Kyra Lieberman – Staff Writer
Since the Sandy Hook massacre of 20 children and six adults on Dec. 14, 2012, there has been an average of about one mass shooting every day in the United States.
In March, gunmen murdered 50 in two Mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand. Automatic and assault weapons were banned the week following the tragedy, with talk of instituting a firearm buyback program similar to the one Australia put in place that drastically decreased gun deaths in the country. There have been no mass shootings in Australia since 1996, when the mandatory program began. Between Jan. 1 and mid-March this year, there have been 63 mass shootings in the U.S. After 2,000 mass shootings in just over six years, the U.S. has put a few more regulations in place, but not enough to prevent these tragedies.
Mass shootings are only a small minority of reported gun deaths in the U.S. In 2016, there were 14,000 homicides and 23,000 suicides by firearm. Access to guns makes anyone a potential threat to themselves and others. A deadly weapon is still deadly, whether in the hands of a security officer, farmer, toddler or madman.
Countries with the lowest gun deaths are the countries with the strictest gun laws and fewest guns. This is not a coincidence. Singapore, Japan, Oman, Germany, South Korea and the U.K., among others, all have violent gun death rates at fewer than one per 100,000, while the U.S. had 4.5 homicides by firearm per 100,000. All these countries have laws prohibiting automatic rifles and have fewer gun owners.
Since 2014, there has been an upward trend in all gun deaths, but in suicides by firearm in particular. An abundance of research shows that more guns in the hands of citizens mean more deaths, by suicides and other means. Overall suicide rates decrease when gun ownership is lower. In states with more guns, the suicide by firearm rate more than doubles, while suicide by other means stays roughly the same. Most attempted suicides by firearm are successful, as opposed to other means with higher survival rates. A Harvard study found that most people who survive a suicide attempt will not die by suicide later in life.
It’s estimated that the registered count in the United States is about 393 million civilian-owned firearms, enough for every American to own one and still have 67 million left over. America makes up 4 percent of the global population, yet it owns 46 percent of the world stock of gun.
Due to fear of government intervention and the publicity of increasing mass shootings that might lead to restrictions, the national gun industry has boomed over the past decade. Gun sales and manufacturing nearly doubled between 2010 and 2013 alone.
We live in a gun culture. Whether for hunting, self defense, carrying daily or otherwise, guns permeate our lives. If we do not use or encounter them ourselves, we see them in our media. For many Americans, the idea of freedom and the Second Amendment right to bear arms are inextricably tied. But our founding fathers did not have the faintest clue of the firepower anyone with a small sum of money could possess. A primitive rifle that holds a single bullet is very different from even the simplest handgun sold today.
According to a PEW Research Center survey in 2017, the majority of Americans on either side of the aisle support preventing the mentally ill from purchasing guns, banning assault-style weapons and increasing background checks. Changes have been made, such as increasing the age to purchase certain weapons from 18 to 21. Will these changes, if enforced, be enough? Does throwing more guns at the problem fix it? In other societies, implementing significant changes to gun policy show positive results and have decreased gun deaths considerably.
We need to find a long-term solution that favors the lives of our citizens, and our children, more than the gun industry. We cannot keep — literally — bandaging our wounds as they occur. To move forward, we must be willing to accept change or continue to suffer the consequences.