Today is the tenth anniversary of the Sandy Hook massacre and now the effort to reduce gun violence has morphed into its third phase. In the pre-Sandy Hook days, when we talked about how to deal with gun violence, we referred to the various strategies as ‘gun control.’
Following Sandy, it was decided by the various advocacy organizations that the gun control movement would refer to themselves as the ‘gun violence prevention’ movement, or GVP.
Now we have entered the third phase in an effort to win the hearts and minds of enough Americans to pass some more legal restrictions on how gun owners should behave with their guns and this is being called the ‘gun safety’ movement, which is analyzed in detail this week in a long article in The New York Times.
The essay, written by a free-lance journalist, David Cullen, claims that the gun safety movement emerged after Sandy Hook and is led by two powerhouses – Everytown and Giffords – who “are run by data-driven professionals who employ polling, focus groups and election post-mortems to help candidates test and hone effective messages.”
Cullen sees the growth in gun safety organizations in terms of more laws being passed in individual states, with 67 new state laws passed in 2019 alone. In 2022 another 45 gun-safety laws have been put on the books in various states, while the NRA has become the ‘walking wounded’ when it comes to what goes on in D.C.
All of this sounds very nice, upbeat, and positive, except there’s only one little problem. What Cullen doesn’t mention is that not only is gun violence on the upswing, but the rate of shootings continues to climb even as the alleged reason for the recent upsurge – Covid-19 – is beginning to fade. Throughout 2020 we were told that gun violence was worse because: a) the Pandemic sparked all kinds of misery and fears, and b) so many people were buying guns.
According to the CDC, weekly Covid-19 cases are now less than half of what they were back in July. As for gun sales, November 2020 background checks were 2 million, November 2021 were 1.5 million and November 2022 were 1.3 million. In other words, sales have dropped by 35% since the Pandemic was in full force. And Smith & Wesson stock, which was at $30 a share back in July 2021, is now trading at under $9 bucks.
There is little, provable connection between how many Americans pick up a gun and use it to shoot someone else, and how many laws are passed which will mandate that Americans buy, own and use ‘safe’ guns. Know why? Because the guns which are used to kill and injure 100,000+ Americans every year can’t be used in a ‘safe’ way.
Guns which are bottom-loading, semi-automatic pistols chambered for military-style ammunition aren’t designed to be ‘safe.’ They are designed to deliver lethal injuries to human beings, which is why they are carried by just about every military and tactical unit worldwide.
Know why the United States suffers from the daily ravages of gun violence. Because the United States is the only country in the entire world which gives its residents free access to guns whose sole purpose is to end human life. And very few of these guns are actually used to kill or injure someone by a person who first acquired the gun and passed a background check.
But when several million guns which fit into the palm of an adult hand get into the market every year, some will get lost, and some will get stolen, and some will be sold. And when that happens, these guns will remain usable for upwards of thirty years.
Want to end gun violence? Stop the manufacture and sale of the guns which are used to commit that violence. And before you shake your head and tell me that we can’t prevent Americans from buying such lethal products because it’s a ‘violation’ of 2nd-Amendment ‘rights,’ I’ll save my response for another column, but let me say right here and now that banning the pistols made by companies like Glock and Sig wouldn’t be a violation of the 2nd Amendment at all. In fact, the Supreme Court has ruled on this issue more than once.
Would it be such of what Grandpa would call a ‘gefailach’ (read: big deal) if David Cullen and all the other advocates for ‘safe’ guns would maybe just say in a whisper that the way to make a gun ‘safe’ is to get rid of the gun?
Dec 15, 2022 @ 18:19:10
All guns are “unsafe” in that they all shoot real bullets.
I’m not sure we can blame the carnage entirely on Gaston Glock, Mr. Sig, Mr. Smith and Mr. Wesson, et al. If you look at the homicide rate of the United States (National Academies data) it rose from 8 per 100,000 in 1910, peaking at almost 10 per 100k at roughly 1930, dropped to half that from the thirties to the sixties, then rose again to about 9-10 from the seventies to the nineties and then dropped again down to about half that. One peak before all these semiautos, and one in their heyday. And now it is creeping back up to about 7. Something is going on here besides the kinds of guns.
So it seems we are pretty good at killing each other even if it is with Sam’s old revolver albeit with more primitive medicine back then, probably more people died of gunshots. But of course the weapon of choice today, whether of the armchair self defender or the friendly neighborhood drug dealer, is the semiauto. Even if we froze new purchases today,I see no sign of being able to round ’em all up, especially from the fellows who want to keep them. Not just the Molon Labe types, but the folks who use them as tools of the trade, i.e., gang bangers, drug dealers, etc.
I think we could save more lives banishing the War on Drugs rather than a War on Guns.
Dec 15, 2022 @ 18:33:30
Totally agree “I think we could save more lives banishing the War on Drugs rather than a War on Guns.”
Also let’s not forget about taking a good look at the Judicial System while we’re at it.
Dec 15, 2022 @ 18:30:28
After decades of strict gun control laws, the Ukrainian Parliament changed its tune on the Second Amendment, voting to decriminalize gun ownership for self-defense. Unfortunately it took an invasion by a nuclear-armed power. The Ukrainian military began handing out fully automatic AK-47s from its national stockpile to any able-bodied person.
Good thing we (Americans) don’t have to worry about an invasion.
But should be worried about HeavyDSparks?
Dec 16, 2022 @ 07:42:41
” It’s the guns stupid, it’s the guns” and there are GUNS and guns. Deer rifles and duck hunting shotguns covered by the 2nd, Ruggers, Sigs and AR-15 not.
Dec 19, 2022 @ 11:16:34
Sort of the opposite.
“In the absence of any evidence tending to show that possession or use of a ‘shotgun having a barrel of less than eighteen inches in length’ at this time has some reasonable relationship to the preservation or efficiency of a well regulated militia, we cannot say that the Second Amendment guarantees the right to keep and bear such an instrument. Certainly it is not within judicial notice that this weapon is any part of the ordinary military equipment or that its use could contribute to the common defense.”
We don’t see the military with duck hunting shotguns or deer rifles. But that’s never stopped states from regulating all guns, short of gun bans. Some of which have been upheld.
Dec 19, 2022 @ 11:17:19
Oh, sorry. That was United States v Miller, 307 U.S. 174