Has Hate Won?

I think, sometimes, that hate has won, that America will eat itself from the inside and splinter into  many smaller nations. American could become the new Middle East, with many nations constantly at war with one another over ideological differences. I think this way because of how people are talking, and not talking, to each other.

The recent shooting in Orlando is a tragedy. But, to me, the bigger tragedy is reading the posts filled with hate about the shooting. If you evince any sympathy for those who were killed, or if you think that America needs to look at its gun laws and make revisions, you are instantly vilified as "left," "Liberal," "Democrat," "stupid," and a bunch of curse words that amount to being a woman or being gay. On the other side of things, people are "stupid," "Conservative," "right," and "Republican." I definitely agree with the "stupid" axiom, as that is true of either side and how they are reacting. You also see a lot of Bible quotations espousing the killing of gays (but, as always, taken out of context), calls that we don't need more gun laws (or that we need to take away all the guns), that there will be more mass killings if someone tries to take away the guns, comments about the mental health, race, and religion of those who believe one way or the other. The hate, and how it is expressed, seems endless. And the goalposts of hate constantly shift and move whenever any rationality and love seeps through.

Which is why, as long as people are going to become rabid on topics, rather than talking them through and seeking compromise, hate wins. As long as people buy into this "us vs. them" rhetoric, hate wins. As long as people continue to teach that some groups are somehow "less" than others, be they a different gender, a different sexual preference, a differing religion, a different race, a differing political ideology, or whatever, hate wins.

I'm willing to bet that the gun enthusiasts and gun-banning advocates can reach common ground, somewhere in the middle, where closing the loopholes in gun shows, making background checks mandatory, and requiring some sort of gun safety course and/or licensing is required to get firearms. I think the two sides can even reach agreement that some weapons do not need to be sold to civilians, and should stay in the purview of the military and police. But it takes cool heads and a willingness to listen and put away the hatred to do it.

I think we can even agree that the person is at fault, and not the firearm, if we talk it through. I think we can figure out that not all people of one religion, nor all people of a particular race or creed, are filled with hatred. We can probably come to common ground and agree that this person did what he did and that he is to blame for it, not the victims or their lifestyle nor the person's religion or race.

But, right now, seeing all the hate being hurled at one another across such a silly divide, for all political divides are ultimately silly, makes me think that hate has won. That the population has fallen for it, and is spending too much time hating and vilifying each other rather than looking for solutions and growing our strengths.

I wonder what kind of community we could have if we stopped hating and starting simply disagreeing?

Guns and Anti-Gun Rhetoric

I am a gun owner. I was raised in a household with firearms and taught to respect, understand, and properly use firearms. So I am coming from a "pro-gun" standpoint, but I am also a reasonable person who will listen to reasonable arguments from either side. However, I'm not hearing any reasonable arguments at all, from either camp.

Gun violence is often horrific, especially in a mass attack or serial situation. Firearms are a tool that are incredibly efficient and accurate at what they are meant to do. They are often loud and they often do what seems like a disproportionate amount of damage to what they are fired at.

But, here's the thing: There are anywhere from 45 million to 120 million firearm owners in America, depending on what data you use from the Internet. Most that I view seem to come down somewhere around 75-85 million, or somewhere south of 30% of the population owning one or more firearms (which, by the way, is down from previous highs of over 50% a few decades ago).

On average, there are about 500,000 firearm-related crimes committed per year in America. While I wholeheartedly agree that this figure is way too high, when you look at the math of it, that means that less than .01% of the gun owner population is involved. There are about 50,000 gun deaths each year (including suicides) in America. Again, a number that is way too high. But we're now into less than .001% of the firearm-owning population causing the death of another person using a firearm.

Statistics do not assuage the hurt, loss, or fear caused by someone dying from gun violence. Statistics do not help someone who is robbed or threatened at gun-point from feeling powerless and violated. But the country recently had rallies and battle-cries over the "1%" and how things being unfairly distributed was a problem. These conversations continue. When you look at the statistics of firearms in America, you soon see that approximately 99.9% of the gun owners in America are quiet, law-abiding citizens from whom no gun violence is expected or will occur. These calls for banning firearms hurts 99.9% of the people who legally obtained, own, use, and safely handle firearms. Also, ironically, the request for either a ban on firearms or further laws restricting guns rarely targets those who are committing the gun violence, as a majority of reports show that these people obtain their firearms through gray areas or outright illegal means. Or, to put it more simply, more laws are just more laws those who want to commit gun violence will, and can, ignore. It only harms the vast, silent majority of law-abiding citizens.

So, here's my question: What can we do to limit or contain the gun violence in America without taking away the right to own them from the overwhelming majority that use them responsibly?

There are an estimated 30,000 gun laws on the books in America. They cover federal and local concerns, obtaining, storing, using, selling, who can own and who cannot own a firearm. When taken as a whole, they are pretty comprehensive. There is almost no situation that you can think of that there isn't already a law in place to cover. What we are lacking is the man-power to enforce these laws.

My first suggestion is to increase the ATFE and local law enforcement so that they can have more people dedicated to going to gun shows, gun stores, and re-sellers and checking licenses, registration, and ensuring that each is doing everything by the book. This has the side benefit of putting more people to work, once trained.

Secondly, I recommend that every person who wants to own a firearm must be licensed. The licensing process should include an overview on types of weapons, types of ammunition, general safety concerns, firearm-specific safety issues, hands-on training with representative firearms in the classroom (without ammunition, of course), and a written and practical test. An added benefit to this process is that every license will bring in revenue to local and federal agencies and jobs will be created for those who proctor the tests.

Thirdly, wherever a firearm is being used, at least one person must be licensed. If any unlicensed person is found to be using a firearm in an unsafe manner, those who have the license are fined or imprisoned for the infraction (depending on severity). This makes it important for licensed gun owners to convey the proper techniques for handling firearms as well as maintaining vigilance that safety is the first consideration with any non-licensed individuals in their presence.

Lastly, let's go after those who are actually breaking the law. Rather than making it harder on those who (want to) legally obtain and use their firearms, we need to crack down on those illegally selling, purchasing, and using firearms. Let's make all firearms crimes federal and with minimum standard jail times and fines. Let's make it so that anyone who sells a gun illegally is afraid to do so, and make the penalties severe enough that those who use them illegally are made an example. This will deter some of the population from attempting to get a firearm.

If violence in other nations, ones with very strict firearms laws (Canada, et al), and those which prohibit firearms altogether (China, Japan, England, et al), tells us anything, it is that people will still commit heinous acts of violence. If someone wants to do it, they will find a way. But if we simply make it harder, and make the punishments harsher, we may bring America's gun violence issues down.