Every time there is a highly publicized shooting, I’m sure you’ve all noticed, the so-called gun control debate comes up. The reason it comes up every time, is because no one really wants to have a debate. Most just want to assert their (perceived) virtuous solutions and walk away feeling better about themselves. While I think we can all agree there are no 100% solutions, there are things we can do to help.
A lot of numbers get thrown around so let’s take a look at that first. On a 5 year average, 33,880 people die by firearm every year.
62% of those deaths, 21,037, are suicides
11,564 are homicides
1,152 are killed by police
550 are killed in domestic violence situations
544 are accidental
308 are from mass shootings
Analysis:
The most disturbing revelation in analyzing these figures to me, and I hope to you as well, is that by far the most gun related deaths are suicides. If we factor in another 1,000 from accidents and domestic violence, 22,000 people per year are killed by themselves or someone they know/love. That’s astounding!
Obviously “mental health” is the other big solution thrown around at these incidents, and that’s a valid concern moreso for suicidality than mass shooters. What I think we are truly missing from our pool of possible solutions is COMPASSION.
We don’t need government authorities confiscating people’s weapons and depriving them of their ability to defend themselves. Especially since the police murder 3-4 times as many people as mass shooters. Giving all our power away to an obviously corrupt government is a poor solution. It’s no solution at all really.
Another plan I’ve heard is the mental health check. Many of you know my wife is a mental health professional, and I know and have discussed this topic with her and some of her colleagues. While it sounds good to keep guns out of the hands of crazies, the practical application of this is near impossible. Mental illness is extremely subjective as psychology is a very “soft” science. This could never be a reliable enough method to have any effect and the potential for administrative abuse is far too high.
I’m sure there are other ideas for solutions that I haven’t addressed here and I’d be happy to discuss them with you below. Here is my proposal: Let’s love each other more. Let’s listen to each other’s concerns and problems with genuine care. Let’s make more of an effort to be there for our loved ones, not just when they need it most, but all the time. Let’s make love our new social paradigm. That cliched saying “Be the change you want to see in the world” is true. It works. But we have to actually do it. I’ve been trying to more consciously and intentionally love my neighbors. I often fall short of that goal and you likely will too. I’m willing to try harder. Will you?