Ethics & Religion
Column #1,987
September 12, 2019
Time for Gun Legislation
By Mike McManus
There have been three major mass shootings in the past five weeks: 8
killed in Odessa, TX on August 31, 10 murdered in Dayton, OH on August
4, and 22 killed in El Paso a day earlier.
If a mass shooting is defined as multiple victims by firearms, there
were 297 mass shootings in 2019, with 1,219 people shot and 335 who
died. Most get no publicity beyond their community, such as a
14-year-old boy who killed five members of his family on September 2 in
Elkmont, AL - two parents and three siblings.
America has more than 300 million guns - roughly one per citizen. By
contrast, Japan has less than one gun per 100 people and fewer than 10
gun deaths per year.
Guns are not the most common way people attempt suicide - but they are
the most fatal. Guns are used in only 6% of suicide attempts, but kill
54% of those trying to kill themselves, while all other methods account
for only 46% of deaths.
In fact, there were 39,773 Americans killed by guns in 2017. According
to the Center for Disease Control, this was the highest number of deaths
in 50 years. The high number was driven by suicides. Sixty percent of
gun deaths were self-inflicted. Only 4% of the world's population lives
in America, but a third of the world's gun suicides are here in the U.S.
To put it more specifically, a stunning 23,844 Americans killed
themselves, mostly with guns in 2017.
Gun enthusiasts often protest: Cars kill about as many people as guns
and we don't ban them! However, America works hard to regulate cars to
reduce the death toll. Seat belts began to appear in cars in 1950, and
Tennessee was first to require child safety seats. New York was the
first to require seat belt use. Air bags became mandatory in 1999.
Regulating autos has been spectacularly successful, reducing the death
rate per 100 million miles driven by 95%.
It is time to regulate guns in America. What specific steps might be
taken?
In March, the House voted 240-190 to require universal background checks
for any purchase of guns, with Democrats cheering as the bill passed
(though a few Republicans voted for it). And by 228-198, the House also
passed a bill to extend the time for a background check from 3 days to
10 days.
Why are these bills needed? About 46% of guns sold in America are sold
by licensed dealers who must conduct a background check of buyers to be
sure they are not selling to criminals. These checks did prevent the
sale of weapons to 2.4 million dangerous people!
However, millions of guns are sold at 3,500 "gun shows" which do not
require a background check. A universal background check law would close
that loophole, preventing more than 2 million sales and and save many
lives.
Sen. Mitch McConnell has blocked Senate consideration of universal
background checks. However, President Trump said this week "We are
looking at background checks," which is an encouraging sign that the
Republican Senate might be nudged to vote for the bill.
A second law that is needed would ban the sale of assault weapons, The
perpetrator of mass killings in El Paso, Dayton, Odessa and Parkland all
used assault weapons that fire bullets like a machine gun.
There was a federal ban of the sale of assault weapons in the U.S. from
1994 to 2004. During that decade, the number of gun massacres fell by
37% and the number of people killed dropped by 43%.
But after the ban lapsed in 2004, the number of gun massacres shot up an
astonishing 183% and 239% in deaths in one year! If the assault weapon
ban were passed and made permanent, "You would see drastic reductions in
what I call gun massacres," says Louis Klarevas of the University of
Massachusetts and the author of a 2016 book, Rampage Nation.
Klarevas says the key provision of the assault weapons ban was a ban on
high-capacity magazines capable of holding more than 10 rounds. "We have
found that when large capacity mags are regulated, you get drastic drops
in both the incidence of gun massacres and the fatality rate of gun
massacres."
I urge readers to contact their Senators to urge passage of both
universal background checks and an assault weapons ban.
Let's save lives!
__________________________
Copyright (c) 2019 Michael J. McManus, President of Marriage Savers and
a syndicated columnist. To read past columns, go to
www.ethicsandreligion.com. Hit
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