First things first: Let’s stop banning research
Not again.
Mass shootings are so heartbreakingly common in the U.S. that response is utterly predictable: shock and outrage, thoughts and prayers. Then nothing. No change to public policy, and a refusal by many in power to even engage in a thoughtful discussion on the topic. “Now is not the time to talk about gun control,” they say.
When deadly shootings happen just about every day, however, when is the time to talk about it? We allowed the murder of dozens of children at Sandy Hook Elementary School to pass without meaningful reform. What will it take? Does your own child have to die? Your spouse? Sibling? You? I don’t want that.
In a monologue after the Vegas shooting, talk show host Stephen Colbert urged the nation’s political leaders to take the epidemic of gun violence seriously enough to act. “Doing nothing is cowardice. Doing something will take courage,” he said.
Whatever that something looks like, we cannot afford to stand still any longer.
The problem is sprawling and complex, and most of the solutions touted (by both Republicans and Democrats) are tired and not often based on sound research. The GOP’s refusal to stand up to the NRA and its backing of deregulation of gun ownership and use are major problems. But Democrats have not offered a meaningful alternative, relying on ineffective and unscientific
bans.
Meanwhile, Paul Ryan suddenly claims to care about mental health, though his record says otherwise. All of his health care proposals and votes gut those very programs. Improving mental health care is certainly a piece of the puzzle, but it’s not the panacea some folks wish it to be. Not to mention, focusing so heavily on mental illness in response to mass shootings just puts a further stigma on an already stigmatized group who, by and large, do not commit these violent acts.
Democrats continue to tout a ban on so-called assault weapons as their big idea. While I agree that there’s no good reason for civilians to own militarygrade weapons, the classification is meaningless. It can refer to “any semiautomatic that has two or more features, such as a bayonet mount, a rocket-propelled grenade-launcher mount, a folding stock or a pistol grip. But guns are modular, and any hobbyist can easily add these features at home, just as if they were snapping together Legos.”
The U.S. is awash in guns, and too many people are being killed by them. We need well-researched policy solutions and social changes to truly address the problem.
That would require the ability to conduct such research in the first place, though, which is currently barred by a rule called the Dickey Amendment, which prohibits the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from studying gun-related deaths. We need to lift the rule and the threat of sanction so the nation’s best researchers can get a more accurate picture of the problem. Republicans blocked efforts to do just that, after the massacre at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando.
It’s difficult to back any particular policies when we lack accurate information. We can demand that we throw everything we have behind comprehensive, unbiased research. That would be a start. If gun rights advocates believe that their right to bear arms doesn’t inherently cause harm to others, then prove it: Back the research.
There are larger, systemic issues at play here: a pervasive culture of toxic masculinity that both hurts men and the victims of their abuse. Many gun deaths are the result of domestic violence, which we do a poor job of addressing. More still are suicides, largely of men, also likely the result of having their emotional needs crushed starting at an early age by a society that tells them they can’t even have emotions in the first place, let alone seek help and support.
This is going to take a society-wide effort. Let’s start with the things over which we have control. Repeal the Dickey Amendment. Adequately fund comprehensive gun violence research. Stand up to the NRA, which makes massive amounts of money off fear and death. Start seeking real connections with your fellow human beings.
Maybe then, we will be able to have a reasonable discussion about how best to address this terrible epidemic.