Cultural changes are needed to stop gun violence

While The Dispatch welcomed Gov. Mike Dewine’s proposal Tuesday for laws and actions to keep guns out of the wrong hands, inadequate gun control clearly isn’t the only problem that must be addressed if we hope to stem the tide of mass shootings.

As shell-shocked Americans search for ways

to keep the next one from happening, we also must consider the aspects of our culture — some baked in from the start and some more recently developed — that allow the unthinkable to become commonplace.

One aspect is, of course, the sheer overwhelming number of guns: Nowhere else in the world has near as many firearms in civilian hands and nowhere else in the world has near as many gun homicides.

This theoretically could be addressed with laws limiting the types and numbers of guns civilians can possess, but such a notion is anathema to the significant segment of Americans who subscribe to a gun culture that is deeply entrenched and won’t be changed easily.

Beyond a glut of guns, many would argue that the harshness of today’s social culture creates an environment of alienation and isolation in which atrocities can take root. Children who interact with others online more than in person don’t have a circle of friends through which they might learn how to care about others, hash out disagreements and form bonds of trust.

In the online political universe, opponents are belittled or demonized. Balance and complexity are boring compared with the righteous rage of true believers. This poisonous environment predates President Donald Trump, but his bullying style and disrespect for opponents has elevated it into the mainstream.

In the 24-hour news cycle’s ceaseless drive for attention and excitement, entertainment is more violent, language is cruder and ideas are simpler.

Many have noted, accurately, that many mass shooters are mentally ill. It’s easy to imagine how adding untreated mental illness to the toxic mix of alienation and plentiful guns leads to violence.

What can any American do about these forces?

Gun culture is rooted in America’s pioneer origins and embrace of individual rights and self-reliance. It is reinforced by the Second Amendment, which guarantees that “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

Somehow, to gun-rights extremists, the right of individuals to own firearms