Whenever there’s a shooting, mass-shooting or just a shooting, it seems that everyone is quick to blame the gun. What kind of gun did the shooter use? Where’d the shooter get it? Did the gun cosmetically resemble an assault rifle? These are the questions that are asked after most shootings. All of those questions are, in my view, incredibly unimportant.
After people are murdered in Chicago, politicians and activists claim we have a gun violence problem. I say we have a violence problem. Saying we have a gun violence problem is rather stupid. The violence isn’t occurring simply because guns exist and are available. The violence is happening because we, as a country, allow it to. Guns do nothing by themselves, so why call it gun violence? The gun isn’t committing the crime.
Blaming guns instead of the criminals is a good way to get nowhere. Gang members in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Oakland are not killing other gang members just because they have guns. If all guns disappeared one day, gang members would stab or beat each other to death. The tool is not the cause.
Mass shootings are no different. Take away the guns and they’ll either get guns illegally or use some other method of causing tragedy. Most mass shootings could be prevented if we had a functioning mental health system. Someone who has proven to be mentally unstable should not be able to possess a firearm.
Hopefully, we can start looking at the root causes of ‘gun violence’ and stop pretending its the gun’s fault.