What’s Wrong with This Picture? – It’s time to change the gun culture in the U.S.

I originally wrote this post back in December of 2021. Of course, almost six months later nothing has changed. Yesterday, a young man who was 18 years and 9 days old murdered 19 elementary school children and two teachers using an assault rifle. He bought two assault rifles, high capacity magazines and 375 rounds of ammunition within days of his eighteenth birthday. I feel the need to update the statistics, but the public health recommendations for meaningful legislation remain the same.

On December 4^th, 2021, barely five days after a 15 year old murdered four of his high school classmates and wounded six others and a teacher, Congressional Representative Thomas Massie of Kentucky Tweeted a holiday picture of his family.  Everyone was holding their own semi-automatic or automatic weapon, and the caption read “Merry Christmas! ps Santa Please Bring Ammo.”  The weapons appear to include an AR-15 rifle, an M60 machine gun, and a Thompson submachine gun.  Amazingly, the machine gun and submachine gun are still legal to own as long as they were manufactured before 1986, or you have a Federal Firearms License. The post is not interesting, it is not funny, it is not educational and it is not representative of the Christian holiday spirit.  It is a representation of the toxic culture of guns in the U.S. 

According to the Gun Violence Archive (www.gunviolencearchive.org) there have already been 213 mass shootings in 2022.  There were 611 in 2020, and then 696 in 2021.  So far there have been over 17,000 deaths due to gun violence in 2022.  The problem of gun violence is clearly getting worse.  Including the murders in Uvalde, Texas yesterday, there have been 27 incidents of gun violence in schools so far in 2022.

I watched some programming on Fox News last night to see how they reported the Uvalde school shooting. They stayed away from recommending any changes in gun laws that would protect school children. Instead, they discussed “hardening schools” and potentially arming teachers. The problem is, that as of today, we know that there were armed School Resource Officers on the campus of the Robb Elementary school, and yet they were unable to stop the shooter. It took almost an hour for officers to finally end the carnage. Uvalde is a town of just 15,000 people and about 4100 school children, and they already spend almost $500,000 per year on school security. By law passed by the Texas legislature in 2019, they are required to provide emergency training to all school personnel (including substitute teachers), and have an emergency plan for this kind of event. They are even required to have “bleeding control” stations with supplies such as tourniquets. It was easy to predict that these things would be a waste of money.

The American Medical Association and almost every other health policy organization in the United States have called gun violence a public health crisis, and have called for legislative action year after year.  These organizations have made common-sense recommendations that could be easily implemented.  Here is what needs to be done:

1. Prohibit state pre-emption laws that prevent local governments from creating firearms ordinances.   Local authorities need to be able to restrict possession of a firearm in certain areas.  Local ordinances would be preferable to state-wide bans that might not apply to some communities.
2. Ban private ownership of assault-style rifles, and automatic weapons.  These are weapons of war designed to kill human beings and there is no reason for private citizens to own them.  These weapons can be transferred to gun ranges or training facilities who are licensed to own automatic weapons.  Alternatively, the federal government can buy the weapons and destroy them.
3. Ban private ownership of high-capacity magazines holding more than 10 rounds of ammunition.  Again, these can be transferred to licensed gun ranges and training facilities or bought back and destroyed.
4. Require a background check on the sale of all handguns.  Handguns are also only useful for killing human beings and a background check absolutely should be required, regardless of where they are sold or by whom.
5. Require registration of all handguns.   This is the only way to get control of all of the handguns that are already in circulation.  Stiff penalties for illegal possession are the best way to get illegal guns off the streets and out of the hands of violent criminals.
6. Raise the legal age to purchase a firearm, and to possess or use a handgun to 21 years in every state.   The legal age to possess or drink alcohol is 21.  This is not because of any physiologic effect of alcohol on a young person.  It is because people under the age of 21 have not demonstrated the maturity to drink responsibly.  Why would this not apply to the purchase of a firearm?
7. Make it illegal for a person under the age of 21 to use an assault-style rifle, automatic weapon or handgun at a gun range.  There is no reason for someone under age 21 to use a weapon at a firing range that they cannot legally possess.  There have been fatal accidents when children have used firearms at gun ranges (https://www.npr.org/2014/08/28/344036686/shooting-range-accident-draws-focus-on-children-handling-guns).  This is also necessary to change the gun culture in the U.S.
8. Raise the cost of a Federal Firearms License to $3000 – $5000 and increase penalties for non-compliance.   60% of FFL holders do not operate a gun store.  One third do not sell a firearm to anyone else and another third fail record-keeping requirements.  Most people get an FFL so they can buy automatic weapons or get discounts on firearm purchases.  Currently the fee for an FFL is a ridiculous $200 for the first three years and $90 for each three-year renewal.
9. Allow only gun ranges and training facilities to obtain a Class 3 Special Occupational Taxpayer license that allows ownership and possession of assault rifles and automatic weapons.  Again, this should be the only place that these weapons are stored and used.

There are the additional recommendations made by the American Medical Association in their policy statement in 2018:

1. Advocate for schools as gun-free zones
2. Expand domestic violence restraining orders to include dating partners
3. Remove firearms from high-risk individuals
4. End concealed carry reciprocity across state lines
5. Create gun buy-back programs to reduce the number of circulating firearms

These common-sense recommendations allow hunters over 21 to buy and possess shotguns and hunting rifles and to exchange these weapons without restrictions.  Those who prefer a handgun for personal protection can own one after a background check and registration.  Subsequent sale of a handgun would require a background check of the new owner and transfer of registration, just like a trailer title.  This will allow authorities to identify and impound un-registered handguns, and appropriate penalties will be a deterrent to criminal possession.  

For those who want to argue that any of these recommendations infringe on their 2^nd amendment rights, the 9^th Amendment states “The enumeration in the Constitution of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people”.  This means that the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness cannot be denied or disparaged by the 2^nd amendment.  I would say that the victims in Oxford, Michigan and now in Uvalde, Texas were denied these rights by someone who should not have possessed a firearm.  Without gun regulation, you cannot prevent the possession of a firearm by a child, an ignorant adult, someone with mental illness, or a criminal.  The history of gun violence in America has clearly proved this.

It is time to demand action from our elected representatives.  Those who refuse to act should be removed from office at the ballot box.  Ask your representatives in Congress where they stand on these common-sense recommendations, and vote accordingly. I also challenge everyone who reads this post to share it with others and discuss these public health recommendations with family and friends.