More Than Gun Control Needed To Curb Gun Violence
- TODAY’S NEWS, ITEM ONE: For second time in month, man pushed to death in New York subway
- TODAY’S NEWS, ITEM TWO: Suspect in homeless woman’s burning is mentally ill, police say
Sick people do sick things. They can do them with a car, a can of gasoline, knives, poison and guns.
The coming emotional debate over gun control needs to address the issue of why mass shootings and the sorts of evil killings in then news links, above, seem to be happening more and more than ever before.
If we do not focus on what is making American society mentally ill, then the gun control debate will never produce anything but Band-Aid legislation and feel-good symbolism that fail to address the core issues.
Mental health should be at the top of the list. The single biggest way to reduce gun deaths is to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill.
The second way is strict enforcement of laws regarding gun owner security.
Authorities should prosecute gun owners who have left their weapons unsecured so that they can be stolen or used by unauthorized people. At the very least, felony charges of reckless endangerment can be brought against those who leave guns unsecured.
Defense against these charges is proof that a lock was cut or a gun cabinet broken into. There is no defense against an unsecured firearm that is taken and used in a crime, suicide or “accidental” death.
There are damn few firearms “accidents.” Locked guns and proper firearms training and handling prevent such things.
Training and gun security put responsibility at the top of the list for those who are not mentally ill.
Both of those will go far at preventing tragedy while bans on various weapons types and magazines are easy and mostly useless.
