Check out this bad editorial!
http://www.yorknewstimes.com/editorial/guns-kill-effectively/article_b742ced0-442a-11e2-9923-0019bb2963f4.htmlGuns kill effectivelyFollowing every high profile incident of gun violence there is the inevitable call for stricter gun control laws.
Then as the latest incident recedes in the consciousness of everybody but the victims, those calls for legislative remedies recede also.
Bob Costas used a Sunday Night Football broadcast to add his 90 seconds of commentary on gun violence in reference to a recent murder-suicide involving an NFL player. Actually he used that limited amount of time to quote Foxsports.com sportswriter Jason Whitlock.
Bob Costa’s use of airtime time for this subject was limited, but the reaction by gun advocates to his remarks extended the shelf life of his comments. Their criticism missed the key point he was making.
Bob Costas never mentioned the Second Amendment or gun control legislation; he simply referred to “our current gun culture.”
He finished by paraphrasing Whitlock, saying “if Javon Belcher didn’t possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.”
There is ample evidence to back up that assertion. A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 2004 found that “persons with guns in the home were at greater risk than those without guns in the home of dying from a homicide in the home.”
They also found that “the risk of dying from a suicide in the home was greater for males in homes with guns than for males without guns in the home.” (See this study at Twitter.com/blufisch)
Those who say that “guns don’t kill, people do” should take note of the data on male suicides. The authors of this study noted that males “in general have higher rates of completed suicide than females.” That is explained by the preference of males to use firearms in suicide attempts.
In another study, Dr. Susan J. Blumenthal found that while women attempt suicide three times as frequently as men, more men are successful in ending their lives.
Dr. Blumenthal reported that “the United States is the only country in the world where use of firearms constitutes the most common method of suicide, and [that guns are] used predominately by men.” This speaks to the reality that guns kill effectively.
While there are racial and age differences relative to the kinds of deaths by firearm, it would be a mistake to think this is a problem that could only happen in somebody else’s family and in somebody else’s neighborhood.
The problem is faced by families ranging from those with young black males living in urban areas to those with older white males living in all parts of the country.
The impulse to legislate this problem away ignores two issues. The first is the traditional role private gun ownership plays in this country.
Young men are introduced to firearms by their fathers and grandfathers as part of the yearly rhythm of hunting. It represents a cultural practice that is as old as the settlement of the country. It is a part of our culture that is rightfully protected by the Second Amendment.
The legislative solution also ignores the massive number of guns that already exist in this country.
The removal of those guns from private hands would represent a level of government intrusion that would have collateral consequences. One only has to consider the existing progressive initiatives that would fall in the wake of the resulting political backlash to that kind of action.
Jason Whitlock and Bob Costas were on the right track when they raised the question about the safety of a home that has a firearm. That is a question that should be raised every time a firearm is involved in a murder, suicide or accidental death within a family.
As heads of households become more aware of the fact that a firearm in the home makes their families less safe, the number of guns in American homes will decline.
Gene Fischer is a Fairmont resident and teacher at York High School. His point of view is presented in the Wednesday edition of the York News-Times.
