I don’t disagree with your contention that a holistic approach is necessary. However I would add that the gun culture is a major factor - not just in mass shootings but gun deaths overall. It stops us from examining the issue properly and proposing solutions that would dramatically reduce the rates of all gun deaths regardless of underlying cause. Simultaneously the culture of the gun in America is an … accelerant for the social/mental health issues you brought up - especially the masculinity crisis. Easy access, idealization of the gun, all the issues surrounding policing, and the difficulty of addressing mental health/societal problems is a very toxic stew. All of these need to be addressed, but I don’t think we should ignore that restricting access would theoretically be the most powerful if there was the will to do it. However, again, I agree it would not solve everything and violence would still be an issue until all or most of the factors above are ameliorated.
Totally agree with the gun culture discussion- it’s another topic not commonly discussed, at least in a balanced and constructive manner. I would say addressing culture is part of a holistic approach. No single solution can solve this.
Gun culture is not unique to the US, but we certainly have our own very unique flavor. Gun culture in places like Canada, the UK, Switzerland Israel, Russia, generally revolves around hunting, sport shooting, or (proper) military use- or some combination of these. I suppose the primary difference is this sense or 2nd amendment absolutism and the overwhelming intent on acquiring guns for self defense and the idea that nearly everyone should be able able to own a gun (or identifying people who should not but are not willing to enact laws to properly prevent them). The US also glorifies guns and often associates ownership to political identity (despite a decent % of dems and many independents owning guns) while countries with mandatory conscription (ie Israel, Switzerland) seem far less excited/impressed.
In most of the aforementioned countries, you cannot buy or carry a gun intended for self-defense (and in many cases carrying any weapon intended for self defense, ie a knife, is illegal). In Switzerland you can only shoot someone in self defense if you’re responding to a proportional threat- ie someone is trying to shoot you is okay, shooting an unarmed robber would be illegal. Sounds pretty reasonable to me. And I imagine that affects how people view guns in Switzerland.
In the US, a lot of gun culture (and this does not apply to everyone) seems to revolve around masculinity, power/empowerment, defending oneself from lurking danger at every turn, making one look cool, toys to show off, etc. Media portrayals probably don’t help. My impression in other cultures that guns are more universally treated much more seriously- probably in large part due to better training and exposure (ie military conscription). I believe it’s 30+ states that do not require a basic firearm safety class and a number that do not require classes for pistols. There is no federal requirement on gun storage beyond *selling* trigger locks with guns and half the states have no or extremely minimal storage laws.
While not a remotely a comparable situation due to significantly different gun laws, there are nations with sizable populations of gun owners and far less gun related crime- ie Switzerland and Canada (and also places ie South America with much higher deaths per capita despite much lower per capita guns- official counts anyways). So in my mind there is a way to vastly improve our situation without completely banning guns- which stands little chance politically for the time being. And the sheer number of guns in the country and lack of ownership tracking makes things exceedingly difficult.
I will say, the irony is that the more tragedies that occur, the more people demand gun bans and highly stringent and “unfavorable” (to gun proponent) regulations are demanded, the more people are likely to support such measures, and the greater likelihood such laws will come to fruition. In other words, the biggest threat to gun rights is a lack of gun regulations. On the flip side, every time there is a risk of gun regulations potentially coming down, people go out and buy guns in droves. So it should behoove second amendment absolutists and lobbyists especially and anti-gun proponents to find some compromise.
Part of the problem is the 2A absolutists have adopted the “not another inch” mentality… (which in itself has become part of US gun culture) with the belief ceding any amount of rights will result in a cascade of laws intended to ultimately ban gun ownership. I don’t think it’s much of an argument that there are many who have the intent to ban guns effectively or entirely, so I don’t see it as entirely unfounded. But as I stated before, I think the lack of reforms has and will ultimately hurt the 2AA’s in the long run. Especially when we now have a generation+ of children who have grown up being or being in fear of becoming a victim of a school shooting.
I believe there is a lot of room for negotiation to create meaningful reforms- but I could only see compromise if there was to be some kind of assurance guns wouldn’t be eventually banned or so regulated it’s impossible to own one. Somehow readjusting our gun culture to better value safe storage and gun safety- including who should be restricted from ownership- that probably starts with requiring education and having set accreditation standards.
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I should disclaim that I have a pistol permit in the state of CT, though I live in Mass. My reason for ownership is more of a matter of circumstance than desire. Years ago I worked for a pharmacist who was also a cop, NRA instructor (and SWAT, ex-military instructor) who insisted on training me. In the end he gifted me a Glock, his first gun as a police officer, so pretty meaningful. Someone else gifted me a second pistol. Both guns are highly secured in my parents house (4+ layers of protection) and I haven’t fired them in over a decade.
I never had any interest in acquiring a gun, let alone a pistol permit. Even after getting my permit, I had no interest in buying a gun. I’ve never really had a desire to get a permit in Mass. I have no attachment to them beyond the sentimental value instilled by the people that gifted them to me. If society voted that pistols should be abolished, I would have no problem giving them up.
I understand many people view guns as as a fundamental right. I would hope we can maintain that right, but something needs to change to stop the madness. 2A is not absolute, as is the case with other rights. I’m willing to sacrifice some of my gun rights to hopefully make society safer.