The real cost of gun violence

The United States just passed the 17-year mark in the longest war in its history: the Afghanistan War. Eleven soldiers were killed there in 2017. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during that same time 39,773 people were killed by guns (homicides and suicides) here in the U.S. That’s more than 100 people every day. Clearly, we are in the middle of a serious public health crisis.

If you don’t think gun violence damages the quality of life of every person in the U.S., consider just how much it robs from the public purse, and how much it shortchanges what your government could do for education, infrastructure, health care and more.

So, what should we do? Here are some ideas:

Reinstitute the assault rifle ban: A national assault weapons ban was signed into law in 1994. It expired 10 years later. Since then, approximately 1.3 million assault rifles have been sold each year, along with 8 to 15 billion rounds of ammunition.

The good news is that since the ban expired, on a state-by-state basis, registrations, background checks and progress in licensing have reduced assault-style rifle access for people with criminal records. But national legislation would be good.

Make gun purchaser licensing universal: Recent research from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health has found that, “of the approaches used by states to screen out prohibited individuals from owning firearms, only purchaser licensing has been shown to reduce gun homicides and suicides.” Petition your state politicians and other organizations for purchaser licensing.

Gun owners should act more responsibly, too: Lock up your guns in one place and ammunition in another. In 2016 firearm injuries were the second leading cause of death among kids up to age 18. Take a handgun safety course; check out www.handgunsafetycourse.com.