Trying to make sense of the “gun” issue

(Spoiler Alert : This is likely to alienate some of my liberal friends and puzzle my conservative, pro-gun friends. Also, feel free to substitute “firearm” for “gun”.)

After every school shooting, there arises a massive outpouring of outrage and anger. I get it – the senseless slaughter of innocent children is right up there with gassing the Jews on the Horrific scale. After the useless “thoughts and prayers”, come the predictable battle cries of “Gun Control” and their inevitable echo “Second Amendment”. And nothing gets done.

First, some perspective, please. Tragic and horrible as these shooting are, they represent just a few dozen of the 34,000+ gun deaths in the US each year – the tip of the tip of the gun violence iceberg. While we are mourning school deaths, 58 Americans a day are killing themselves with a gun and another 30 are killing someone else. Every day. And we barely bat an eye over these folks.

Moreover, I maintain that all these deaths represent a mental health issue, not a gun issue. Which is not to say that guns don’t exacerbate and facilitate the problem. The sheer number of guns in the US – more than any other country by far – means that access to one is relatively easy. There is a direct correlation between number of guns and gun deaths in any state. But, correlation does not equal causality. Vast numbers of guns don’t actually cause gun deaths, but they most certainly facilitate them. Sadly, our extraordinary armory of guns is a part of the problem that can’t be mitigated. The genie is out of the bottle and the cow has left the barn.

This begs the gun control issue. Yes, we could institute strict control of gun sales, including registration, better background checks, licensing, training, insurance – you name it. Even ban sales of assault type guns. This would likely only make a small difference, albeit a positive one. Short of confiscation, the simple fact is that there are too many guns out there and we can’t make them disappear or realistically limit access to them. We can only make them harder to buy.

Which brings us back to mental health – the real issue, to my mind. And I have no idea how to solve that one. How do we, as a society, stop 21,000 of our friends and family from fatally shooting themselves each year? Not to mention the other 23,000/yr who end their lives without a gun. Suicide hotlines are out there, but clearly let too many fall through the cracks. And even the ultimate penalty doesn’t prevent 11,000 gun murders a year – or the other 5,000 non-gun homicides.

Perhaps a national campaign, like the “Keep America Beautiful” program that turned my generation of American litter-bugs into litter police, is in order. Or something like the “Friends don’t let friends drive drunk” slogan that demonstrably lowered drunk driving rates. How about “Friends don’t let depressed friends keep a gun in their house”, coupled with fellow gun owner interventions?

I have no definitive answer. I only wish that instead of the senseless finger-pointing, we could come together as a society and solve this problem in a rational, thoughtful and respectful way.

I’m open to ideas……..