Common Sense Gun Control

Number one story on the Bing news line the other day was that "Ted Cruz can't handle the grilling." A British reporter asked him only one question. "Why do mass shootings only happen in America?" And Ted ran. Couldn't handle it. Loser. Of course, that's not what happened; that's just what the media is reporting. The reporter asked one (primary) question, but he continued to ask it repeatedly, hounding him long after the interview was over. If Cruz couldn't handle the grilling, I suspect it was simply his temper that he was managing.

What are the facts? You know, the facts that the media doesn't want to tell you. For instance, mass murders don't only happen in America. One study found that the U.S. ranked 11th in death rate per million people from mass shootings. Another ranked the U.S. 64th in the world in terms of mass shooting rates per capita. And this is without considering those countries with militants that go through and wipe out entire villages. Russia just had a school shooting in April of this year and another in September of last year. It's simply not true that these things only happen in America.

For instance, Switzerland has one of the highest rates of gun ownership in the world, yet they haven't had a mass shooting since 2001. Odd, since "more guns = more deaths" has been the mantra for so long. For instance, gun ownership in America has been a given practically forever. According to Statista.com, gun ownership rates in America between 1972 and 2021 has varied between a high of 47% in 1990 and 37% as late as 2019. No more than 10% difference for 50 years. Yet, "the toll of mass shootings has risen steadily." Again, Statista.com shows a rise from 0 in 2002 to 12 in 2018 and we're clearly on track to blow that record away this year.

"Gun control!" they cry, and I'm not opposed to controls. In fact, we have quite a few. There are restrictions on suppressors and explosives, automatic weapons and concealed weapons, background checks and interstate trade restrictions, on and on. Still, gun control laws, they assure us, are the answer. I'm actually fascinated by this position given that people who commit these kinds of crimes are knowingly breaking the law, yet making the obtaining of guns illegal is expected to diminish the law breaking. How about the fact that, on the very day that a crazed killer was killing 29 victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School, a crazed man stabbed 28 school children in China? Nope, don't report that fact. Then we'll be calling for "knife control."

"Oh, ignore this guy," some are going to say. "He's just a gun lover." No, not at all. "He doesn't care that all this is going on." Couldn't be farther from the truth. My problem is that I agree that there is a big problem. In fact, I might think it's a bigger problem than you do. Most people these days think it's a problem of guns. I'd say that's factually stupid. Guns have been around in America and elsewhere a long time. A very long time. And before that we had all sorts of "assault weapons" -- weapons available to use to assault other humans. From rocks to baseball bats to knives to guns and beyond. Killing has existed since Cain killed Abel. Gun control didn't stop that murder. No, the problem is much bigger than guns. Restricting guns, then, might decrease the gun violence (duh), but it won't restrict the killings. According to one study, of all the mass murders from 2006 to 2017, nearly a quarter were done without guns. In 1973 in New Orleans 32 people were killed at a gay bar when a disgruntled customer bought a can of lighter fluid and burned the place down. Lots of those kinds of stories. Remember Japan's sarin gas attack that killed 13 in 1995? No guns.

"Oh, no, of course guns aren't the only way to kill people, but it sure makes it easier to kill a lot!" Missing the point. Look, schools are almost entirely "gun free zones" and yet guns are used to kill children in schools. Guns are banned everywhere from murdering innocent people and, yet, they are used to murder innocent people. Countries that have no qualms banning guns entirely still have mass murders. The problem is not the laws. The problem is people. The problem is individuals and the problem is society. Individuals who have no moral compass, no compassion, no empathy, certainly no relationship with God. And a society that has fed and nurtured and encouraged those individuals ... and produced a marvelous system -- let's call it "social media" -- where people can vent rage and feed hate all without accountability ... and engendered an entire "news" media that isn't nearly as concerned about news as propaganda and an entertainment industry that makes its most lucrative products celebrations of evil. We've made this problem. The original problem is sin. Some societies work at curbing sin. They develop "community" and cultures with common courtesy and common values with strong moral bounds. Not us. "Be true to yourself" and "Don't let anyone tell you you can't" are our highest values today without regard to the very real possibility that "be true to yourself" just might mean killing people. And, of course, bottom line, asking corrupt sinners to harness corrupt sinners is just asking the fox to guard the hen house. What is really needed is Christ. The real problem is the god of this world and the real solution is Jesus, but the current culture is not interested in the actual solution. And Christians in America today lean more toward moral autonomy and rely less on "thus saith the Lord." We can't address it because we've set aside God's Word. So we'll bind Christ and call Him "hate" when the Word disagrees with our personal view and make sure that religion, especially the Christian religion, has no voice in our public market. No, we'll do just fine limiting guns. That'll fix it. And, like the finger pointing to the moon, we get fixated on the finger and miss the point. By focusing on "gun laws" we miss the point that the heart of man is desperately sick and new rules won't fix that.