If it seems like there is a multiple victim shooting somewhere in this country everyday — you’re right. As I write this — we’re all shocked by the brutality of the San Bernardino killings. Sadly, statistics and history tell us that within a few days or weeks, another community somewhere in America will be in mourning after yet another shooting spree by a deranged gunner or terrorist. According to some Federal crime statistics I just saw — there have been at least 351 multiple victim incidents involving guns in the United States so far in 2015. Just look at the calendar –with more than half the month of December left — that’s actually a little more than one every day.
There is no other nation on earth where this kind of gun violence is so commonplace.
Now, one reason for that is the fact that some governments simply don’t let many of their private citizens have firearms. In some cases it’s a public safety issue. In many, it’s a way for the government to protect itself and maintain power. I think the real bottom line is that no other nation has the history and tradition of gun ownership and use that we have here. Our founding fathers were very aware of how they were able to gain our independence from the greatest military power of the 18th Century — England. It happened in part because so many colonists had the guns that they used for hunting food and for protection on the frontier. Without those guns there could have been no American Revolution. There simply wouldn’t have been so many well-armed Minutemen at Concord and Lexington, Bunker Hill and on and on.
Then guns “won the west” as the pioneers moved across the continent. The fact is, like it or not, firearms are an integral part of American history. That’s why the Second Amendment of our Constitution speaks to the right of the people to bear arms in order to provide for a well-regulated militia.
It’s estimated that there are about 300 million guns in America today. That’s more than one for every adult in the country.
What I’m trying to say here is that no matter how sick at heart we are over all the misery caused by guns again and again across our nation — simply seeking to increase legal control of guns is not going to work. The Second Amendment, the pro-gun lobby and just the enormous number of guns that are out there available make real “gun control” extremely difficult if not impossible.
So — am I saying “There’s nothing we can do. We’ll just have to live with these awful events because we are a free and open society with legal firearms ownership.” No. Doing nothing but wringing our hands and bemoaning the awful state of things is no answer. There must be every possible legal restriction to keep guns away from the insane, from children and those with any violent criminal background. More such measures are vigorously opposed by the gun lobby — and there needs to be a real, forceful national discussion about these issues.
Beyond that, we all have to re-dedicate ourselves to fight for more and better-funded mental health screening and care nationwide and to simply paying more attention to everything around us. There are some early reports that neighbors thought they saw some suspicious goings-on involving the San Bernardino shooters. They should have contacted authorities. We all want our privacy and to respect that of others — but sometimes — you do need to indulge your suspicions. If you do see something, say something. You’ll probably be wrong — but better to have police chase down a false lead — than have to later investigate a mass murder.
