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Nov-29-2022 23:36printcomments

Gun Control, the Third Rail of American Politics

Why are American men so obsessed with guns?

The third rail
Image courtesy: Lobelog

(SAN FRANCISCO, CA.) - For the third straight year the United States has experienced over 600 mass shootings in which four or more people, other than the attacker, were shot.

Just recently, five people were killed in a mass shooting at Club Q nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo.; six were killed at a Walmart in Chesapeake, Va.; four more were killed at the University of Idaho; and three were killed and two others wounded at the University of Virginia. This is intolerable.

Mass shootings are having a powerful impact on many people’s mental health as they happened in spaces where people typically feel safe.

When our safe place becomes the place of trauma, we as a society cannot rely on these places to provide safety, resulting in unpredictably, distress and confusion.

Why are American men so obsessed with guns? The United States is a violent nation with the highest rate of firearm-related deaths among the industrialized nations. The US ratio of 120.5 firearms per 100 residents far surpasses that of other countries around the world.

In 2021, about 42% of U.S. households had at least one gun in their possession. I carried a 45 caliber standard issue handgun while serving in the U.S. Army in Vietnam. I have never owned gun or intend to ever own a handgun and I do not feel any safer knowing that so many other Americans own them.

In his article, America as a Gun Culture, historian Richard Hofstadter popularized the phrase "gun culture" to describe America's long-held affection for firearms, with many citizens embracing and celebrating the association of guns and America's heritage.

According to Hofstadter, the right to own a gun and defend oneself is considered by some, especially those in the South and the Southwest, as a central tenet of the American identity.

A state-by-state approach to gun control laws doesn’t work. California, for example, has strict gun control laws. But in Nevada, individuals can legally sell a firearm to another resident at a gun show for cash without exchanging paperwork or conducting a background check.

This makes it easy for criminals to purchase guns in Nevada and bring them into California and other states. That's why the need for federal gun control laws.

A very modest Bipartisan Safer Communities Act recently signed by President Biden will help states administer red flag laws; closes the so-called boyfriend loophole by barring individuals from possessing a firearm for at least five years if they are convicted of a misdemeanor crime of violence involving a current or former romantic partner; enhances background checks for gun purchasers between the age of 18 and 21 (but not those older); and makes obtaining firearms through straw purchases or trafficking a federal offense.

The Act also provides about $11 billion to improve mental health programs. While money for mental illness programs is needed considering that less than half of Americans with a mental disorder get adequate treatment.

It is unlikely, however, that the Act will noticeably curb the gun violence in this country. Jeffrey Swanson, a psychiatry professor at the Duke University School of Medicine who studies the intersection of gun violence and mental illness said of the Act, "It’s kind of a gun safety law wrapped in a mental health bill.”

Regardless, it is unfair to blame those suffering from mental illness for the cause of gun violence in this country as research shows that of all the violence that occurs in the United States, 96% is due to risk factors other than mental illness. In fact, people with mental illness are far more likely to be the victims of violence than perpetrators of violence.

On Thanksgiving Day, President Joe Biden again stated that he was "going to try” to pass stricter gun control legislation but seemed to acknowledge that it is unlikely to happen, especially as the Republicans take control of the House of Representative in January.

The influence of the National Rifle Association; the unfortunate interpretation of the Second Amendment by the U.S. Supreme Court in District of Columbia vs. Heller finding that individual Americans have a Second Amendment right to "keep and bear arms;” and the present conservative Supreme Court’s decision in New York State Rifle & Pistol Assoc. v. Bruen striking down a New York concealed handgun law, makes efforts to pass reasonable gun control legislation harder.

Unfortunately, supporting gun control measures has become the third rail of Republican politicians.

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