Guns & American Society – More Questions Than Answers

Tweet: BlackintheEmpire: "Is anybody ever going to bother to ask what about American society creates so many people that want to go out and kill as many people as they can in the first place?"

As I read the Tweet a lightbulb went off. To be clear, I am not absolving the NRA or the United States purported love of guns, but the issues we face domestically are not all the fault of the NRA and even purported gun lovers. Yes, it would make a lot more sense to at least make it as difficult to buy a gun as it is to get a drivers license, buy a cell phone and innumerable other comparisons but there is more to this situation.

My father was from Guatemala (he has passed away) and we lived quite a bit in Guatemala. The father of my children is Israeli, lives in Israel and I met him there. This is all to say that I have lived in both Guatemala and Israel and visited them multiple times throughout the years, two countries with a lot of guns.

One of the things I will never forget is in my early twenties going to a movie in Israel for the first time and having to walk past all the guns all the soldiers also attending the movie screening had left right outside the theatre in the entrance hall. Having lived in Guatemala, the sight of guns did not make me feel safer it just made me feel danger surrounded me.

A couple of years ago, I remember visiting Guatemala and not only being struck again by the open carry rules in the sense that it was a particularly violent period but in fact the realization that a lot of people who owned guns were clearly flashing their guns to make sure you knew they had one on them and easily accessible. (Think about it how long it takes to get a gun out of whatever container you have it in, point it and fire.)

Just a year ago I traveled to Zimbabwe to see elephants, giraffes and zebras in their natural environment only to find out that my guide was also “packing” just in case any of the animals became dangerous and attacked.

So yes, the US is not the only country with a lot of guns and yet it is the only country where males (and yes, they are predominantly males) attack schools. What is it that we as a country, as a culture, as a people are doing that makes young males attack children? Is it the breakdown of family? Is it the breakdown of religion? The reality is that family and religion while not perfect ground a lot of people and give their lives meaning reducing the nihilism that has to be a part of what motivates these type of actions.

As the Twitter user, BlackintheEmpire, that got me thinking asked “what about American society creates so many people that want to go out and kill as many people as they can?” While some people may not like to consider these questions and much less the probable answers, we really need to start considering them. For it is only when we answer these questions and put in place systemic changes to solve these problems, that we will really be making progress.