How to stop gun violence
Iam writing to propose solutions to gun violence. Recently, a 13-year-old boy was shot and killed by another student at Albuquerque’s Washington Middle School.
Gun control policies have failed; California has some of the strictest gun control laws in the nation, yet this state and others are plagued with senseless gun violence. Such policies are feel-good measures enacted by state legislatures as a knee-jerk response to tragedy. Universal background checks don’t work; criminals will simply buy firearms on the black market. Extremerisk protection orders (red flag laws) deprive lawful citizens of their Second Amendment rights without having been convicted of a crime.
High-capacity magazine bans don’t work, either — look at the U.S. government statistics. Politicians hide behind the phrase, “I believe in the Second Amendment, but I also think we need reasonable, commonsense gun laws.” Rather than jumping on the bandwagon to call for more gun control, our politicians should enact measures that will work.
Jerika Richardson, senior vice president for Equitable Justice & Strategic Initiatives at the National Urban League, a nonpartisan civil rights organization based in New York, said COVID-19 underscored long-standing health care, education, housing and employment inequities in the nation’s communities of color, and only policy changes that improve living conditions will lead to shooting reductions.
While I agree with Richardson that improving health care, education, housing and employment opportunities in communities of color will help, there is more that can be done. Let’s focus on prevention and early intervention. The following should be implemented as soon as possible:
◆ Mandating that a course in dispute resolution be taught each year in grade school. Possible subjects include impulse control, problem solving, empathy and countering aggression.
◆ Having counselors available in public schools for students with anger-management issues. Let’s mediate conflicts and prevent retaliations.
◆ Requiring that gun safety be taught in public schools (not a pro-firearm class but a safety class).
◆ Encouraging students, faculty and staff in public schools, as well as employees in public and private workplaces, to report potential threats. Have public resources available to address their concerns.
◆ Improving access to mental health care for all.
Yes, additional funding will be needed, but the cost is worth it in the long run.
Other options to be considered are hardening schools by limiting access to buildings and having metal detectors, establishing accountability for sworn police officers and improving trust in communities of color with police, providing safe afterschool centers with educational tutors for students, identifying gang members based on mathematical algorithms of prior arrests and firearms seizures, and focusing on de-escalation.
Enough with “our thoughts and prayers for the victims.” If all guns were banned, which is not possible, perpetrators would use knives or other means such as firebombing buildings, e.g. the Kyoto Animation arson attack in Japan in July 2019 that killed 36 people. Let’s change errant thinking and dysfunctional behavior. We need to intervene early with those at risk and prevent tragedy. Having our state Legislature enact the above is a step in the right direction.