GUN VIOLENCE

My Thoughts About Gun Violence

I am so tired of hearing about all of these mass shootings. And I am ashamed to live in a country that has so much gun violence. What do the other countries think of us? Have we learned nothing from Sandy Hook (way back in 2012) or any of the murder-fests since then? How can we just offer prayers and thoughts and go on and not help work towards solving the problem?

If you click the “List of Mass Shootings in USA” button, you’ll see there are many, many more small shootings that we never even hear about in our media. We only hear about the most gruesome and most heinous ones. I had to dig for this last one (for this week) that happened in Allen, Texas because there were so many other ones that happened that same day.

Texas in particular seems to have a large problem. Gee, Texas has one of the loosest gun laws in the whole country. Might that be a part of the problem? “In Texas, with a private gun sale, not only do you not have to do a background check, but you do not even have to show a valid ID nor proof of citizenship.” -John David Wolfe. There are also no red Flag laws in Texas. The minimum age to buy an assault rifle in Texas is only 18 years old. The minimum age to purchase alcohol in Texas is 21. Texas law prohibits liquor stores from being open on Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. They are also closed every Sunday of the year. But you can buy a gun 365 days per year. You can even legally have a loaded AR-15 with many rounds unconcealed in your vehicle. See here:  https://www.texasgunlaws.org/ 
Hmmm.

Please spend 6 minutes and 15 seconds of your existence to watch this analysis:  https://youtu.be/vl0J42wwPTY

After this last murder-fest in Allen, only 30 miles from Dallas, Texas, the Republican governor of Texas, Gov. Abbott sent the usual prayers and thoughts and said the problem in America was not having too many guns and assault rifles but was instead mental health. Yet I don’t see the Republicans in Texas, not even lovely Ted Cruz, doing anything to take care of the mental health issues of Texans! It is estimated that one out of five Americans has a mental issue and one out of 12 have a diagnosed mental health issue and are possibly in treatment (or possibly they are not following their recommended medicine schedule?) So I guess the idea is we just keep making guns, selling guns, buying guns, and including assault rifles which are weapons for soldiers in a war, and then make them all easy to carry and conceal and then if anything goes wrong, God forbid, and kids and adults get blown apart or have their faces shot off, we can just lay the blame on mental illness! Perhaps people that believe such strategies are in fact a bit mentally ill themselves?

To be fair to Texas, other states have experienced mass shooting events even in states with strict gun laws. This is another problem, a state with strict gun laws may be adjacent to one with loose gun laws. One just has to take a drive to the loose laws state and buy a gun legally with no traceability, no ID, no waiting period, and with no red flag laws as to the buyer possibly being a danger to himself or to others. All the buyer needs is cash! That is why our country needs federal laws to ban AR-15 style assault rifles, that apply in every state, and a federal mandated government buy-back program like Australia instituted after their last big mass shooting (35 deaths) which occurred way back in 1996. They have had only three mass shootings since 1996 which resulted in a total of 16 deaths (one of these was a murder-suicide of ones family of 7 by the father.)

I think it’s unrealistic to treat everyone’s mental illness in this country (an impossibility in itself-which country in the world has ZERO citizens with any mental illness?) *before* limiting the amount and type of guns we have. There are around 125 guns per hundred Americans. We have the most amount of guns per citizen than any other country in the entire world.

And oh, by the way, how come these mental issues aren’t being experienced in other countries causing a similar number of mass murders for them? Perhaps the citizens in other countries probably have the same amount of mental illness as the US, plus or minus a bit (humans are humans), but they don’t have the abundance of guns readily easy to obtain. Perhaps those mentally ill don’t have the luxury of planning how to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time? This happens in the US as these murder-fests are planned and organized methodically. Those foreign citizens can’t just run out and buy an AR-15 and plan to kill people at a shopping center or at a church or at a school. It’s much more complicated for them. It is also not the norm in their society by any means. Maybe some of them  just give up their evil and heinous murderous plans and instead go get help for their mental illness?

There are three elephants in this discussion. One of the elephants is that firearms are used for suicide more often than homicides (including mass shootings) 60.3% vs. 36.3%. The second elephant in the room is that men carry out these murder-fests MUCH, MUCH, MUCH more than women as cis-gender men are responsible for ~97.7% of all mass shootings with Trans suspects for mass shootings amounting to only 0.11%. The third elephant is the deadlier the shooting, the more likely the gunman had a history of domestic violence.

For anyone reading this, I ask that if you are a Republican, you write your Republican political representatives that you have helped put in power, and tell them they have to do something more than just offer their thoughts and prayers. They can start by outlawing AR-15 and other assault rifle types. Then they need to do something to provide affordable or free mental health centers/treatments for Americans so that a few of these disturbed citizens, being mentally ill and unable to make safe and rational decisions, cannot easily decide to go out and kill innocent people resulting in blowing the face off of a young woman and causing a six year old kid to lose both his parents.

And for you, Democrats, you need to push stronger than you have, and make this a big deal and especially the mental health treatment part of the equation.

And for gun owners both Republican and Democratic, quit the NRA! Stop contributing to the gun violence problem in this country. Don’t succumb to their constant marketing hype and begging for donations. Don’t allow yourself to be manipulated by their greed. Remember when you were told for 8 years of the Obama administration that he was coming to take your guns? It was all just clever emotional brainwashing with fear as the catalyst to keep you a member and to get your donations to support the NRA lobbying efforts and the ability for them to make large donations to key politicians that are in their pocket and which carry on their agenda.

I know some politicians say they just don’t know what the solution is but heck, they could always ask A.I. (ChatGPT and BARD), as these have great suggestions. I just did and their suggestions are below.

The problem is that some politicians seem unmotivated or unwilling to follow any good suggestions. Is it easier to just offer thoughts and prayers? Or are these politicians in the pocket of the NRA?  One Texas democratic politician asked if there will be a special place in hell for those that do nothing about this and may cause innocent deaths of children and adults in the future? Hmmm…

Simply offering thoughts and prayers is like someone being admitted to an emergency room with a life and death medical crisis and the doctor briefly looks at the patient and says ‘Well, let’s just pray and we will all be thinking of you getting better!’ Yup, we will all be praying and thinking that hopefully you’ll get better soon with no medication given, no surgery, no medical treatment at all! We then somehow expect the person to rise up and take up their mat and be healed! Unfortunately, that’s not how things work in reality. -Shawn

MY QUERY/PROMPT TO A.I.

“compare us mass shootings to those of other countries over the last 10 years. offer some possible solutions”

A.I. RESPONSES

Google BARD

“The United States has a far higher rate of mass shootings than any other developed country. In 2022, there were 693 mass shootings in the US, according to the Gun Violence Archive. That’s more than any other country in the world, including countries with much larger populations, like China and India.

There are a number of factors that contribute to the high rate of mass shootings in the US. One factor is the easy availability of guns. The US has more guns per capita than any other country in the world. In 2020, there were an estimated 120.5 firearms per 100 people in the US. That’s more than double the rate of the next highest country, Yemen, which has 52.8 firearms per 100 people.

Another factor that contributes to the high rate of mass shootings in the US is the lack of adequate mental health care. Many mass shooters have a history of mental illness. However, in the US, there are significant barriers to accessing mental health care. Many people with mental illness cannot afford to see a therapist or psychiatrist. And even those who can afford it may have to wait months or even years to get an appointment.

Finally, the US has a culture of violence that is unique among developed countries. The US is the only developed country that has a death penalty. And the US is also the only developed country that has a large number of mass shootings.

There are a number of possible solutions to the problem of mass shootings in the US. One solution is to enact stricter gun control laws. This would make it more difficult for people to obtain guns, especially people with a history of mental illness. Another solution is to expand access to mental health care. This would help people with mental illness get the help they need before they commit a mass shooting. Finally, the US needs to change its culture of violence. This will take time and effort, but it is essential if the US wants to reduce the number of mass shootings.

Here are some specific examples of gun control laws that could be enacted in the US:

* Universal background checks: This would require all gun buyers to undergo a background check, regardless of where they buy the gun.
* Ban on assault weapons: This would ban the sale and possession of semi-automatic rifles and other high-capacity weapons.
* Red flag laws: These laws would allow law enforcement to temporarily confiscate guns from people who are a danger to themselves or others.

Here are some specific examples of how access to mental health care could be expanded in the US:

* Increase funding for mental health services: This would allow more people to get the help they need.
* Eliminate the stigma associated with mental illness: This would encourage people to seek help if they need it.
* Make it easier to get an appointment with a therapist or psychiatrist: This would reduce the wait time for mental health care.

Changing the culture of violence in the US will be more difficult, but it is essential if the US wants to reduce the number of mass shootings. Some ways to change the culture of violence include:

* Teaching children about gun safety and violence prevention: This would help them understand the dangers of guns and violence.
* Promoting non-violent solutions to conflict: This would teach people how to resolve their differences without resorting to violence.
* Desensitizing the public to violence: This would help people become less desensitized to violence and more likely to take action to prevent it.

It is important to note that there is no single solution to the problem of mass shootings in the US. A combination of approaches, including stricter gun control laws, expanded access to mental health care, and a change in the culture of violence, is needed to make a real difference.”

Microsoft ChatGPT 4.0

“Mass shootings are a tragic and complex issue that requires a multifaceted approach to address. While mass shootings occur in many countries, the United States has a disproportionately high number of these incidents compared to other developed countries. According to a study by the University of Alabama, the U.S. had 57 times more mass shootings than other developed countries from 2000-2014.

To compare the U.S. to other countries, it is important to note that definitions of mass shootings and gun violence may vary across nations. However, data from the Gun Violence Archive shows that the U.S. had 614 mass shootings in 2020 alone, while Canada had 9, the United Kingdom had 0, and Australia had 1.

Possible solutions to reduce mass shootings in the U.S. include:

1)  Strengthening gun control laws: The U.S. has relatively lax gun control laws compared to other countries. Implementing stricter background checks, red flag laws, and limiting the availability of high-capacity firearms could help prevent mass shootings.

2)  Improving mental health services: Many mass shooters have a history of mental illness. Improving access to mental health services and reducing the stigma around seeking help could help identify and treat potential shooters before they commit violent acts.

3)  Addressing societal factors: Social factors such as poverty, inequality, and social isolation have been linked to higher rates of gun violence. Addressing these issues through policies such as minimum wage increases, affordable housing, and community-building initiatives could help reduce the likelihood of mass shootings.

4)  Enhancing school safety measures: School shootings are a particularly tragic form of mass violence. Implementing enhanced security measures, such as metal detectors and active shooter drills, can help prevent school shootings and protect students.

5)  Addressing the role of the media: Mass shootings often receive extensive media coverage, which can lead to copycat shootings. Developing responsible media guidelines and reducing sensationalized coverage of shootings could help mitigate this effect.

Overall, reducing mass shootings requires a comprehensive approach that addresses the underlying causes of gun violence. While there is no single solution to this complex issue, implementing a combination of policy measures and social interventions could help prevent future tragedies.”

OPINIONS

SUGGESTED LETTER TEMPLATE TO USE TO WRITE YOUR POLITICIAN TO SUPPORT A FEDERAL BAN ON ASSAULT RIFLES
(you will need to update numerical info in the document)

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