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Gun Violence: The American Epidemic [1]

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Date: 2023-10-18  

GUNS: THE AMERICAN EPIDEMIC

“The gun lobby’s interpretation of the Second Amendment is one of the greatest pieces of fraud-I repeat the word fraud-on the American people by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime. The real purpose of the Second Amendment was to ensure that state armies would be maintained for the defense of the state. The very language of the Second Amendment refutes any argument that it was intended to guarantee every citizen an unfettered right to any kind of weapon he or she desires.”

~Conservative Chief Supreme Court Justice Warren Burger

“I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons, I seldom carry one.”

~Karl T. Frederick, President of the National Rifle Association, 1934.

I joined the NYPD in January of 1983 and witnessed the rise of Crack and the ensuing violence that accompanied it. You couldn’t swing a dead cat in those days without hitting a crack house. With the meteoric rise in the highly addictive drug, came crime and guns. Crack vials littered the streets, victims fell prey to addiction and gun violence skyrocketed. In 1991 the City of New York witnessed nearly 2,500 homicides. We were outgunned in terms of fire power. The bad guys had Uzi’s, Tech-9’s, Calico machine guns and other automatic weapons. We were equipped with .38 caliber revolvers, dump ammo pouches (before speed loaders) and 10 layers of Kevlar. We were bringing spit wads into this battle against drug dealers and other criminals that wouldn’t have hesitated to shoot a cop. Some of my fellow officers chose to carry automatics such as 9mm and .380 caliber pistols. These firearms were banned by department regulations, but the mantra of “carried by 6 or judged by 12” prevailed. I wasn’t one of those “buffs” as we called cops that collected guns, but I didn’t judge those that were. I had two firearms, my duty revolver and my department authorized five-shot Smith and Wesson .38 off duty gun.

In my time as a police officer, investigator, and sergeant, I arrested dozens of criminals with illegal handguns and witnessed firsthand the atrocities committed by firearms. In one such instance a ten-year old boy was struck in the femoral artery by a stray 9mm round fired in a shoot-out between rival drug dealers. The boy was bouncing on his parents’ bed when the round pierced the front door and struck him. As I was attending to a mortally wounded combatant, the boy’s mother pulled me into her apartment to help her young child. Blood was gushing out of his artery like a geyser. I pinched the artery off with my fingers as we rushed him to Lincoln Hospital in the Bronx. There was no media coverage, no screams into the Congressional void for this boy, just the wails from his grief-stricken mother. Luckily the boy survived, and his parents were able to save enough money and move to a safer neighborhood. Now, just imagine a child shot with an assault rifle or larger projectile. The image isn’t pretty. Now multiply that by the thousands of victims killed by firearms. The gun violence epidemic is a man-made problem, as most are, and our congressional leaders (particularly in the Republican caucus) refuse to listen to the people’s demand for gun control.

As time goes on and the proliferation of guns and gun violence continues through the fetishization of military style weapons, and the gun lobby continues to pervert the Second Amendment by buying off politicians, the death toll rises.

The death and destruction I witnessed involved plenty of innocent victims but was also comprised of criminals killing criminals. Now that I’m retired, and watch in horror with the rest of America, the slaughtering of our nation’s children and other innocent victims, I weep for the victims and their families.

I also weep for the future of my grandchildren and our country in general. As apathetic politicians insist on fighting made-up culture wars like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis’ campaign against “Wokeism.” A topic that neither he or any other Republican can explain or describe. Yet DeSantis and other Republican leaders continue to pass laws that only exacerbate the already prolific gun death rate.

I always supported the Second Amendment…to a degree. If someone can pass all the legal requirements, he or she should be allowed to purchase and carry a legal firearm, with the caveat that no one needs to possess an assault rifle, stabilizing braces, high-capacity magazines, or armor piercing bullets. I now find myself rethinking my position on the Second Amendment and the need for more strict gun control.

Albert Einstein (the quote was misattributed to him) taught us that insanity was doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. This is the very position we now find ourselves in as a nation. The time has come for strict federal gun legislation that would supersede state law, lest we continue down the path of destruction.

The alarming rise in gun violence deaths over the last 20 plus years demands a careful examination of the historical, political, financial, and cultural forces that produced the epidemic, so our society can take meaningful steps to combat the crisis.

The public has become numb to the ever-increasing headlines of the latest mass shooting, like the recent Virginia high school graduation attack that left a father and son dead, and five others injured. In this video game morality, our society now finds itself living in, firearms have replaced reasoning and logic as conflict resolution tools.

Gun violence has now replaced car accidents as the leading cause of death in children aged 0-17. Mass shootings own the headlines but everyday gun violence in 2021 reached 48,830, 43% were homicides, 54% were suicides and 3% were accidental or law enforcement related. With death rates soaring Republican politicians remain steadfast in their support of the NRA and gun manufacturers.

Political ambivalence has helped kill Americans by the thousands. According to the FBI 90% of all homicides by firearm are committed with a handgun. Handguns are inexpensive, easy to find and easily concealed. Assault rifles are predominantly used in mass shootings due to their lethality and ability to exact the maxim damage expeditiously. But everyday gun violence still remains accounts for forty-eight thousand deaths.

In a recent 72-hour period with data captured from the Gun Violence Archive from September 14 to September 17, 2023, 256 people were shot across the country and 85 died. The corybantic gun culture in America claims lives at rates only seen during armed conflict. Whether it’s a society with a lack of probity, socioeconomic causes or a just a galactic disregard for human life, the culprit remains…guns.

Firearms now outnumber the country’s population with four hundred million firearms to 394 million people. Using unlegislated and targeted marketing by gun manufacturers and dealers, America now accounts for 46% of the worldwide total of civilian-held firearms. That equates to about 120.5 firearms for every one hundred American residents.

In many states across the nation, it’s now easier for someone to own a firearm than it is to obtain a driver’s license. We all experienced the angst of a trek to the local Department of Motor Vehicles and subsequent written test to obtain a learner’s permit. To ensure safety on our streets and highways, one must prove the ability to operate a motor vehicle responsibly and competently to receive a driver’s license. In many Republican controlled states, the only requirements in purchasing firearms are that you’re 18 years of age or older and have the cash to purchase the firearm.

Republican states have the highest rate of run ownership according to The World Population Review, and six of those states have the highest rate of gun violence deaths.

States with the highest gun deaths per capita 2023:

Mississippi 33.9 Alaska 25.2 Louisiana 29.1 Montana 25.1 New Mexico 27.8 Arkansas 23.3 Alabama 26.4 Missouri 23.2 Wyoming 26.1 Tennessee 22.8

Source: Statista

Presently, there are twenty-seven states that have passed Constitutional carry laws, allowing for their citizens to carry weapons either openly, or concealed, without permits or licensing requirements. Only Alabama requires a federal background check. These states have GOP controlled legislatures/governors apart from Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The incontrovertible fact is unfettered access to firearms, loose gun legislation, and the unwavering Republican support of the gun lobby will add to the death toll and make the job of public safety that much more difficult for law enforcement.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and his GOP controlled legislature were the latest legislators to approve permitless carry. On the heals of enacting this horrific legislation, he also approved $61.2 million in spending to upgrade the state’s capitol building windows to ballistic grade. What message does that send? That they’re fully aware that more guns, equals more gun violence and death.

Police officers across the country agree that unlicensed concealed weapons make their jobs more difficult and will lead to an increase in accidental shootings. These are the people that see what people are capable of when they’re emboldened by a gun on their hip.

Additional proof of GOP abominable rhetoric in support of guns and violence, occurred at a far-right rally on June 10, 2023, in Georgia. Kari Lake, the failed Arizona gubernatorial candidate and election denier, said the quiet things out loud. She intimated support of an armed rebellion over Trump’s second indictment. “If you want to get to President Trump, you’re going to have to go through me, and you’re going to have to go through 75 million Americans just like me. And most of those individuals are card-carrying members of the NRA.” This is the incendiary and pernicious language that too many Republican use to rile up their base and encourage not only gun purchases, but violence aimed at their perceived enemies.

As this gun violence continues to rage throughout the country, many Republican controlled states continue to pass laws antithetical to curbing gun related deaths. States with Constitutional carry laws, except for Nebraska, have passed stand-your-ground laws. These laws state that an individual has no duty to retreat from the threat and may resort to deadly physical force and are not limited to your home or workplace. Such laws only serve to embolden a frontier style of justice and result in unnecessary deaths. Case in point is the 2012 George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin shooting and recent cases of overzealous use of firearms. In the case of Zimmerman and Kyle Ritenhouse the GOP and their supporters elevated these killers into celebrity status.

Recently we’ve witnessed an uptick in these so-called stand-your-ground cases, with another Florida incident occurring on June 5 in Ocala. Susan Louise Lorincz a 58-year-old white woman, shot and killed her African American neighbor, Ajike Owens. Witnesses state neighborhood kids were playing in the vicinity of Lorincz’ home, when she became irate, throwing a pair of roller-skates at them and calling them the n-word. Ms. Owens knocked on the shooter’s door to confront her about her attempted assault on her children, when Ms. Lorincz fired a shot through her own front door, striking and killing Ms. Owens in front of her nine-year-old son. Local police originally questioned and released Lorincz, before arresting her hours later, charging her with manslaughter. Lorincz and Owens had been engaged in a long spat according to neighbors. Ms. Lorincz used the ridiculous defense that she felt she was in danger when Ms. Owens knocked on her door. Where was the threat? She stood safely behind a locked door and could’ve called the police if she thought there was a problem. Instead, she chose to shoot and kill an innocent mother in front of her young son.

In Kansas City, Missouri on April 13, 2023, Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old African American teenager, was picking up his younger siblings at a friend’s house, when he mistakenly knocked on the wrong door. 84-year-old Andrew Lester, a white man, saw a young black man standing at his door and opened fire from behind a closed door. The teen was struck in the head but managed to escape and run away. Instead of answering the door and inquiring what the young man wanted, Lester chose to shoot first and ask questions later. Again, armed and emboldened by stand your ground laws and motivated by race.

Not related to a stand your ground case, but another example of armed false bravado and stupidity is the Kaylin Gillis murder. On April 18, 2023, in Hebron, New York, about 60 miles northeast of the state capitol of Albany, 65-year-old Kevin Monahan shot and killed the young woman when she mistakenly pulled into his driveway. Ms. Gillis was driving with a group of friends looking for another friend’s house on the dark rural roads. Lack of adequate cell phone coverage in the area prevented the use of GPS or ability to call for directions. Monahan saw lights in his driveway and just began to shoot without cause, striking and killing the young woman in her vehicle.

The common denominators in these cases all involved scared, weak-minded individuals, emboldened by either stand your ground or in Ms. Gillis murder New York’s Castle Law, that had no business owning a firearm and in 3 of the cases, racial biases.

In contrast to the out-of-control gun violence in Republican controlled states, the World Population Review reports the states with the toughest gun legislation, are predominantly Democratic and have considerably lower rates of gun ownership and lower rates of gun violence death. We can postulate from this analysis that gun control legislation equals fewer guns and saves lives.

States with the lowest gun deaths per-capita:

Hawaii 2.5% New Jersey 5.3% New York 3.7% Minnesota 8.2% Massachusetts 3.7% Nebraska 8.3% Rhode Island 3.9% Iowa 8.3% Connecticut 5.1% Oregon 8.6%

Source: World Population Review

The conundrum with out-of-control gun violence is strictly a United States problem, as other nations have figured it out and taken swift and efficacious action to greatly reduce mass shootings and gun violence deaths. Comparing the 4.12% per capita homicide rate of the United States with that of other industrialized nations, we can determine how impotent our leaders are and how badly they have failed us.

A United States Problem. Comparing the 4.12% homicide rate to other industrialized nations.

Japan .02 Australia .18 United Kingdom .04 France .32 Poland .08 Italy .35 Germany .08 Canada .5 Spain .13 United States 4.12

Source: World Population Review

When compared with other nations it becomes apparent that the country’s fascination and love affair with guns is unique to the United States. Legislation varies from country to country, including Japan’s oppressive gun laws, that prohibit anyone outside the military, or police, from owning or possessing a gun, to the European model of psychological testing and strict regulations in obtaining permits. One constant remains; their respective legislation has led to a dramatic decrease in gun violence deaths, while America teeters on self-destruction.

The bigger question for Americans is how did we get here? How do we have congressional leaders such as Alabama Congressman Barry Moore (R) proposing a bill on the House floor that would officially acknowledge the AR-15 assault rifle as “America’s Gun?”

The National Rifle Association has given Congressman Moore its’ “A” rating, a sought after ‘badge of honor’ for Republican politicians. These politicians that blindly support the Second Amendment would like you to believe they are Second Amendment absolutists on patriotic principles. When in fact their blindness and obsequious behavior toward the NRA, their non-response to the gun crisis in America isn’t a matter of Constitutional purity or righteousness, it’s merely a money grab to secure wealth and power. The inability and unwillingness by politicians on the right, and their operatives to address the death spiral brought upon by the greed of gun manufacturers, school shootings have become the new normal.

As school shootings continued to rage on into 2022, President Biden urged Congress to act. They finally passed the first bi-partisan gun legislation in nearly 3 decades. President Biden signed the Safer Communities Act into law and moves the United States closer to universal background checks than ever before.

The new law bi-partisan law includes $750 million to support states in strengthening red flag laws to keep firearms out of dangerous hands. $250 million is allocated for community intervention programs, as well as $200 million to fund national background checks. Additionally, the legislation will address the loss or theft of firearms during the shipping process. Theft from shipping containers increased by 5,000 guns from 2018 to 2022. In a recent survey of prisoners incarcerated for crimes involving the use of a handgun, 62% reported the gun they used was stolen from another. The Secretary of Transportation and the DOJ will consult on the best course of action to eliminate or reduce the number of firearms stolen. Inspection of licensed firearm dealers will increase as will the transparency in which that information is released to the public.

While this legislation is relevant and historical, it still falls short of what really needs to be done, such as bans on assault rifles, high-capacity magazines, and pistol stabilizing braces, as well as enforcing universal background checks, and reversing the 2005 Bush era law, Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act that protects gun manufacturers and dealers from being held accountable when crimes are committed using their products.

In contrast to President Biden’s legislation and the Democrats fight to hold gun manufacturers accountable, GOP governors like Tennessee Governor Bill Lee pander to them. Weeks after the mass shooting that took the lives of 3 adults and 3 nine-year old children at The Covenant School in Nashville, he signed a bill that will further protect gun manufacturers and dealers in his state from lawsuits. The bill mirrors the PLCAA bill from the Bush era and expands protection from lawsuits initiated in the state but allows the manufacturer to be held liable for defective products and breach of contract, but not for the use of their products during criminal conduct or shootings. 33 states have similar legislation, mostly red states with a few exceptions.

Smith & Wesson recently announced after 172 years it will be leaving its current headquarters in Springfield, Massachusetts, for the more gun friendly Blount County, Tennessee. This will make Tennessee the leader in the gun industry. Coincidence? Not so much. As Mark Wahlberg’s character Bob Lee Swagger says in the movie Shooter, “Welcome to Tennessee, the patron state of shooting stuff.”

On Thursday, June 15, 2023, in Marion County, Tennessee, Gary Barnett shot and killed his estranged wife Regina, her daughter and her two granddaughters, then turned the gun on himself, but not before setting the house on fire. Regina had filed for a restraining order a month ago according to court records. In those records she stated, “My soon to be (ex) husband threatened to shoot me and he verbally abuses me every day.” She continued, “He also has anywhere from 50-60 guns in his room. I am afraid he will get drunk and shoot me.” County Sheriff Bo Burnett said to WTVC News Channel 9, “It’s a domestic situation, evidently that has been going on for a pretty good while.” Ostensibly, local authorities were aware of the domestic violence, but didn’t take any action.

Presently, Tennessee doesn’t have red flag laws. In April, Governor Lee paid lip service to the idea of creating legislation after public outcry following the Covenant School shooting in March. Red flag laws might’ve saved all those lives. As Democratic leaders seek solutions to save lives with sensible gun legislation, that most Americans demand, Republicans continue to undermine those efforts, and fail to hold the gun industry accountable.

President Barack Obama and the Democrats tried in vain to ban assault weapons after the Sandy Hook mass shooting. The bill proposed by the late California Senator Diane Feinstein was defeated in the Republican controlled Senate. President Obama did have a regulation that made it harder for people with mental illness to purchase a gun. After the 2013 Sandy Hook shooting by Adam Lanza, a severely debilitated individual, it sought to block people with severe mental illness from purchasing a gun. It added people receiving social security benefits for mental illnesses to a national background database. According to officials in the Obama Administration if the rule had fully taken affect it would’ve added about 75,000 names to that database. It was hotly contested by gun advocates on the grounds it would’ve violated the Second Amendment but was championed by gun control advocates.

After the 2016 Presidential Election, the Republican controlled House and Senate defeated the Obama bill, and it was revoked by former President Trump. Trump typically would sign bills with his giant Sharpie, in front of the press corps photographers with much fanfare. This was the first piece of legislation signed by the newly elected Trump and done without all the hoopla associated with the twice impeached 4 time indicted Trump. News that he signed the bill was hidden in the bottom of an email released by his press secretary.

The NRA applauded the signing of the new bill with its Executive Director, Chris Cox saying “this marks a new era for law-abiding gun owners, as we now have a president who respects and supports our arms.” When interviewed by NBC News, Democratic Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy called out the Republican hypocrisy, “Republicans always say we don’t need new gun laws, we just need to enforce the laws already on the books. But the bill signed today undermines enforcement of existing laws that Congress passed to make sure the background check system had complete information.” The NRA and other Second Amendment fanatics continue to influence and, in some instances, create Republican legislation and talking points.

In an act of tail wagging the dog, the GOP’s stance on armed security in schools is the brainchild of Wayne LaPierre the CEO of the NRA, when he suggested we arm teachers, creating another market for the gun industry. He’s also the one that coined the phrase “the only thing that stops a bad a guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.” Sound familiar? It should, these are the talking points of GOP extremists.

GOP policy regarding school safety and gun legislation is being dictated by the individuals that stand to gain financially, the NRA and gun manufacturers. A small minority is drowning out the voice of the majority. The Founding Father’s greatest fear was a country governed by a minority. The gun conglomerate and their lobbyists don’t seek obvious solutions to this crisis, gun control legislation. That would only castrate their cash cow in an act of self-flagellation. They choose to create these catchy phrases and false narratives to distract us from the truth, slogans like, “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.”

The Republican Party prefers to lean into their favorite dog-whistle stance that mental health care is the long-term solution to the gun violence problem. While mental health does add to gun violence deaths and demands solutions, it’s the ease of access to firearms that amplifies the epidemic of gun violence. Texas Governor Greg Abbott is truculent about his support of mental health initiatives and stated that he recently committed $105 million to support his state’s Mental Health and Human Services Commission. He neglected to inform his constituents that one week before the Robb Elementary School mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas, he cut $210 million from the HHSC.

GOP members offer their meretricious “thoughts and prayers,” without a vestige of sympathy or empathy, choosing to embrace made up culture wars, and refusing to address issues that Americans face daily, or the violence that rob our children from us in the most despicable and heart wrenching manner imaginable. Their public stance in support of the Second Amendment gives their argument a degree of verisimilitude in their eyes but is just another degree of perfidy.

To access your local Congressional House Representative’s stance on gun policy, click here:

https://www.npr.org/2018/02/19/566731477/chart-how-have-your-members-of-congress-voted-on-gun-bills

The Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence has compiled a list of Republican senators that oppose gun control legislation and the bans on assault rifles. See the entire list here: https://elections.bradyunited.org/take-action/nra-donations-116th-congress-senators.

In 2019 the NRA spent $3.22 million in Republican campaign donations, in 2020 it was another $2.2 million in donations. Here’s a list of the top ten Republican senators and the gun deaths in their respective states. The Republican’s stance on abortion is incongruous with their pro-gun voting records and obfuscates their position on the sanctity of life.

Mitt Romney (UT) $13,647,676 400 Richard Burr (NC) $ 6,987,380 1,470 Roy Blunt (MO) $ 4,555,722 1,288 Thom Tillis (NC) $ 4,429,333 1,470 Marco Rubio (FL) $ 3,303,355 2,449 Joni Ernst (IA) $ 3,129,723 302 Rob Portman (OH) $ 3,063,327 1,602 Todd C. Young (IN) $ 2,897,582 1,021 Bill Cassidy (LA) $ 2,870,574 1,036 Tom Cotton (AR) $ 1,971,214 596

With the recent news concerning conservative members of the Supreme Court receiving unreported lavish gifts from wealthy donors in the manner of trips and other endowments, we’re left wondering what other politicians have been showered with gifts, money, and other forms of payment in exchange for favorable rulings?

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