Mass Shootings
Let’s talk about mass shootings, gun violence, and gun control, but that conversation needs to be intellectually honest.
Please read this post with an open mind, that’s all I ask.
After posting my thoughts in the wake of the Route 91 shooting I was unfriended/blocked by a dozen people on Facebook. I was told I was “personally responsible with blood on my hands” by three people.
After wearing my NRA shirt to school following the Florida Stoneman Douglas High School shooting I was blocked on Snapchat by three people and unfriended by 2 others on Instagram. I was told, in person, by two other students at Cal Poly Pomona (where I got my bachelor’s) that my shirt was “disgusting” and “inappropriate.”
I am all for the freedom of association and allowing people to freely choose not to associate with people who they don’t want to associate with. However, have we really become so close-minded as a society that we terminate (in some cases life-long) friendships because someone has a different opinion than you about firearms?
With that being said, I would like to have a civil, educated, and informed discussion about mass shootings and what we can do limit, reduce, or eliminate these tragedies. I WANT to talk about this; I don’t think ignoring it or simply posting memes taking one side or the other accomplishes anything.
Moving forward, here are a few of my thoughts on the recent Pittsburgh shooting, mass shootings in general, and gun control:
1. If you think the answer to solving mass shootings is stricter gun control, what SPECIFIC laws or regulations would have prevented this tragedy or ones like it?
2. If your answer to #1 is a universal gun ban, what would your solution be for the 3,000,000+ registered guns owned by private citizens and the 300,000,000+ unregistered guns owned by private citizens?
3. If your answer to #1 is some form of background check different to the one(s) currently in place, what would be included in your proposed background check? How would you ensure that HIPAA and the 4th Amendment is not violated by the background check? How would you prevent/regulate private sales or transfers?
4. If your answer to #1 is some sort of mandatory training associated with buying a firearm (similar to the behind the wheel portion of drivers training), how would this prevent gun violence? I would venture to say that, if anything, this has the potential to create an even more deadly situation if the bad guy is trained how to use his weapon. There is an argument to be made that mandatory training has the potential to reduce firearm-related injuries such as those caused by negligent discharges or improper maintenance of firearms, but those injuries/deaths aren’t “gun violence.”
5. I very frequently see people claim that the 2nd Amendment only applies to militias. This is simply not true. The Second Amendment does not only apply to militias. A simple examination of English grammar is an easy way to illustrate this fact. A slightly altered version of the Second Amendment: “A well balanced breakfast being necessary to the start of a healthy day, the right of the people to keep and eat food shall not be infringed.” Based on this sentence, who has the right to keep and eat food? A well balanced breakfast? Or the people? The founding fathers specifically wanted to protect the people’s right to keep and bear arms. We know this because that is what they wrote. They didn’t write “the right of the militia” or “the right of the army” or “the right of the government” or any other group other than the right of the people. It’s right there in plain English. This is backed up and reinforced by the founding fathers in The Federalist Papers. Additionally, in the Supreme Court decision District of Columbia v. Heller, the Supreme Court reaffirmed that the Second Amendment refers to the right of the individual to own and possess firearms.
6. I frequently see stuff saying something along the lines of “90% of Americans support stricter gun control” or something along those lines. If that is true, why not amend the Constitution to modify or delete the 2nd Amendment? If 90% of Americans truly support stricter gun control, what are you waiting for? The process to amend the constitution should be downright EASY if support is truly that widespread.
7. The spread of downright lies needs to stop. Everytown is not a reputable source; they purposely spread disinformation and misinformation to promote their agenda. All research has an inherent bias, few people are conducting expensive research simply because of curiosity, they are trying to prove or confirm their beliefs. However, just because there are inherent biases, many institutions still conduct objective research. For example, CATO Institute, Belfer Center, Brookings Institution, Mises Institute, etc.
8. The 2nd Amendment is not about hunting. The 2nd Amendment is not about recreation. The 2nd Amendment is not about target shooting or competition. The 2nd Amendment IS about the people (us) having the means to protect ourselves against a tyrannical government.
9. If you insist on using the term “assault rifle” or “assault weapon,” please define it.
This post ended up a lot longer than I anticipated, thank you if you made it all the way through. I look forward to hopefully having a civil and constructive conversation.
