What I Think about Gun Problems in the U.S.

Last night a lunatic planned and executed a massive violent crime at a crowded movie theater in Aurora, CO.  Over the past few months I’ve seen story after story, here in Columbus and elsewhere, of violent crimes committed using guns, many of them for the most petty of reasons.  I’m here to offer my thoughts and potential solutions to this problem.

The culture in the U.S. has changed in the past year, certainly significantly since 9/11.  There seems to me, based on the high volume of these types of incidents, a propensity for individuals within our society to choose to purchase a gun.  Then they choose to take the gun outside of their homes (whether it’s legal to or not in their state isn’t relevant at this point … a CWL wouldn’t have helped the people in Aurora last night).  Then they choose to resolve a problem, whether it is one of their own or one with another person, by using the gun to kill.  Something has gone seriously wrong with our society and culture if members of our society think that this is a proper and appropriate way to deal with problems. 

I recall a recent incident here in Columbus where a man and his girlfriend got into an argument with a man who had been riding a bike nearby (no idea what the argument was about).  The argument escalated to the point where the man on the bike chose to pull out his gun and shoot the couple.  A simple argument between strangers quickly escalates to deadly violence.  What was the guy on the bike thinking?  Did he feel that he needed the gun for his own protection so he took it with him on a fucking bike ride?  And worse did he feel that the only resolution to the argument with the couple was to shoot them both? 

I can only imagine that the feeling of superiority and power over the couple led the man to casually toss aside any moral deterrents, respect for the laws of our society, empathy or self-control and just pull out his gun and shoot.  Certainly the asshole in Aurora decided that the only solution to whatever problem was plaguing him was to shoot a bunch of strangers and strike terror into the hearts of thousands or movie-goers across the nation.  Where was the respect for your fellow man?  Where were the moral lessons of our parents, society and religions? Where was the guilt on the part of the shooters?  What happened to the thought process that prevents people from choosing to commit violent acts?

On the other side of this coin is the simple access to guns for individuals like these to commit these crimes.  The right to bear arms is in the Constitution and there’s no chance in hell of that being removed.  But we can restrict who can purchase and use firearms and which ones with other laws.  We require background checks.  That’s nice and there may even be statistics to prove that’s reduced violence.  But these assholes got through background checks and still got the guns to do the deed, so something still isn’t right.  Is it the responsibility of our government to protect us from people with criminal intent when they purchase firearms (or tear gas or Kevlar … why do average civilians need those things again?)

So I see three failures here, each of which I think can be resolved with a few changes.

First, the Federal Government needs to pass laws that require gun owners to show proof of a college degree before they can purchase a gun.  My reasoning for this is simple: Going to college and completing a degree takes a few things:

1. Commitment
2. Intelligence
3. Support

If a person is committed to completing a college education they are invested in their future and their well-being.  They’re less likely to do things to jeopardize that investment in themselves, particularly for things as simple as disagreements in parking lots (for example).  They also have a greater amount of intelligence before, during and after their education, hopefully one that has a broad enough range to include (directly or indirectly) some philosophy, morality or history that can highlight the consequences of our actions on ourselves and our societies and to recognize evil thoughts and deeds when you see them.  You can’t make it through college without support, either from yourself or from your family.  That support mechanism can help solidify a base to counter violent acts and thoughts with the recognition and implementation of support and love from other people. 

These three simple but vital characteristics of most college graduates can provide the intellectual and moral foundation for appropriate behavior, self-sufficiency, self-awareness and the mental capacity to accurately determine right from wrong.  If the people with guns are intellectually prepared for their actions in the world, I would hope that alone would reduce the number of these senseless, uncaring and evil acts.  Unfortunately the gunman in Aurora was a graduate student in Neuroscience.  He had to have had each of those 3 things and yet he still did this terrible, terrible thing.  So, we need to do more.  And when I say we, I’m not talking about just our government.

Second, there needs to be much more accountability with selling guns, ammo and all this other crap.  This guy in CO managed to get his hands on basically a SWAT team member’s full gear.  It’s insane to me that all that stuff could get into the hands of civilians so easily.  Am I saying not to sell Kevlar vests?  No.  But tear gas?  Seriously?  What law abiding citizen needs tear gas … EVER.  Or, an even better example, an AK-47.  WTF?  Why do we sell military-grade weapons to anyone except, I don’t know, the military?  Are we that greedy and gun happy that we’re okay with this?   I think you ban the sale of military-grade guns and ammo.  There’s plenty of money still to be made for the gun wranglers. 

The other side of this, the part that I doubt would ever fly in our democracy, is to hold the gun seller accountable.  Ideally, I’d want the guys who sold the Columbine kids guns locked up forever or something worse.  They sold machine guns to kids.  They don’t deserve my tax dollars to pay for their prison food.  Whoever sold this CO guy an AK-47 should lose his ability to sell anything and work as a slave for the families who lost loved ones.  Of course the same argument could be made for the car seller and a drunk driver who kills someone with the car they bought.  It’ll never fly, but guns are out there for only one purpose: to kill things.  Maybe the people selling them would be more careful who they sold them to if they were at least partially accountable for how the gun is used.  Alas, the land of the free will protect them.  So, let’s focus our efforts on restricting sales of this shit to only that which people need.  I have two co-workers who own military-grade assault rifles.  They have the education and self-awareness never to use them on other people (including me, thankfully), but even still what the hell do they need them for when a rifle could get the job done just as well?

Third, and this is the hardest part of all, we need to adapt our culture to prevent these types of personalities and situations from ever developing.  We need to take care of our kids and if you put them in front of guns to teach them how to use them responsibly and how to NEVER EVER EVER EVER EVER use them on another person.  Why?  Because killing someone is wrong.  Killing someone will not make the world better.  Killing someone will not bring you peace.  We need to take care of our kids who are depressed or hurting or mentally ill and keep them safe and teach them how to deal with bad feelings that lead to these kinds of acts.  We need to teach our kids and remind our adults to ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS seek the better angels of our nature and make the conscious choice to avoid a violent response to any situation.  We must condition ourselves to choose to act responsibly towards ourselves, our neighbors and yes even the crazy driver in front of us.  We need to take a collective breath and pause before we act.  We need to remember the consequences of our actions before we do them.  We need to emphasize the importance of being good neighbors, of being loving people, or being patient and practice active empathy. 

We need to teach our people to be better people. 

There’s a reason most other democracies in the world have far fewer gun deaths than the U.S. and it’s not because of our gun laws or even their availability.  It’s because of the people who use the guns.  It’s a hearts and minds stage here, and change only comes from parents teaching their kids right and holding them to it.  Oh, how many things in our country would improve if parents could just do that!  I’d like to think the Columbine kids and the Aurora guy and the Columbus guy might have all chosen differently given a better parental influence.  As Aaron Sorkin once wrote “they weren’t born wanting to do this.”  Amen to that.  It’s on the parents and all our neighbors to show each other the best way to live.  In our homes, in our streets, in our schools, in our cars, in our movie theaters and in our communities large and small. 

We must change our way of thinking to be a more positive one.  If we don’t it’s only a matter of time before we’re all packing heat and worried that the guy we just cut off in the passing lane is going to hunt us down and kill us.  I think we’re all better than that.