Mass Shootings...Are We Done Yet?

Perhaps 'are we done yet' should be qualified as a rhetorical question because, obviously, we aren't done yet when it comes to mass shootings. In fact, mass shootings....all kinds of mass shootings....have seen a significant uptick this year. 

My go-to source for up-to-date gun violence stats, including all categories of mass shootings, is the non-profit organization, Gun Violence Archive (GVA). They have a presence on GVA Twitter and on GVA Facebook. 

GVA's most recent stats show 296 mass shootings in the U.S. as of June 22, 2021. That's more than a significant uptick from the previous year. It's a downright scary uptick:

 

Link to Image on Twitter: Gun Violence Archive Mass Shootings

There's also quite a bit of confusion out there as to what a mass shooting actually is. To be clear, GVA uses a purely statistical threshold to define mass shooting based ONLY on the numeric value of 4 or more shot or killed, not including the shooter. This is an important distinction because a lot of people refer to FBI stats, but the FBI doesn't even have a definition of mass shooting. Their definition is for mass murder. I agree with the GVA definition of mass shootings.

But I digress. 

A question was asked of me a few years back regarding gun violence prevention in our country that's still as relevant today as it was back then:

Do you feel we can and will see a safer nation in coming years or do you see our division on these issues as insurmountable?

I don't pretend to have the definitive answer to this question, but I can certainly weigh in with my opinion, and that's what I'm doing here. Is that a disclaimer? Yup, that's what it is.

First, I offer this from social media:

Source: Middle Age Riot on Twitter

This, in my humble opinion, is part of why we have difficulty in trying to address gun safety reform. Why? Because it is intended to provoke emotion and to promote division.

Show this meme to any avid pro-gun advocate, and, well....the response might not be so nice.

Then there's this, also from social media:

Source: NRA on Twitter

This, in my humble opinion, is also part of why we have difficulty in trying to address gun safety reform. Why? Because it also is intended to provoke emotion and to promote division.

Show this meme to any avid gun violence prevention advocate, and well....the response also might not be so nice.

There are plenty more posts on both sites that espouse divisiveness to support their viewpoints. And they aren't the only sites that do this sort of thing....not by any stretch of the imagination.

Two opposite ends of the spectrum when it comes to gun safety reform. Both are divisive. Both leave little doubt as to their stance(s). Neither really leave any room for middle ground consensus on what might actually work to help address the gun violence epidemic in this country.

So, perhaps everything related to gun violence prevention all boils down to how each of us defines 'safer' and 'insurmountable'.

Trying to wrap my head around this issue gives me headaches. Please note I did not say "a headache". I said "headaches" in the plural because this battle, if one wants to call it that, has been ongoing since well before the Columbine massacre, and I've lost count of the number of headaches it has caused me since then.

Some will look at 'safer' as advocating for more guns, more and bigger guns because ya gotta have them humongous magazines and assault style weapons to pertect yersef and yer family from home intrusion and a tyrannical gubment, don’t ya?! Well, DON'TCHA?!!!!

Sorry, I tend to go off the rails when it comes to stuff like this. 

Others will look at 'safer' as being a world bereft of any guns at all because all y'all don't need an assault style weapon strapped over your shoulder to go grocery shopping, do ya?! Well, DO YA?!.

Again, sorry. My rails don't seem to be able to keep me aligned on the straight and narrow here of late.

Which is a more realistic view? Neither from my perspective.

To me, 'safer' means we must establish some sort of a baseline from which to measure just what safer actually looks like.

Thus far, any baseline regarding gun violence prevention and gun safety has been stifled by special interest groups. To me, establishing this baseline is first and foremost in addressing these issues.

With the ever increasing frequency of mass shootings, it might be safe to say that no one any longer denies they can happen anywhere at any time and affect entire communities. But here's the thing; do we then let our irrational fears dictate our actions in response to them? On either side of the issue?

Bad things can happen. Yes, they can. The point I'm trying to make is that in life, we can approach everyday occurrences from a feeling of dread or apprehension, or we can look at the possible exposure to harm or injury and do something rational to address that exposure before they actually occur. And this applies to both sides of this issue.

Sadly, nothing we do will ever be perfect. Also, even more sadly, nothing we do will ever guarantee 100% that mass shootings will never occur. 

Right now, though, we see knee jerk reactions from extremes on both sides of the issue. 

Those of us somewhere in the middle advocate more for an approach that doesn't dismiss anything out of hand, but, rather, identifies the root causes (guns, mental health, psychotropic drugs, violent video games, etc., etc.) and tries to address each of them based on their individual causes, effects, and potential societal impacts, and then tries to come up with viable solutions to each and together. 

Therein lies the gist of this blog post - a fear of danger. And therein lies the danger of fear (sorry FDR, didn't use your full quote, but it certainly has a lot of relevance here). If we choose to live our lives knowing that dangers exist and yet we do nothing to address those dangers beforehand, it is pretty reasonable to assume we will also respond to those dangers with a modicum of fear, as well.

I, personally, would rather face danger knowing I've done everything possible to reduce or eliminate the probability of a dangerous event from occurring, or that I've done everything I possibly can to prepare for it ahead of time. And, by association, trying to help others do the same for themselves and their loved ones. After all, isn't that what this is all about? Caring for our loved ones be it in school, at a mall, in church, in a theater, wherever?

My Mom taught me how to swim. She also tried to instill in me a respect for the water, whether in a swimming pool or a lake. In spite of her efforts, I almost drowned in a local lake where I grew up. I had respect for the water....or so I thought. I just didn't pay enough attention to the depth markers, and, as a result, I went into deeper water than I should have. My resultant panic almost cost me my life. The calmness exhibited by my rescuer (my uncle Harlan who couldn't swim a stroke) helped teach me a valuable lesson that day - to approach danger with respect rather than fear, but to face it none-the-less.

So, is our gun violence epidemic insurmountable? I guess that will depend entirely on whether we keep on approaching solutions from a position of fear or from a position of rational thought and viable realistic action(s).

My two cents....

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