stated that Red Flag laws violate freedoms, stressing that guns are taken without due process. This is partly true, but this ignores similar procedures such as restraining orders, that limit the targets freedom of movement without due process. Sometimes we must make compromises. As well, In the recent era, left wing prosecutors have let too many criminals go. Compassion doesn’t mean no consequences.

As most everyone knows, the resistance to commonsense gun policy has been fueled and sustained by the enormously influential National Rife Association (NRA) and other groups like the Gun Owners of America. In recent decades the NRA has morphed from a hunting safety organization into a political action group and promotion organization for the gun industry. Breaking its hold on politicians will require funding an organization that will promote sensible gun ownership, replace campaign funds for politicians who turn away NRA campaign donations, and keep the issue front and center for years to come.

We didn’t become number one in gun violence in the developed world overnight. We shouldn’t expect to fix this problem quickly. But for the sake of everyone, Red, Blue, and Purple, we must increase our effort.