Anna Wiegand is a senior integrated studies major and writes ‘Tower of Babel' for the Daily News. Her views do not necessarily agree with those of the newspaper. Write to Anna at acwiegand@bsu.edu.
After the shootings at Umpqua Community College in Oregon earlier this October, I wanted to write an article about gun control in the U.S. I had a lot of homework to do that week, and I wasn’t sure if I would get the article done while the story was still relevant. Without thinking, I said to the forum editor that if I didn’t get it done in time, they could hold it until the next shooting happens.
When I realized what I’d said, I felt sick. How has the phenomenon of gun violence in America become so commonplace that I would assume without hesitation that there would be a next time?
According to a recent Pew survey of 2,002 adults, “nearly eight-in-ten favor laws to prevent people with mental illness from purchasing guns, 70% back the creation of a federal database to track all gun sales, while a smaller majority (57%) supports a ban on assault-style weapons.” The Harvard Injury Control Research Center, in a broad review of academic literature, has found that higher numbers of guns are linked to higher levels of homicides across high-income nations. Despite these statistics, little has changed in the way of policy.
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Additionally, Congress recently extended a ban on CDC research on gun violence, so we must live in uncertainty as well as fear. Gun violence is an epidemic in this country, but it gets treated like a problem that cannot be studied, understood or stopped.
I didn’t grow up with guns, so they don’t hold the same cultural and symbolic significance for me as they do for other people. Some members of my family have concealed carry permits and some of my friends enjoy using guns for hunting and target practice. I understand that in these cases, guns bring people enjoyment or make them feel safe. What I don’t understand is how this appreciation of safe gun use translates into a total refusal of even the most basic gun control reforms such as expanded background checks.
All I can figure is that there must be some formidable and effective lobbying going on, but paying politicians to look the other way doesn’t make the body count any lower. Fortunately, people are fighting back, and they’re putting in their best efforts to make gun control a less polarizing issue. MoveOn, a left-leaning political action group, has successfully recruited gun-owning, Evangelical Christian Republicans to send out emails asking for help in counteracting the NRA’s influence. This doesn’t have to be a partisan issue. Making sure that mass shootings don’t occur regularly should be on everyone’s priority list.
A common argument against gun control I’ve heard is that the number of guns in the country has little effect on gun violence. This argument says we should instead focus on mental health care reform or combating the decay of family values. In addition to the previously cited Harvard study, I offer this analogy to oppose this line of thinking. Imagine that you know someone who is morbidly obese. Let’s say this person spends all her free time in front of the TV, never exercises and eats pizza for three meals a day. Ideally, she would curb all of these habits, but even if she only stopped constantly eating pizza, it would be better for her health than if she did nothing at all.
America is this morbidly obese person. Wanting better mental healthcare and a suitable home life for all children are worthy goals, but they are more difficult to achieve and would take longer to have an effect. Meanwhile, we have reasonable gun control laws that we could enact, once even the hardcore NRA supporters tire of hearing about preventable massacres every two months.
So while my assumption that more shootings will happen is morbid, it’s probably an accurate one to make until our government makes some dramatic changes. Meanwhile, do some research and find out which politicians you should vote for to make these changes happen as soon as possible. You can also donate to organizations (such as MoveOn) that will push for responsible gun legislation, no matter where you fall on the political spectrum.
Check out websites like Americans for Responsible Solutions or the Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence to learn more.
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