A foreigners view on America's gun policy
If you ask people outside of the US what they make of America's gun policy. Chances are they'll tell you that America is kinda gun crazy and completely isolated in its amount of gun related violence.
In 2015, some 13,286 people were shot and killed in the United States. Another 26,819 were injured. Whether you agree with Obama's stance on gun control or not, he is unequivocally right about one thing: Mass shootings do not occur in other industrialised nations with the same frequency as they do in the United States.
How The US Compares.
Switzerland is often referred to as an example of a working gun culture. With an estimated 4 million guns distributed among a population of roughly 8 million, the Swiss are indeed one neutral gun toting nation. Compared to the US however, Switzerland has seen very little gun related incidents involving multiple victims by a lone shooter. The countries only mass shooting in recent history occurred on September 27, 2001. When Friedrich Leibacher opened fire in a Swiss parliament killing 14 people. By comparison, in the past 50 years the United States has seen a total of 126 mass shootings in which 4 or more people were fatally injured. A total of 869 victims of which 144 were children and teenagers.
Don't Push Me, I'm Close To The Edge.
As one of the most privatised and socially stratified societies in the developed world, the US is still home to the wealthiest people on the planet. It simultaneously has an estimated homeless population of 565,000, a median household income of $54,462 (2015) and the largest prison population in the world. Recent studies suggest that America seems to be far better at creating income inequality than any other developed country. A person living in any society that suffers from massive inequality is likely to, at some point, experience the severe psychological neurosis associated with living in such an environment. When large scale socio-economic inequality converges with the highest gun per capita rate in the world the outcome could prove to be a rather volatile one.
We Need Guns, Lots Of Guns.
The notion among certain gun enthusiasts is that in order to establish a safer society we somehow need less gun free zones and more armed citizens. The idea that gun violence could decrease through the supply of more firearms seems, from an outsiders view, paradoxical to say the least. To assert this argument, gun fanatics are often quick to make a clear distinction between responsible gun owners and criminals. If we somehow have more good people with guns, the bad ones will be kept in check. This bold distinction between good and evil disregarding the complexity of human behaviour in relation to its environment could prove to be a very destructive way of reasoning. It seems highly unlikely to assume that fear and paranoia caused by an entrenched gun culture would somehow lead to the emergence of a more peaceful society. In case of the United States one must certainly conclude that it hasn't.
The Shape Of Things To Come.
Guns are tools, they are tools designed with specific purpose however they remain inanimate objects incapable of judgement or action without human intervention. Because of this, one can indeed ponder if an outright ban on guns would make all of America's problems vanish over night. For one, the increasing empowerment that information technology provides to its users will make it increasingly difficult for governments worldwide to contain the distribution of weapons. In 2013, Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed conceived the world's first 'Wiki Weapon', the Liberator. A fully functioning, 3D printed handgun. Interesting to note, is that 3D printing is a technology still very much in its infancy. As rapid prototyping and open source manufacturing improves, so will our ability to craft and design our own weapons. When one considers that 3D printing is merely the beginning of information paving its way into the physical world. The assumption that preventing easy access to firearms is a future proof concept able to keep us safe becomes more and more questionable.
It all depends on which threat you take the most seriously.
More people were killed by their governments in the 20th Century than by criminals. The first step in each of those cases was disarming the population.
Armed Americans don't worry that much about criminals with guns.
A gun puts a little old lady on equal footing with a 300 lb thug.
To do a fair comparison, you need to control for several other factors. Did you?
I'm sure there are other factors - but you get the idea.
I would argue that your statistics are skewed in favor of greater losses precisely because of the thoughtless restrictions that have already been placed on our ability to defend ourselves.
Americans are at the vanguard of capitalism. We've been substituting work for life longer than any other culture on the face of the earth. Impotent rage combined with access to firepower = senseless violence.
Gun control will work about as good as drug control has worked.
It irritates me that this is characterized as an "american" phenomenon. I think "late stage capitalist culture" is more apt. The shooting spree started with that guy at University of Texas in the late50s/60s. Far as I know, there weren't mass shooting in the US prior to this.
disclosure: american
The author stated that there was a large disparity % of poor and rich in the United States and that this may be a reason for the increase in mass shootings. I do not think gun control or removal of gun control is really the issue. I do believe the mass shootings are a symptom of a much larger issue that has developed in the US. I disagree that wealth is the main reason (although it is also a symptom). The real issue is that over the last 55 years the home dynamic of the US has changed. Up until the 60's the standard was one working parent with one at home. Currently the average home has both parents working with children being attended to in day care or if old enough left at home alone. This has happened for several reasons but more importantly is the individuals want/drive to have more and more or just to simply make ends meet. We have had now 3 generations raised this way. This has allowed multiple generations not being raised in a structured nourishing environment with a deficit in moral upbringing. Add in the fact of social media where now everyone can voice an opinion and create inflammatory remarks with no parental leadership and you have a perfect breeding ground for what we now see. What needs to happen is for the US to go back to its roots, focus on proper upbringing and stop worrying about "surface issues".
Absolutely. Its about cultural decay. When I was 12 in the '60's I came home from school and went out alone hunting for wascally wabbits. Every kid was trained by his dad or uncle in gun safety starting at age 10 or less.
Think about what our cultural values were then and what they are now. Great progress.