Not. One. More. Soul.
America’s heart wrenching, maddening, industry fed and intransigently misanthropic gun culture placed upon on a harshly lit pedestal for all to ponder this madness that is us.
This is not the first 2023 I planned on posting. That will come in a few days.
Here’s my original intro to what was supposed to be 2023’s newly redesigned issue of Story and Pictures: Those of you who know my work are also likely to know of my last book, Move To Fire (review), and can understand why I feel a need to occasionally comment on some of the country’s gun-related incidents. It has to be limited to “some” commentary due to the overwhelming number of gun-related incidents that happen every twenty-four hours in this country. It’s not that I don’t want to bother commenting on a gun-related event if it’s only one or two people involved, injured, or killed, it’s that the sheer number of mass shootings — any shooting incident in which there are two to four victims, dependent upon the reporting organization — would take all my time.
I was still editing the above intro on January 23rd, when the third mass shooting within a 24-hour period happened in California. Somewhat underreported, because there’s only so much space and time in a news day, were two other mass casualty shootings that occurred in other parts of the country.
Move To Fire has somewhat defined me as a writer to friends and family, and cast me in a more specific light for those who have read or are aware of the book. I’m okay with both perspectives because that book is a highlight in my almost 40-year creative career. But by the very nature of its subject matter — a junk gun, a paralyzed kid, and a valiant attorney — and because I continue to write for a public audience, I often have to share my thoughts and knowledge about gun-related violence even when I know I’ll struggle to say something I haven’t already written since Move To Fire was published.
This time, I do have a couple of stats that place America’s heart wrenching, maddening, industry fed and intransigently misanthropic gun culture on a harshly lit pedestal for all to ponder this madness that is us: 1. There have been more mass shootings in America than the number of days in 2023 (way more; the total for January is ~70; 2. Mass shootings only account for 1% of America’s deaths from firearms.
Number two holds the key to unlocking the societal and governmental change so desperately needed. Mass shootings are horrendous, grabbing our attention and generating a maelstrom of noise, emotion, discussion, and news time. They are the glaring banners, horror movie posters, the emoters of tears and rage and screams of “When are we going to do something?!”
They receive our just attention and serve as a catalyst for a brief period.
But…1%.
Mass shootings could be considered the ugliest facet of a multifaceted problem, except by families and friends left behind by the multitudes of suicide, domestic violence, crime, and other victims killed by a gun.
And a just released Secret Service report reveals that one-quarter of shooting attacks were motivated by conspiracy theories and/or ideologies. Essentially, someone shot someone else because of a manufactured, fictional situation — the darkest, most egregious nee ridiculous kinds of fairy tales.
If there is even a snowball’s chance in hell of creating change in this nation, it requires that the majority of the population exert and maintain pressure on its federal government to recognize that gun violence can’t be fixed without education, regulation, and most importantly a recognition of its scope. This would be a massive shift. The gun industry’s financial ties to congress and the senate would have to be severed even as gun industry representatives were included in any long term solution strategies (for some this is unachievable, even laughable); and the 2nd Amendment would need to be reworked, as explained in the August 5, 2019 New Yorker article, “Politics Changed the Reading of the Second Amendment—and Can Change It Again: No victory, or defeat, is permanent. The Court changed the Second Amendment, and the Court can change it back again, in its original direction.”
Personally, I believe an important start is to recognizie that a huge number of people in this country don’t know how to channel and control anger, and it’s up to all of us to fix it. It’s the one thing we can all do now, every person and every family.Anger and guns are a volatile mix. A young, angry man, a man in despair, a man who feels wronged with no recourse or support — yes, it’s mostly men — are immediately empowered just by the feel of a gun in their hand. In lower income communities, the gun is the way, sometimes perceived as the way out, sometimes perceived as the way to something better, or the only defense until getting to something better. No domestic partner should have access to a gun or the ability to own one. There is no Constitutional right to kill a domestic partner, no Constitutional right to murder co-workers because of a denied raise in pay, no Constitutional right to shoot someone who doesn’t want to date you.
Anger when witnessed or experienced by a child, or a child witnessing or experiencing the diminishment or degradation of another person, gender, or race perpetuates the gun as an equalizing solution. Uncontrolled anger is unhealthy, powerful, and deadly. Availability of mental health support services, and education on the life altering affect of marrying a gun to anger are desperately needed in these times. In any times.Nothing equates to the sadness felt after the violent death wrought by a gun, or by any means. But, there is a collective sadness that comes from seeing, hearing, or reading the news reports of a mass shooting, then looking at our child, our family, our friends, and knowing, feeling, how crushed we would be if it were any of them.
Yes, I realize much of what I’ve written here is perceived as unattainable. I don’t care if that’s how it’s perceived, because we need to do at least some of these things. I don’t believe that anyone else should be sacrificed, not one more family should mourn, because of political stasis, the gun industry’s billions of dollars, fringe mongers, or the 2nd amendment.
Not. One. More. Soul.
Please go here for an exceptional list of gun violence-related insights and information:https://disasterphilanthropy.org/resources/mass-shootings/, and pass along this post to anyone who might be interested in its point of view.
MWH