Thoughts on Gun Violence

I asked God and the Holy Spirit for greater understanding and clarity with regards to mass shootings since they have increased in number, but our ability to prevent them remains unchanged. 

Several Main Points then became clear: 

1. You don't have to take guns away from people to make guns safer. BACKGROUND CHECKS should be mandatory and thorough. Most of the mass shooters given guns wouldn't have been if their past history of violence and/or mental illness had been noted before guns were sold. 

More importantly, it should be established that if a person at some point during the ownership of their gun then is then charged with acts of violence (especially domestic violence) and/or mental illness their license should be revoked and their guns taken away.  

It's not a guarantee that ALL mass shooters will be weeded out this way, but the majority would. You can't kill people in mass with just a knife. And bombs are complicated and faulty -meaning most shooters would rather rely on the convenience of a gun instead. I'd rather make them go out of their way to attempt a gun illegally -which they may not succeed in doing -than guarantee them a gun legally. 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2015/10/03/us/how-mass-shooters-got-their-guns.html?smid=tw-share&_r=1 

2. Mass Shooters are TERRORISTS

When you approach the issue of a mass shooter, you are not dealing with a typical person. Sometimes the person is NOT mentally ill, but instead is acting on a violent belief system. You can argue psychological issues, but not mental illness. It's not like they're schizophrenic or hearing voices in every case. 

Most people think terrorists are Foreign and are acting on Religion. These are Domestic Terrorists with varying agendas, targets, and rationalities. They need to be acknowledged as such. The approach you then take towards them is completely different. 

http://markmanson.net/school-shootings

3. Domestic Terrorism -although horrific -is in the minority of gun-related acts of violence in this country. 

The majority of Gun abuses are for SUICIDE. The second being Domestic Violence/ Homicide. 

We can focus only on MASS Shootings because they are public and many people die all at once. Or we can focus on the larger scale of deaths by suicide and the all TOO frequent condition of: 

A Husband shot his wife, his children, and then himself -which occurs WEEKLY in the USA. 

There's a broader picture of issues that need to be viewed here. 

4. The VAST majority of gun violence is by MEN. 

Women make up 50% of the population. And yet in 62 cases of mass shooters, only 1 was a woman. From an unbiased, alien's looking down on earth at the species known as human -perspective: It is VERY strange that only 1 gender of the 2 gender is committing 95% of the violent crimes affiliated with guns. 

The underlying issue of GENDER and why men seem more prone to violence than woman should be studied and a solution should be sought. 

Personally I think it's because girls are kept on a tighter leash than boys in society in general. "Don't do that..." Girls are taught, especially by male authority, to behave in certain ways they are then more prone to obey. Boys on the other hand aren't as "reigned in" and impressed upon in a young age as girls. Also men's relations with other men suck. They don't talk openly about things and when they do they're called "gay" and punched in the arm. 

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2013/01/06/guns-newtown-sandy-hook-adam-lanza-boys/1566084/

5. What is being asked and expected of society now that mass shootings are happening so frequently?

The social and educational implications of mass shooters is now effecting the way schools function and children are "trained". Time is being taken out of teaching to lead kindergarten to high school kids through gun-evasive routines. What will the ripple effect of teaching kids to hide from gunman under desks be on the confidence children then have towards the world and themselves. "Cower. You will be shot if you do not hide."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/rehearsing-for-death-a-pre-k-teacher-on-the-trouble-with-lockdown-drills/2014/10/28/4ab456ea-5eb2-11e4-9f3a-7e28799e0549_story.html?postshare=9711443969723020



1/11/2016: Update on Present Stance with Regard to Gun Rights:

Basically I compare gun ownership to the legalization of alcohol. Both have the potential to be harmful, but neither are harmful outright. It is only when they are abused that lives get destroyed. However unlike Alcoholism which can lead to the often slow destruction and demise of a human life, gun abuse is far more swift and fatal. 

But ultimately, just as illegalizing alcohol during the prohibition failed miserably because people rose up against it, any attempt to make guns illegal will end in a similar failure. Unless the majority of people in this country consent to guns being banned, they will never fully be taken away. I think in time God will find a way to alleviate the issues surrounding gun violence and lead people to let go of their attachment to guns.