Quite a year and a half.
Quite a year and a half! Time sometimes zooms by. To my surprise, it's been a year and a half since last I posted anything. The events of the last 18 months have been stonishing, to say the least. Not only the toll from the COVID-19 pandemic, but the events in Ukraine, and our own explosion of mass shootings. My Democratic leanings, and background as a psychologistg interested in crime and violence, has left me more and more irritated with the national situation. The shooting in HIghland Park, Illinois on July 4th, and the knee-jerk Republican reaction, finally galvanized me to write a note to Rep. Boerback ("controlling guns DOES NOT stop mass shootings.") The rest of this is what I wrote to her, and Sen. McConnell and Rep. McCarthy. I would very much appreciate your feedback, good or critical, and any thoughts you have.
"Rep. Lauren Boebart
US House of Representatives
1609 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515-0603
Dear Rep. Boebart,
After yesterday's catastrophic shooting in Highland Park, Ill., you were quoted as tweeting, “it's time to admit that gun laws DO NOT stop mass shootings.” This after making reference to the shooting in Copenhagen that left two dead and five wounded. If this is accurate, it makes me wonder about your ability to use reason in a logical way. Denmark ( a country that I lived in for a year) has had no other mass shootings in the past seven years; arms are strictly regulated. The United States, which seems to be caroming back to the 19th Century, has had at least 250 mass shootings (sic) since the beginning of this year—i.e., in the last six months . You cannot make a comparison between our armed-to-the-teeth county and Denmark, because there is no comparison. Fact: as of the last time I checked, strictly on a random basis, you are twice as likely to be involved in an assault in Great Britain as here in the United States. However, you are one twentieth (1/20th) as likely to be a murder victim. Why? Not difficult to fathom: guns are highly controlled in the UK, so fights occur without lethal consequnces.
For our murderous shootings to slow, perhaps eventually stop, several things have to happen:
Sub-machine guns and rapid fire weapons, have to be taken off the market for everyone. (IMHO, there is zero need for such lethal weapons among the population.) If it takes a new amendment to Constitution to do it, so be it.
The culture and its myths have to change. Specifically the myth of the Old West, and the concept of the Southern Code of Honor. Acceptance of what Marvin Wolfgang termed “the subculture of violence” has to die out—a 50-80 year process at best. Until people accept that the answer to frustration and argument is not violence, little will change.
Legally owned small weapons have to be limited and monitored (see #1 above.)
The idea that owning weapons is a civil right, part of the accepted code of our culture, has to be rejected.
We will never know if there is communality in the causes of the 250 mass shootings thus far in 2022, but in my opinion, it is not mental disturbance, but rather anger, frustration, and desperation as driving motives.
Sincerely,
David E. Silber, Ph. D.
Professor Emeritus of Psychology
cc: Sen. Mirch McConnell
Rep. Kevin McCarthy"
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