The Problem with Guns is Not So Much The Guns
I began writing this post in August, after what was then the latest gun massacre. I finish writing this post after the Oregon murders. Our culture is way out of balance. We are allowing the most hateful voices in the country to dictate dangerous policies. Europeans and others do not understand our gun attachment. Frankly, neither do I. I am guessing if the founding fathers engaged in the gun debate today, they would be horrified to see the uncontrolled slaughter that we encourage through the sale of assault weapons.
Sarah Gassen observed: “Gun violence isn’t only about owning weapons. Violent roots are deep in an American culture that mistakes using violence for problem solving. Popular entertainment connects manhood and strength to firepower. Bad guys have guns, so good guys need bigger guns. We accept murder as a byproduct of our belief that we’re right.”
Journalists Stacy Teicher Khadaroo and Patrik Jonsson wrote “Some cultural messages suggest to men that violence enhances their status.” Likewise, “for people who feel powerless, getting a gun is seen as a way to suddenly have that power,” says Peter Langman, an author on school shootings who offers a wide array of research and resources online. The common denominator of many mass murderers, they write, is a warped view of masculinity.
The second amendment is problematic in both the drafting and interpretation. Both lack gender balance. The feminine is unrepresented or underrepresented in this discussion. I can support citizens having some right to gun ownership but I also believe that easy access to both the purchase of weapons, and in particular the purchase of weapons designed to cause mass destruction, is unnecessary as well as harmful. An interpretation of a constitution in which half of the population had no input is unbalanced. No greater example is had of that imbalance than second amendment interpretations. If a Supreme Court staffed with mothers had written second amendment decisions for the past two hundred years, I suspect that the interpretation would be different.
Left unexplored is the connection between other types of violence and mass murderers. The connection between domestic violence and mass murder is insufficiently discussed, if at all, when the TV “experts” deconstruct each sad occurrence. Child abuse is barely mentioned as part of the formula for creating violent men.
We live in a culture that focuses boys and adult males on externalizations to define which characteristics makes them “men”. Weapons, sports, and money take a front row in that cultural definition, as does dominance over women. Media offers neither boys nor girls realistic and non-judgmental gender images. Toys R Us has already defined which toys girls and boys should play with by conveniently marking aisles with pink or blue coloring. Peers who have been been raised with rigid gender role identification bully those who choose a different path. Mental illness remains hidden and mental health services lack necessary substance because of insurance limitations. This culture has to change.
Focusing on changing culture does not relieve us of our obligation to take immediate steps to make communities safer, for example by banning assault weapons and shutting down whatever avenues of gun purchase are available without background checks. What will have long term impact is for each of us to take responsibility to do all that is necessary to have boys and men feel better about themselves and eliminate the impetus to harm others.