Silver Bullets, No Guns

In 2007, Virginia Tech was the site of the worst mass shooting in US history. Thirty-two fatalities made yet another painful reminder that our nation had still not adequately addressed such violent outbursts in settings where one’s safety should not be in doubt. Speeches were made, memorials held, calls for mental health reform, gun control, and more secure campuses. Even the state legislature acted quickly when the perpetrator’s psychological state became known by adding $42 million to the budget for mental health. It seemed a limit had been reached in this carnage no one could ignore.

That was 2007.

In 2008, our focus shifted to other things more dramatic. There was a presidential campaign of historic magnitude, and it was turning on an historic meltdown of the US–and world–economy. Such was the great danger facing our nation, states and local government turned to the federal government when their tax bases dried up & pensions were endangered by failing financial institutions. The Virginia legislature acted quickly again, this time cutting the budget for mental health: $50 million less. By the end of the year, three more mass shootings following the Virginia Tech massacre were on the books.

That was 2008.

The next year saw a US Army psychiatrist gun down fellow soldiers in the Soldier Readiness Processing Center where he worked. Connecticut‘s worst workplace killing occurred the following year when a man complaining of racial discrimination shot down 8 others before committing suicide. In 2011, an Arizona Congresswoman held an event to meet her constituents in person: Congress On Your Corner. Though she survived an assassination attempt, 5 others were shot dead and she continues rehab with life-changing injuries following a gunshot wound to the head.

Now that 2012 has ended, we can add 15 other spree killings with firearms since the cries of “Never again!” following Virginia Tech in 2007. The most recent casting a shadowy pall over all those preceding it, as 20 of the 27 victims were children aged between 6 and 7 who were anticipating Christmas holidays. The number killed since the 32 at VTU has now increased by 151.

On the issue of death by firearms, which is it: Guns, security, people, or mental health?

To even begin to grapple with an answer, we must take a real look at the numbers. Between 2007 and 2012, there have been 16 mass killings with firearms of 183 people leaving considerably more with life-altering mental and physical injuries. These are high-profile incidents.

In the city of Oakland, the number of children killed by guns equalled that amount in 2010 alone, or approximately one child every other day. Try multiplying that by the number of poor and working class population centers around the country where guns are the weapon of choice and children try to go unnoticed as they walk home from school. The presence of guns in these communities is one of several factors that leads to a vicious cycle ensnaring individuals in high-crime impoverished neighborhoods. Children here must deal with the same life-altering mental and physical injuries, but it is treated as the norm.

Security has its limits. The element of surprise alone puts the shooter at a great advantage to overwhelm when armed with the kind of firepower most recently used. The Capitol shooting in 1998 ended with two officers dead and the attacker injured by a returned shot. That he was armed with a 6-shot .38 revolver limited his killing field. More recent attacks with semi-automatic and high-capacity mags have lasted only minutes, yet killed many more before there is any time to react effectively. Courts have weighed in, as in the San Ysidro McDonald’s lawsuit, effectively limiting the security provided by businesses for their customers as being insufficient to deter a perpetrator who does “not care about his own survival.”

People aren’t perfect, and the population has continually increased over the years, which should show an equal growth in crime statistics. This, however, is not the case, as violent crime has been dropping as population increases, which leads to the next topic: Mental Health.

If you search the names of the various killers, you will find a very high correlation in three areas: Gender, Mental Health & Age. They were all adult males of early to mid adulthood and each seemed to suffer from one type or another mental malady, whether sociological or biological in nature. The “within group” string that seems to be a trigger in all cases is the isolationism each one experiences and expresses in a final assault on humanity. Caucasians numbered 13, two were black, and one was Asian. This seems to hold up globally, also, as an overwhelming majority are Caucasian.

Quick math tells me all these elements together point to an overall cultural issue at work. Until that underlying variable is identified and broadly addressed by the community writ large, we will continue to bury our children, brothers, sisters, spouses long before their time, and grieve collectively around candlelight vigils that only burn a short while before giving way to the next tragedy. It is time to commit our attention to each item with open minds because our children and our freedoms deserve an excruciating dialog to unearth these nuggets of silver and forge them into ammunition against the next tragedy.

Once done, though, where are the guns to deliver them? Is there the political will?