Will Anything Change after the Massacre in Aurora?

 At this point, the pattern is depressingly familiar.  Yet another gun massacre occurs. In theaftermath, we are told to express sympathy and support for the victims. No discussion of remedies for  these slaughters is to be permitted. They are too partisan. They are too political. Time passes. The public's attention shifts to other matters. Nothing changes. And then another mass murder occurs.  And so on and so on from Columbine, to Northern Illinois University, to Virginia Tech, to the shooting of Gabby Giffords and the killing of six others in Tucson, to the death of 12 and wounding of 58 others in Aurora, Colorado.

In the United States in 2010, 8,775 Americans were killed with guns. (Manchester Guardian, 9/27/11).   That's in just one year. According to the Washington Post, fewer (6,440) of our servicemembers, died in Iraq and Afghanistan in all the years our nation has been involved in those conflicts.

Of course, we feel compassion for those families who suffered losses in Aurora.  Most of the victims were in their 20s, and one was only 6. Their lives lay ahead of them, yet their years were cut short by something none of them had done anything to deserve. This truly was an American tragedy.

I taught psychology at the college level for 38 years. One thing I learned along the way is that we humans want very much to maintain good opinions of ourselves.  There's nothing  wrong with that. Good self-esteem is a healthy thing; but that desire can blind us to our flaws. For example, we like to think of ourselves as thoroughly rational beings, but, when emotion gets involved, we may not be. Fortunately, most of the time, it doesn't make any difference.

We get mad at the Red Sox (I plead guilty to that),but  as sportscaster Howard Cosell said, "Sports is the toy department of life."  It's not worth being taken so seriously. Or we impulsively buy something we don't need. Or we say something that we regret. We are, after all, only human. Big deal.

But, in a few people, the irrationality is more serious. When given the opportunity, they act out with grave consequences to others.  James Holmes, the accused shooter in Aurora,was able to legally purchase the following items: a pair of Glock handguns, a 12-gauge shotgun, an AR-15 assault rifle, 3000 rounds for the hand guns, 3000 rounds for the assault rifle, and 350 shells for the shotgun.

Would hunters or people seeking to protect their homes need
such an arsenal? I think not.  What can we do to prevent irrational people like Holmes from killing others? Should we try to identify all the criminally unstable people in the United States? That is neither practical nor possible. Take it from me, the science of psychology isn't presently able to make such judgments with precision.

It's much easier to control the means volatile individuals might use to destroy others. Make the sale of assault weapons illegal. Restrict, or,  at least, keep a record of purchases of unusually large amounts of ammunition. Close the gun show loophole which allows anyone to purchase guns without a background check. None of these measures would interfere with either hunters or home owners seeking to protect their property.

Actually, what the Republican-dominated legislature in New
Hampshire  has been doing is the exact opposite. It has been making firearms ever more accessible to ever more people, making it more likely severely disturbed people will get them. Republicans passed a rule making it legal to carry a concealed weapon on the floor of the legislature. How would you like to have a heated debate with another legislator who just might be carrying s gun?

Republicans passed the notorious "stand your ground" law which allows a person to shoot another anytime the shooter feels threatened. If only two people are involved, and one shoots and kills the other, the survivor can claim to have felt threatened and to have shot in self defense. There will be no witnesses to contradict that story. 

I know. I know. Those are gun safety regulations  I'm proposing.  Those who stoutly defend the Second Amendment will be offended. However, they might remember that besides the Second Amendment, there is the "right to life, liberty, and happiness" in the Declaration of Independence.  Innocent people have a right to life - not to be randomly shot and killed. Unfortunately, that right didn't save 12 people in Aurora.