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Abstract
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There are at least fifty million more guns in than people in America. The U.S. also suffers more shootings and ten times more gun deaths per-capita than any other developed country in the world1. Clearly the underlying problem is the widespread availability of weapons exclusively and efficiently designed to kill humans. These are the semi-automatic, double action handguns (E.G. Glock, Sig-Sauer, Beretta, etc.) used in homicides and suicides and the assault rifles used in mass shootings. However, upon forensic analysis virtually every event of gun violence (GV) routinely embodies societal and individual factors that made its occurrence seemingly preordained. Despite the opinions of politicians and others it is the guns2 not “mental illness” or “poverty of the soul” that are the basis of the vast majority of shootings.
Most homicides are reflections of basic issues of young male, often minority, perpetrators living in disadvantaged communities or on occasions a result of domestic and family issues. Poor interpersonal and communication skills, dysfunctional lives, previous felonies, personal insecurities, drugs and alcohol, and problems with anger management are frequent co-morbidities in these cases. The shooter believes that a gun can “fix” everything3. Any disrespectful comment or insult starts an argument that results in yet another shooting. Mass shooters tend to be twenty to forty year old men with untreated schizoaffective disorders and associated paranoia4. Their art and media posts reflect their inner turmoil and fantasies, too often fed by racist or religious prejudices. Their response is to inflict streams of bullets upon victims in schools, churches, shopping malls, workplaces and supermarkets, often seeking a moment of fame with “suicide by cop” or self-inflicted gun death, as the final event.
For most U.S. gun owners their weapons are a reflex response to the continuous drumbeat of the gun industry, politicians and the NRA, promoting fears of crime and criminals everywhere. This despite the fact that U.S. crime rates, except during the Covid-19 epidemic, have fallen precipitously since the mid-nineties5.”Good guys with more guns” is the NRA solution for everything. Multiple studies since the early nineties6 have demonstrated that a gun in the home is up to thirty-three times more likely to cause injury or death to a family member(suicide, homicide, accidental) than an intruder. Programs to deny gun access via secure containers or gun locks have been disappointing. Again, “It's the guns stupid, it's the guns” is an appropriate caveat.
Psycho-sexual influences are involved for some gun owners. The motion picture hyper-masculinity and weapons used by “Dirty Harry” (a huge handgun) and “Rambo” (multiple round assault rifles), are widely celebrated within the gun culture, as are the myths of the lone cowboy with his six-shooter and our heroic pioneers with rifles. A round hard instrument that discharges multiple boluses presents a clear sexual metaphor. As the Bushmaster AR-15 advertisement explains, “Consider Your Man-Card Reissued”7.The anti-feminist, ant- LGBQT and homophobic comments of some armed militia members certainly do suggest an uncertainty about ones manhood...
Language: en |