The Emotion Driving the Gun Control Debate

This blog is in response to a Patch blog that tries to use a worn out argument against legal gun ownership and blame the violence in our country on law-abiding gun owners in the form of a snarky little poem that can be seen here. Unfortunately there are some that seem to have difficulty in separating emotions from facts and I, therefore, promised a blog response pointing out the problems in the poem posted elsewhere since my response was too long to post as a comment.

I realize that some people are more sensitive than others but it becomes a problem when we routinely allow our emotions to cloud our judgment. I don’t imagine many such decisions made in that mindset are based on any attempt at logic.

Part of my original response, in kind, to the referenced snarky poem is here:

Emotion, emotion,

You’re drowning in

an ocean of emotion.

Now to the hard facts in the form of a few questions, to any and all, along with some answers as I understand them.

• Casas Adobes, AZ – 2011 Tucson area shooting (1.28.2011).

Do we know any of the names of the six victims killed by Jared Loughner? Do we know any of the names of the 13 wounded by Loughner other than Gabby Giffords?

Those killed: John Roll, Gabriel Zimmerman, Christina Taylor-Greene, Dorothy Morris, Phylis Schnek, and Dorwan Stoddard.

Why, when we hear references to the 2011 Tucson area shooting, do we never hear anything other than Gabby Giffords? Was Giffords the only one hurt? No, it’s because emotion drives the day and it’s easier to get a desired response from people when you can manipulate their emotions. Are we ever told that Gabby Giffords was a gun owner and that she possessed a concealed-carry-permit? Why don’t we hear that? Because such information would stifle the emotional response we desire when we use things like the poem under consideration.

A gun did not kill and wound the 19 victims of the Casas Adobes killing; Jared Loughner killed and wounded those people using a gun to accomplish his goal. Let’s try to understand the difference.

• Newtown, CT – Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting (12.14.2012).

Twenty children and six adult staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary died at the hands of Adam Lanza after he killed his mother. Lanza subsequently killed himself. Lanza’s 27 victims were not killed by a gun; they were killed by Adam Lanza using a gun. Let's try to understand the difference.

• Aurora, CO – Aurora Theater shooting (7.20.2012).

Twelve people were killed and 58 others were injured in an Aurora, CO, movie theater by James Holmes. A gun did not wreak this havoc; James Holmes did while using a gun or guns. Let’s try to understand the difference.

• Oak Creek, WI – Sikh Temple shooting (8.5.2012).

Six people were killed and four others were wounded in a Sikh Temple by Michael Page who subsequently killed himself. These people were not killed and wounded by a gun; they were killed and wounded by Michael Page using a gun. Let’s try to understand the difference.

Now we come to the deadliest school massacre in U.S. history…

• Bath, MI – Bath Consolidated School massacre (5.18.1927).

In 1927, on April 18^th, Andrew Kehoe, the Bath school board treasurer, killed 38 elementary school children and six adults and injured at least 58 others. Prior to his killing spree at the elementary school, Kehoe had killed his wife and family. Kehoe attempted to kill many more but was unsuccessful. Kehoe, as some of the others mentioned above, subsequently ended his own life. None of the people that Kehoe murdered at the Bath Consolidated School were killed by a gun; they were killed by Andrew Kehoe.

In fact, Andrew Kehoe didn’t use a gun to kill his victims, he used explosives. Kehoe set two separate 500-pound explosive charges at the school but one, most fortunately, did not detonate thus limiting the number he was able to kill and maim. So, guns did not kill and maim those at the Bath Consolidated School, nor did explosives really; Andrew Kehoe caused all that damage with the use of explosives. These explosives could have done nothing without the catalyst of Andrew Kehoe building the charges, strategically placing the charges and then detonating the charges.

All of the deaths and injuries documented above were caused by human beings using whatever instrument they had at hand to accomplish their goals.

Do we understand the difference yet between the killer and the object the killer uses in his work?

Let’s set it in concrete by one final piece of information. The Institute of Medicine informs us that up to 98,000 deaths occur in American hospitals annually due to medical errors making such errors the eighth leading cause of death nationwide. Does the scalpel, or some other medical instrument, kill these 98,000 victims annually? A scalpel might have been used by the killer in his or her error but it was the doctor or a nurse that killed these people. It’s normally caused by irresponsible or negligent action by the agent acting as the healer that turns them into the killer. It happens…in fact, it apparently happens quite often to the tune of approximately 268 patients a day. Interestingly, we only hear about how many lives doctors, hospitals and medicine save but concurrently we only hear how many people are harmed by guns and never how many benefit from the use of guns in protecting life; because it doesn’t fit the model and doesn’t evoke the desired effect.

All the passionate emoting aside, it’s time for all of us, if we really care, to arrive at some real answers as to what we can do to end accidental and/or planned killing by people whose violent, or irresponsible, or negligent behavior, whether acting out or in perfroming one’s job, causes unneeded death.

When we look at the violent killers listed above it becomes obvious that there is one thing they all hold in common. No, it isn’t guns. What is common in the actions of these killers is that they have some mental disease that is driving them, without a doubt.

Now, whether we talk about violent killings perpetrated by the mentally disturbed or we talk of those who are well but act so irresponsibly that their actions cause the deaths of those they were counted upon to help, un-needful death is a tragedy and we need to approach it with an eye towards a solution with a clear mind thus arriving at some logical conclusions that lead to a fix of the problem.

When it comes to the violence in our society that ultimately drives people to kill, we need to find answers that will work and not emote all over the place crying that guns are the problem. The places in this country where the most violent crimes occur have the strictest laws against gun ownership and use in the country all to no avail. All these laws have done is hog-tied lawful and legal gun owners while not providing one wit of restraint on the illegal use of guns and many other weapons that people use to inflict pain and suffering. It’s not guns, or knives, or hammers, or scalpels, or cars, or explosives that kill people; these are inanimate objects that are made to serve a purpose. The problem is when these objects are used irresponsibly and with malice by people who have no concern for others. I know, it’s a time worn cliché but it’s still true, people kill people. Now…what are we going to do about it other than emote about gun control?