This is an incredibly complex issue. First, you have to examine it from the broad historical context. Governments love guns and don’t mind the violence if it keeps them in power. Guns also serve as very effective tools for economic development. Unfortunately, guns and violence are engrained in culture.
America exists because of guns and violence. When Paul Revere was riding around Boston yelling “the British are coming”, he didn’t have to stop and explain. They weren’t coming with tea and crumpets. By the way, Revere never did the whole route. He was stopped by soldiers with guns. Thankfully, his associate continued the warning. After defeating the British, we turned against the Indians. Once again, guns and violence won out. The Second Amendment was not granted to the few remaining at Wounded Knee. The reason Indians live on reservations selling cigarettes and operating casinos is because of guns, no other reason. In 1893, a small group of businessmen and sugar growers, with guns, overthrew the centuries old Hawaiian monarchy. Since it was mostly an American effort, Queen Lili’uokalani appealed to the U.S. government. She was ignored. It was annexed in 1898. In 1959, that military base, agricultural corporation and tourist destination became our 50th State.
Black lives matter because guns matter.
The reason they speak Spanish and Portuguese in the southern Americas is guns, no other reason.
Our Founding Fathers understood that even a benign government, if armed, would eventually become tyrannical. That is the motivation for the Second Amendment. That right which is rather unique in the modern world, creates a tension between government, which doesn’t like it, and citizens who feel they need it. Obviously, this is a dangerous situation.
A leader of a group considered far right was recently interviewed. He made an interesting comment. He said that when they protest armed, there is a type of deference from the police and the public. He contrasted that with what happens to unarmed protesters. Certainly, the unarmed peaceful protesters outside the White House would have been treated very differently had they been carrying guns. Certainly, if they had been, Trump would not have walked across the street to the Church.
I know someone who owns a gun store. Like any small business, it can be a struggle. However, with the election of Obama, there was a boom in business. He told me that some gun stores (not his) across the country were hanging a poster of the President with the caption “#1 salesperson”. Sad and scary. After Sandy Hook, there was another boom in sales, particularly AR’s. Since then there apparently have been shortages of guns and ammunition because of high demand. Sad and scary.
Back to the big picture. As Don Lucchesi said, “Finance is a gun, politics is knowing when to pull the trigger”. When that doesn’t work, it reverts to the real thing. Guns and violence proliferate with public corruption and its close companion, white collar crime. They both lead to more street crime. Add in more criminals and crazies and you have a lot of innocents caught in the middle.
So within this historical context, we have this terrible and complex problem to solve. There are too many innocents in the line of fire. Something has to be done. Both sides have to compromise.
Government, for its part, must mandate more transparency and disclosure from all levels of operation. Problems fester when hidden. Therefore, when small problems and issues remained undisclosed and unresolved, they grow into bigger problems that require much more difficult solutions.
Violence is an explosion of information that has been hidden, undisclosed. Government and big business are the usual suspects. Disasters follow. Violence becomes the resolution with guns the execution.
On the part of citizens, we should accept tighter regulations on gun distribution. With a little more effort, we can be more effective in keeping guns from criminals and crazies. That should be little impairment to the Second Amendment and not too much to ask to protect the innocent. People need to take more responsibility. In many cases, there are people who know the criminal or the crazy and the potential danger at hand. Very importantly, they need to take action to protect others and be held responsible in some way, whether criminally or civilly. The red flag warnings in some states are good and help protect many people. They could also be used as a way for people to limit their potential liability by reporting dangerous people.
Guns and violence are increasing dramatically. Practical steps need to be taken now to protect people and the Second Amendment. We need to start taking better care of each other.