Another day, another mass shooting in America. One person killed and 12 people injured in a shooting at a Kroger store in Collierville, Tennessee. Who cares! These incidences are becoming so common that they hardly make headlines any more. And if they do make the news, it usually lasts for one daily news cycle. This year, 2021, is on track to be the deadliest year, in terms of gun violence, in two decades, according to a study that was published in June of this year.1 According to that article, there had been 296 mass shootings through June. (A mass shooting is defined as the killing of 4 or more people). At that time, almost 10,000 people had been killed by gun violence. Fast forward to an article that was published in September of this year and the death toll from gun violence had risen to 14,723.2
These are truly staggering and tragic figures. However, the figures that really blew my mind were the statements, in multiple articles that there are currently between 390 to 434 MILLION guns on the street in the United States.2 Given that the population of the country is about 330 million, that says that there is more than 1 gun for every man, woman and child in the country. That staggering number of guns includes 20 MILLION AR-15 type ‘assault rifles’ (although most gun advocacy groups refer to them as ‘sporting rifles’). Of those millions of guns, the estimate is that 214 MILLION have been purchased since 1991, i.e., in the last 30 years.
Is there anyone who believes the US is safer today than it was 30 years ago? Gun advocates always argue that citizens need guns to ‘protect themselves’ so you would assume that since the number of guns on the street has essentially doubled in the last 30 years that we would all be a lot safer – right? In fact, the exact opposite is true. The simple fact is, the number of gun deaths keeps going up. The number of mass shootings keeps going up. A simple review of the data shows that the proliferation of firearms is not helping to make America safe! Although when the hell did facts ever matter in the current political climate?
A little further investigation revealed that Montana, right here where I live, has the highest percentage of gun ownership in the country!!3 We’re number one!! In Montana, the estimate is that 66.3% of adults own a firearm. Wyoming is a close second at 66.2% but we win! Massachusetts and New Jersey have the lowest percentage of gun ownership at 14.7%. Both of those states have very strict gun ownership laws and, in fact, Massachusetts consistently has one of the lowest gun fatality rates in the country. The other states with a gun ownership percentage less than 20 are Rhode Island, Hawaii and New York. Not surprising, every single state in the ‘top ten’ of states with the highest percentage of gun ownership are all ‘Red’ states. Republicans love their guns, although its provably false that the large percentage of gun ownership makes their states safer!!
According to the World Population Review the average across a very wide range of countries is 26.2 firearms owned per every 100 people.4 The United States outranks every country on the list, by far, with an ownership rate of 120.5 guns owned per every 100 people. Our neighbor to the north, Canada, has a gun ownership rate of 34.7 guns per every 100 people.
The Global Peace Index ranks countries in 23 categories along three major themes; the Level of Societal Safety and Security; the Extent of Ongoing Domestic and International Conflict; and the degree of Militarisation5. The United States ranks 122 on this list just below Republic of the Congo, Algeria and Azerbaijan. Iceland is at the top of the list as the safest country in the world and has been since 2008. No European country is listed in the lower half of the list and 8 of the top most peaceful countries are in Europe. Portugal, where I was going to spend October before I cancelled my trip due to COVID, is ranked 4 on this list.
Clearly, the proliferation of firearms in this country has not made America any safer domestically or internationally. There is absolutely no data or fact-based argument to justify the uncontrolled and increasingly widespread ownership of guns – and yet here we are. This, like the COVID pandemic, should be a solvable problem. Unfortunately, just like public health measures required to contain the pandemic have become a cultural and political battleground, so to has the issue of guns become a politically intractable morass. Both COVID and guns are public health problems that are killing thousands of Americans and which are solvable problems – but they won’t be. Thousands more will needlessly die simply because of a warped definition of ‘freedom’, and a widespread lack of political courage.
Tens of thousands of American men and women have fought and died in wars to protect our ‘freedoms’ and now it seems like those freedoms which so many sacrificed so much for, are going to continue to needlessly kill thousands more Americans, and perhaps even democracy itself.
And one final thought. Just remember if you are driving around Montana and someone in a pickup truck cuts you off or does something else foolish, Montana has one of the highest drunk driving rates in the country so that driver could very well be impaired. And we do have the highest percentage of people who own firearms. It would probably be best to just take a deep breath and drive on down the road. The other driver might decide to exercise their freedom and ….
I’m at the other end of the gun spectrum now – I had 14 rifles and pistols, inherited my father’s 42 for a total of 56, and from another prior inheritance from a high power target shooting cousin – I had collectively over 34,000 rounds of ammo in the garage with all the re-loading gear to make more (but we cried uncle).
I started target shooting in Jr. High, and ended in 1st year of college, and our small private rifle range in Brea, Ca had a program for those under age 18 to learn and compete with .22 smallbore. Many of us became competative at the national level, and NRA national champrionships and records are held by friends. I placed 3rd overall, adults included, in 1 of the 16, 1975 prone matches at Camp Perry, Ohio at 50 yards with a target scope – above the reigning Olympic Gold Medalist. So – to cut the costs and middle man out – my father applied, and somehow received his Federal Firearms License (FFL) for a personal business he created to run out of the garage at home. The target rifles and ammo were very expensive – today those rifles are over $ 5,000 each, and the ammo over $22 per box of 50. Just a 1 day match today would likely cost about 200 dollars in ammo. Practice every Saturday, sometimes Sunday, and most tuesday nights – just as much. So the bills rang up, my legs got stronger with a paper route to help pay, etc… Then, after deciding college was my route, rather than join the military for sponsorship and a tiny change to get to the Olympic or higher nation level – I bailed. It turned to shooting rocks in the desert after that – as did two other friends on our club – so higher power rifles, pistols, etc. And then the neighbors learned of my dad’s little biz, and they would bring the weapons owned from those passing away to be sold off to others we knew, and the ones not sold kept – mostly the older WW 1 or 2, or early rifles. And then my father’s cousin passed who happened to have done much the same as I did target shooting, only with high power rifles. Add it up – the numbers first mentioned.
Pictures and website for grins –
https://secretware.org/index-personal.html
and scan over to the lower right side.
So – We were intimated familiar with guns and rifles – crazy different today – way before the AR-15 craze and we know well that’s a BB gun compared to the armed forces, if anyone thinks that’ll keep the government’s army from take over if they wanted to. For home defense – we knew many – zero incidents of using them in a home burglary. Not surprising – several injuries from family members accidentally shot.
All a our weapons were stored in locked closests (when young and only a couple), and later in gun safes. Before requirements to do so – it’s just common sense.
Some people were scared of guns more than others. My target shooting best friend and I had our high school lockers searched on occasion ( that had to be boring in my case ), and some neighbors terrified that we were doing it. But, when they came and saw what and how we did it – some immediately went the other way and not only thought it was cool – considered if their children might be interested. Only a couple, well because many kids not interested in that – and for what we did – it was a major commitment time and effort wise – child and supervising parent(s).
But things are crazy now – just dumbass crazy. It is no longer about sport and hunting like it was in my days. It’s about a internal war, fear, and money for the sake of lobbying, for a cause not worthy or actually needed if one looks at the statistics. I had a $50 NRA Lifetime membership that I cancelled. The NRA is (or was?) no longer a moral organization. Damned president went to Africa on organizational money + TV sponsorship and shot 2 elephants on camera for “entertainment” using a aide and others to finish his kill because he couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn – the elephant right in front of him. His wife at least killed the other quickly. My cancellation of my membership went in immediately – which only could be done by me having to write them a god blasted letter.
I had not been shooting rocks for fun, with our small gang, out in the remote BLM desert land beyond Barstow in the back side of the Calico Mountains for years and years (legal, even checked out by a desert ranger once to confirm) – So I called a specialist company in Semi Valley to come out, appraise, and sell them all – the whole lot. Too much trouble, and actually a burden. Not to mention if the house caught fire, the fire dept upon learning they are there would not attempt to put it out, and the house would go Post Toasties.
For home defense – I have a mini Dodger baseball bat tucked away within arms reach. From bat night games. Can’t even do that anymore now – because fans break out in fights in the stands. But it is just exactly perfect for head banging. Why be deprived of the chance to break the intruder’s head or rough him up ? Not to mention, when a person shoots another – it makes a mess if they actually get lucky and hit them, and then after it totally plays mind fuck on them for the rest of their life. Taking the life of another is a life changing experience – and not in a good way.
So – anyway – lots of wind – sorry – but it makes me sad to see the sport I competed in get almost destroyed and run completely out of Dodge because of what guns in America have turned into. Texas especially – poster child for insanity. Their laws have moved back into the era of 150 years ago – the wild west. With all the recent accelerated advances of late – might as well be the stone ages.
If those arming up are religious – just more evidence it’s not about Jesus’s teachings anymore – he is claimed to have said to rejoice, and not live in fear. But they do. Sad. And, hypocritical – his chief complaint about the pharisees.
Yeah – nice article – and so true – we’re callused to mass shootings now – the new norm. And it does hit those you know. If I had not resigned from work in 2015 – there was a chance I’d be in a room at that hotel in Vegas where the bump-stock massacre took place from. A close work friend was – for our annual company tech convention.
Genie’s out of the bottle though – sigh.
Cheers.