Mass shootings traumatize the American soul. The nation's emotions run the gamut from sorrow to moral outrage to steely resolve to stop the killings. But before the last ambulance departed the latest scene of a slaughter, politicians weaponized the crisis to wage war on guns and the president.
The belligerent rhetoric and ugly name-calling on both sides of the issue of gun rights conflates a complicated problem. Before a solution can offer hope of halting violence, there must be a reckoning of the root causes driving often troubled young people (males) to commit wanton murders.
While it's natural for raw emotions to surface after such a tragedy, no one should use victims as political pawns in a legislative chess game to pass hastily thought-out laws. Solutions require a close examination of the facts and a clear-eyed focus on keeping Americans as safe as possible.
Since guns are often seen as the culprit instead of the shooter, let's start with some firearm facts from the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Centers for Disease Control:
In 2017, the most recent statistics, there were 39,773 deaths by firearms, the highest annual total in decades. You likely have read this headline in the news. But do you know the reason for the hike? Sixty percent of gun deaths were self-inflicted. Gun suicides are rising faster than firearm murders.
Yet no politician seems to care about the alarming rise of suicides. Why are so many people killing themselves in a society with advantages few countries enjoy? Why haven't we done more to find the answer? Perhaps, it is because a single loss of life doesn't generate inflammatory political rhetoric.
In any massacre involving a rifle, the drumbeat for a ban on "assault" weapons is deafening. Before entertaining this idea, politicians should consider that FBI data shows that five times more people are killed by "knives and cutting instruments" than rifles. Should we consider outlawing knives?
Prior to plunging headlong into solutions, Congress needs more data on what motivates mass killings by young males. The Parkland High School shooter was 19-years-old. The El Paso killer was 21. The Dayton gunman was 24. Unfortunately, not much data exists on young shooters.
However, a project funded by the National Institute of Justice, a research arm of the Justice Department, has been cataloguing the life histories of all mass shooters. The work has produced a database of information going back to 1966 on every mass shooting in the United States.
The study found that the vast majority of mass shooters experienced early childhood trauma and exposure to violence at a young age. That violence may have been physical or sexual abuse, parental suicide or severe bullying, often leading to depression, anxiety and other mental health issues.
In virtually every mass shooting there often is a trigger point, usually a identifiable crisis in the months and weeks leading up to the killing spree. Another factor that motivates these heinous crimes is the perpetrators' fascination with the celebrityhood conferred by the media's coverage of shootings.
That's one reason mass shootings tend to come in clusters because the publicity often spurs others to act. Their evil deeds are, if not celebrated, at least magnified on social media. The prospect of notoriety in death appeals to young people who feel neglected, unimportant and isolated from society.
The mainstream media as well as the raw sewage posing as social media are never held accountable for their roles in contributing to the violence. They hide behind freedom of the press but media platforms must be more responsible, reigning in their lurid coverage of shootings and the triggerman.
Studies such as the one cited earlier should serve as a starting point for dealing with the issue of mass shootings. Restricting or banning weapons will not end the killing if the nation fails to address the early warning signs of disturbing and often bellicose behavior of young males.
Turning to proposals, Pew Research found there are sharp divisions among Americans who identify as Republican or Democrat on gun policy. However, there is some common ground among the groups. That should be a starting point for Congress to make a bipartisan push for legislation.
There is near unanimous agreement that people with mental illnesses should be prevented from buying guns. Most Americans concur that people on federal no-fly or watch lists should be barred from purchasing weapons. Majorities favor background checks for sales at gun shows.
Although there general but not majority support for tightening background checks, there should be a way for politicians to hammer out a balanced approach that will make it less likely that someone unstable or emotionally disturbed with be able to legally acquire a firearm.
There is also budding support for so-called Red Flag laws that would allow local police or family members to petition a state court to order the temporary removal of firearms from a person who may present danger to himself or others. Currently, 13 states have passed some form of Red Flag law.
After the temporary removal of the weapons(s), there is a court hearing. The gun owner is allowed an opportunity to appear in court and contest the order. A judge decides if the weapon will be permanently confiscated or returned. This due process ensures a fair and open proceeding.
Despite these common sense suggestions, some politicians and special interest groups will champion laws banning firearm ownership. If only, killings were that easy to stop. Illinois and California have two of the country's strictest gun control regimes, but the results show little or no impact.
In fact, although Illinois and California are home to about 16 percent of the nation's population, those two states account for more than 20 percent of the nation's handgun murders, according to FBI data. Those figures offer a sober assessment about the effectiveness of stricter gun laws.
The bloodshed of mass shootings sickens every American. But it is no excuse to turn the gun debate into a bloodsport marked by a focus on gaining political power. Americans want solutions not a rancorous sideshow of grandstanding and finger-pointing. Victims and their families deserve better.
Showing posts with label Gun Control. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gun Control. Show all posts
Monday, August 12, 2019
Monday, February 26, 2018
School Shootings: Ban Violence Now
Our nation remains numbed by the horrific shooting at a Florida high school. The random murder of innocent children is so evil we cannot comprehend it. In our grief, we fumble for answers and motives but none make sense. How can they? Our despair leaves us feeling helpless and hopeless.
This is becoming an all too familiar nightmare. Since 1990, there have been 70 shootings at kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools killing more than 150 children and adults, according to a Wall Street Journal review of federal statistics.
In the aftermath of each shooting, a pattern emerges. Police missed the telltale signs of a troubled individual prone to violence. School kids and often teachers knew the shooter was a ticking time bomb. Yet no one stopped the youth from his deadly desire. That should haunt every American.
In the hunt for answers, the narrative always shifts to gun control. It is the false-hope solution. There is no evidence gun control stops violence. Countries such as Belgium, France and the Netherlands have stricter gun control laws but their mass shooting rates are as high as the U.S.
Pandering politicians often single out Australia as a shining example to emulate. In 1987, Australia launched a buyback program for certain lethal weapons. More than a million guns were confiscated. Since then, gun ownership in Australia has grown three times faster than the population.
Guns aren't the villain. Guns have always been a part of America. What has changed is the media's cultural appropriation of weapons and death. Influential media--music, movies, video games, Internet and social media--celebrate guns and violence. The evidence is all around us, but we ignore it.
Consider that as this is written there are scores of rap songs with lyrics about weapons and killing. A current rap song contains this line: "I gotta gun and your family will be resting with you." From raw country to gangsta rap to hardcore hip hop, lyrics and music videos glorify violence and guns.
Exposure to such swill pollutes young souls. A 2017 study shared by JAMA Pediatrics concluded that "children who see movie characters use guns are more likely to use guns themselves." Even movies rated PG-13, often contain brutal killings, guns, bloody fights and wanton destruction.
The National Center for Health Research (NCHR) has published a number of studies that document playing violent video games increases aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior in real life. In fact, researchers have concluded video games are more harmful than movies because they are interactive.
Social media is the newest platform for gratuitous violence. Young people on social media and the Internet are exposed to a steady stream of dehumanizing, graphically violent, ghastly images. Teens spend nearly nine hours every day consuming media. Nine hours. Think about that.
Americans have no excuse for claiming they are unaware of the cultural rot. As early as 2000, the American Psychiatric Association and the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry cited more than 1,000 studies asserting the connection between media violence and behavior.
How many more young people have to become addicted to violence peddled in music, movies, social media and video games until we act? Before we ban a single gun, our children would be safer and less troubled if America outlawed gun killings, violence and graphic mayhem in media.
Hollywood glitterati, musicians and others will protest that freedom of expression protects their right to hawk violence. These hypocrites are the first to clamor for banning guns but the last to take ownership of their contributions to the problem. Why do we allow them to skirt responsibility?
In addition to banning violent gun images and words, America should compel the news media to quit making celebrities out of criminals whose only claim to fame is killing human beings. Their names and faces should only appear after they are charged. And then never again in public.
Perhaps, this latest slaughter of children will be the wake up call that finally shakes Americans out of their tendency to fall for easy solutions. Every American who wants to protect children should fight to clean up the raw sewage that is being dumped on our impressionable kids by irresponsible media.
How long must we wait until America tackles this festering problem?
This is becoming an all too familiar nightmare. Since 1990, there have been 70 shootings at kindergartens, elementary, middle and high schools killing more than 150 children and adults, according to a Wall Street Journal review of federal statistics.
In the aftermath of each shooting, a pattern emerges. Police missed the telltale signs of a troubled individual prone to violence. School kids and often teachers knew the shooter was a ticking time bomb. Yet no one stopped the youth from his deadly desire. That should haunt every American.
In the hunt for answers, the narrative always shifts to gun control. It is the false-hope solution. There is no evidence gun control stops violence. Countries such as Belgium, France and the Netherlands have stricter gun control laws but their mass shooting rates are as high as the U.S.
Pandering politicians often single out Australia as a shining example to emulate. In 1987, Australia launched a buyback program for certain lethal weapons. More than a million guns were confiscated. Since then, gun ownership in Australia has grown three times faster than the population.
Guns aren't the villain. Guns have always been a part of America. What has changed is the media's cultural appropriation of weapons and death. Influential media--music, movies, video games, Internet and social media--celebrate guns and violence. The evidence is all around us, but we ignore it.
Consider that as this is written there are scores of rap songs with lyrics about weapons and killing. A current rap song contains this line: "I gotta gun and your family will be resting with you." From raw country to gangsta rap to hardcore hip hop, lyrics and music videos glorify violence and guns.
Exposure to such swill pollutes young souls. A 2017 study shared by JAMA Pediatrics concluded that "children who see movie characters use guns are more likely to use guns themselves." Even movies rated PG-13, often contain brutal killings, guns, bloody fights and wanton destruction.
The National Center for Health Research (NCHR) has published a number of studies that document playing violent video games increases aggressive thoughts, feelings and behavior in real life. In fact, researchers have concluded video games are more harmful than movies because they are interactive.
Social media is the newest platform for gratuitous violence. Young people on social media and the Internet are exposed to a steady stream of dehumanizing, graphically violent, ghastly images. Teens spend nearly nine hours every day consuming media. Nine hours. Think about that.
Americans have no excuse for claiming they are unaware of the cultural rot. As early as 2000, the American Psychiatric Association and the Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry cited more than 1,000 studies asserting the connection between media violence and behavior.
How many more young people have to become addicted to violence peddled in music, movies, social media and video games until we act? Before we ban a single gun, our children would be safer and less troubled if America outlawed gun killings, violence and graphic mayhem in media.
Hollywood glitterati, musicians and others will protest that freedom of expression protects their right to hawk violence. These hypocrites are the first to clamor for banning guns but the last to take ownership of their contributions to the problem. Why do we allow them to skirt responsibility?
In addition to banning violent gun images and words, America should compel the news media to quit making celebrities out of criminals whose only claim to fame is killing human beings. Their names and faces should only appear after they are charged. And then never again in public.
Perhaps, this latest slaughter of children will be the wake up call that finally shakes Americans out of their tendency to fall for easy solutions. Every American who wants to protect children should fight to clean up the raw sewage that is being dumped on our impressionable kids by irresponsible media.
How long must we wait until America tackles this festering problem?
Monday, December 14, 2015
Gun Solutions: Just The Facts Please
The terrorist killing spree in San Bernardino provided ammunition for President Obama's echo chamber in the media to renew their evangelism for stricter gun control laws. The media reaction was equal parts hysteria and factual fraud, rendering it counterproductive to finding solutions.
News outlets, in an effort to politicize the shootings, deliberately distorted gun violence statistics in the aftermath of the mass killings. The media relies on the shock-value of numbers to bolster their propaganda push for gun control without addressing if tighter laws would actually reduce violence.
That makes it difficult for the average American to determine the best solution for preventing mass shootings. Politicians, the media, gun advocates and gun opponents jigger statistics to suit their own positions. None of this helps the country to reach a consensus on what should be done.
There must be agreement on the facts for any serious discussion to yield effective solutions. Just doing something may convince the uninitiated that knee-jerk politicians care about gun violence, but it is irresponsible to enact laws without a scrupulous analysis of the incidents and the causes.
For starters, below are facts about shootings involving guns in the United States. The statistics are mostly derived from FBI reports, a non-partisan source for the facts on the ground. No figures from the major gun rights organization, the National Rifle Association, are used in this analysis.
Violent Crime In the U.S. is Decreasing Not Increasing
FBI statistics on violent crime show a steady decline nationally. Violent crime in 2014 was 6.9 percent below the 2010 level and the number represented a 16.2 reduction from 2005. This downward trend has existed for more than a decade.
Gun Violence In the U.S. is Declining Not Rising
Murder rates are continuing to decrease nationally, the FBI reports. The murder rate has dipped 6.1 percent since 2010 and nearly 21 percent (20.8%) from the 2005 level. Murder accounted for just 1.2 percent of all the violent crime in the United States last year.
Of all the violent deaths, a firearm of some kind was used in 68 percent of the homicides. In 12.1 percent of the murders, the perpetrator wielded a knife. Violent deaths caused by firearms have declined in nearly every year since 2009. The lone exception was 2012.
Some gun control supporters often quote total firearms deaths, eschewing the homicide data. The numbers are very misleading, since the data includes suicides. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 63 percent of all firearm deaths are attributed to suicides.
The president has cited comparisons of gun homicides in other countries. However, the data is collected inconsistently and homicide is defined differently in each country. For example, the United Kingdom excludes gun homicides that do not result in a conviction from its statistics.
Even using the flawed data, Mexico's firearms homicide rate is three times higher than the United States, based on the latest figures compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Gun ownership laws are much stricter in Mexico than in the U.S.
Ten American Cities Account For 20 Percent Of All Gun Violence
Murderous shooting rampages have been a chronic problem in a handful of American cities. Chicago has consistently ranked among the top three cities with the most murders since 1985. Yet the city has some of the toughest gun laws in the country.
The ten most dangerous cities in order are Chicago, New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis and Dallas. The cities are ranked by the total number of murders reported in 2013, the latest year for which statistics are available.
Subtract the gun deaths from those ten cities and national firearm violence figures have decreased significantly over the last decade.
Gun Ownership Has Risen as Gun Violence Has Fallen
There is no correlation between gun ownership and violent crimes. While gun murders have fallen, the number of people in the United States with firearms has skyrocketed. A 2012 Congressional Research Service report estimated there were 242 million firearms in the hands of civilians.
A recent Washington Post report estimated today's figure at roughly 357 million guns. The news organization's conclusion was based on data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). ATF figures show U.S. gun production has almost doubled since 2009.
Mass Shooting Data Lacks Credibility
Democrats have used data purporting to show that the U.S. has suffered 353 mass shootings this year, killing 462 people and injuring 1,312. The figures are not credible. The numbers come from a crowd-sourced website shootingtracker.com, which admits its contributors are non-professionals.
There are conflicting statistics from a variety of legitimate sources, including the FBI, because for years the agency had no official definition of a "mass shooting" on its books. However, in 2014 the agency defined a "mass killing" as an incident with three or more fatalities. That makes it impossible to compare today's numbers with past years.
Depending on your source, the number of mass shootings in the United States this year ranges from 353 to four. The lack of authentic data leads many to jump to conclusions about gun laws that are not supported by the facts.
For example, The Washington Post fact checker crew posted data this month analyzing the four worst mass shootings since 2012, concluding gun laws would not have prevented the carnage. In fact, in most of the slayings, current laws were either ignored or guns were illegally obtained.
Whatever your views on gun laws, the preponderance of data suggests there is no link between the number of individuals with firearms and gun crime. Yet the public perception created by the news media is exactly the opposite. This is a disservice to an honest debate about reducing mass shootings.
Americans need to be armed with the facts about gun violence to keep politicians from manipulating data to advance their agenda on firearm laws. This much is clear from the facts. The enemy is not law-abiding American gun owners.
News outlets, in an effort to politicize the shootings, deliberately distorted gun violence statistics in the aftermath of the mass killings. The media relies on the shock-value of numbers to bolster their propaganda push for gun control without addressing if tighter laws would actually reduce violence.
That makes it difficult for the average American to determine the best solution for preventing mass shootings. Politicians, the media, gun advocates and gun opponents jigger statistics to suit their own positions. None of this helps the country to reach a consensus on what should be done.
There must be agreement on the facts for any serious discussion to yield effective solutions. Just doing something may convince the uninitiated that knee-jerk politicians care about gun violence, but it is irresponsible to enact laws without a scrupulous analysis of the incidents and the causes.
For starters, below are facts about shootings involving guns in the United States. The statistics are mostly derived from FBI reports, a non-partisan source for the facts on the ground. No figures from the major gun rights organization, the National Rifle Association, are used in this analysis.
Violent Crime In the U.S. is Decreasing Not Increasing
FBI statistics on violent crime show a steady decline nationally. Violent crime in 2014 was 6.9 percent below the 2010 level and the number represented a 16.2 reduction from 2005. This downward trend has existed for more than a decade.
Gun Violence In the U.S. is Declining Not Rising
Murder rates are continuing to decrease nationally, the FBI reports. The murder rate has dipped 6.1 percent since 2010 and nearly 21 percent (20.8%) from the 2005 level. Murder accounted for just 1.2 percent of all the violent crime in the United States last year.
Of all the violent deaths, a firearm of some kind was used in 68 percent of the homicides. In 12.1 percent of the murders, the perpetrator wielded a knife. Violent deaths caused by firearms have declined in nearly every year since 2009. The lone exception was 2012.
Some gun control supporters often quote total firearms deaths, eschewing the homicide data. The numbers are very misleading, since the data includes suicides. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), 63 percent of all firearm deaths are attributed to suicides.
The president has cited comparisons of gun homicides in other countries. However, the data is collected inconsistently and homicide is defined differently in each country. For example, the United Kingdom excludes gun homicides that do not result in a conviction from its statistics.
Even using the flawed data, Mexico's firearms homicide rate is three times higher than the United States, based on the latest figures compiled by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Gun ownership laws are much stricter in Mexico than in the U.S.
Ten American Cities Account For 20 Percent Of All Gun Violence
Murderous shooting rampages have been a chronic problem in a handful of American cities. Chicago has consistently ranked among the top three cities with the most murders since 1985. Yet the city has some of the toughest gun laws in the country.
The ten most dangerous cities in order are Chicago, New York, Detroit, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Houston, New Orleans, Memphis and Dallas. The cities are ranked by the total number of murders reported in 2013, the latest year for which statistics are available.
Subtract the gun deaths from those ten cities and national firearm violence figures have decreased significantly over the last decade.
Gun Ownership Has Risen as Gun Violence Has Fallen
There is no correlation between gun ownership and violent crimes. While gun murders have fallen, the number of people in the United States with firearms has skyrocketed. A 2012 Congressional Research Service report estimated there were 242 million firearms in the hands of civilians.
A recent Washington Post report estimated today's figure at roughly 357 million guns. The news organization's conclusion was based on data from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). ATF figures show U.S. gun production has almost doubled since 2009.
Mass Shooting Data Lacks Credibility
Democrats have used data purporting to show that the U.S. has suffered 353 mass shootings this year, killing 462 people and injuring 1,312. The figures are not credible. The numbers come from a crowd-sourced website shootingtracker.com, which admits its contributors are non-professionals.
There are conflicting statistics from a variety of legitimate sources, including the FBI, because for years the agency had no official definition of a "mass shooting" on its books. However, in 2014 the agency defined a "mass killing" as an incident with three or more fatalities. That makes it impossible to compare today's numbers with past years.
Depending on your source, the number of mass shootings in the United States this year ranges from 353 to four. The lack of authentic data leads many to jump to conclusions about gun laws that are not supported by the facts.
For example, The Washington Post fact checker crew posted data this month analyzing the four worst mass shootings since 2012, concluding gun laws would not have prevented the carnage. In fact, in most of the slayings, current laws were either ignored or guns were illegally obtained.
Whatever your views on gun laws, the preponderance of data suggests there is no link between the number of individuals with firearms and gun crime. Yet the public perception created by the news media is exactly the opposite. This is a disservice to an honest debate about reducing mass shootings.
Americans need to be armed with the facts about gun violence to keep politicians from manipulating data to advance their agenda on firearm laws. This much is clear from the facts. The enemy is not law-abiding American gun owners.
Monday, January 14, 2013
Guns And Hypocrisy
Vice President Joe Biden, who has often been guilty of shooting himself in the foot, is the perfect impostor to lead the president's phony gun control commission. No one has been more hypocritical than Biden on the issue. That's saying a lot because there's a tsunami of speciousness on banning guns.
California Senator Diane Feinstein, a shrill proponent of banishing guns, confessed at a senate hearing in 1995 that she acquired a gun for her protection after an attempt by terrorists from the New World Liberation Army to bomb her home.
Biden admitted on April 26, 2007, at a senate hearing that he kept a gun in his home. While serving as a senator, Biden voted "no" on May 11, 1999, on a motion that would have required sales at gun shows be completed by federally licensed dealers. That same year Biden opposed increasing mandatory penalties for the illegal transfer or use of firearms.
Biden isn't the only politician who has been two-faced on gun control.
California Senator Diane Feinstein, a shrill proponent of banishing guns, confessed at a senate hearing in 1995 that she acquired a gun for her protection after an attempt by terrorists from the New World Liberation Army to bomb her home.
"I carried a concealed weapon and I made the determination if somebody was going try to take me out, I was going to take them with me," Feinstein growled at the hearing. Soon after her confession, the duplicitous Californian called for an "outright ban" on gun ownership.
Add President Obama's name to the shameful list of sanctimonious charlatans.
After the horrific carnage at the Sandy Hook elementary school, the president rushed to join in the chorus for gun control legislation. When the president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), raised the specter of armed guards at the nation's schools, Obama demurred.
The president certainly feels differently when his own daughters are involved. There are no less than 11 armed security guards on duty at all times at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., where his daughters are enrolled. And the school has advertised for more guards.
Obama also has lied about his stance on guns. In 1996, then Illinois senate candidate Obama answered "yes" to a survey asking if he supported legislation to "ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns." However, he backtracked in the 2008 presidential campaign, claiming an "aide" filled out the form, even though it was later confirmed the answers on the document were in his handwriting.
No wonder many Americans distrust the president's intentions on the gun issue. Many believe the Biden commission is nothing more than a convenient way for Obama to appear open minded on the matter, covering up his own extremist views on gun ownership.
Incidents like the Sandy Hook massacre are reminders of America's culture of violence that has been fed by homicidal video games, movies, rap songs and television shows. Killing too often is glorified. Most people ignore the siren call of violence, while a few succumb to its allure.
If banning weapons would end killings, most informed Americans would support gun control measures. However, they need look no further than our neighbor to the south, Mexico, to understand the futility of regulation.
During the 1960's, Mexico approved strict gun ownership laws, prohibiting private citizens from carrying a firearm or a concealed weapon. There is only one legal gun store in all of Mexico. Yet Mexico has three times the murders as the U.S., even though our population is three times larger.
There is no credible evidence that gun ownership promotes violence. Switzerland has three times as many gun owners as Germany, but significantly fewer murders per 1,000 residents. New Zealand and Finland have low murder rates, yet their citizens are among the best armed.
Most informed Americans understand that knee-jerk legislation or ill-conceived executive orders cannot shield us from murder and mayhem. Gun laws may make some feel safer, but regulations will never accomplish the objective of ending murder and mass killings.
Legislation cannot rid the world of evil. Hypocritical politicians refuse to acknowledge this truth. Instead, they play on public emotion and fear to appeal to the uninformed while the compliant media swaddles gun control advocates in moral superiority.
Victims of the Sandy Hook shooting deserve better from the nation's leaders.
Add President Obama's name to the shameful list of sanctimonious charlatans.
After the horrific carnage at the Sandy Hook elementary school, the president rushed to join in the chorus for gun control legislation. When the president of the National Rifle Association (NRA), raised the specter of armed guards at the nation's schools, Obama demurred.
The president certainly feels differently when his own daughters are involved. There are no less than 11 armed security guards on duty at all times at Sidwell Friends School in Washington, D.C., where his daughters are enrolled. And the school has advertised for more guards.
Obama also has lied about his stance on guns. In 1996, then Illinois senate candidate Obama answered "yes" to a survey asking if he supported legislation to "ban the manufacture, sale and possession of handguns." However, he backtracked in the 2008 presidential campaign, claiming an "aide" filled out the form, even though it was later confirmed the answers on the document were in his handwriting.
No wonder many Americans distrust the president's intentions on the gun issue. Many believe the Biden commission is nothing more than a convenient way for Obama to appear open minded on the matter, covering up his own extremist views on gun ownership.
Incidents like the Sandy Hook massacre are reminders of America's culture of violence that has been fed by homicidal video games, movies, rap songs and television shows. Killing too often is glorified. Most people ignore the siren call of violence, while a few succumb to its allure.
If banning weapons would end killings, most informed Americans would support gun control measures. However, they need look no further than our neighbor to the south, Mexico, to understand the futility of regulation.
During the 1960's, Mexico approved strict gun ownership laws, prohibiting private citizens from carrying a firearm or a concealed weapon. There is only one legal gun store in all of Mexico. Yet Mexico has three times the murders as the U.S., even though our population is three times larger.
There is no credible evidence that gun ownership promotes violence. Switzerland has three times as many gun owners as Germany, but significantly fewer murders per 1,000 residents. New Zealand and Finland have low murder rates, yet their citizens are among the best armed.
Most informed Americans understand that knee-jerk legislation or ill-conceived executive orders cannot shield us from murder and mayhem. Gun laws may make some feel safer, but regulations will never accomplish the objective of ending murder and mass killings.
Legislation cannot rid the world of evil. Hypocritical politicians refuse to acknowledge this truth. Instead, they play on public emotion and fear to appeal to the uninformed while the compliant media swaddles gun control advocates in moral superiority.
Victims of the Sandy Hook shooting deserve better from the nation's leaders.
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