Guns don't kill people

It’s on again. Another mass shooting in Oregon USA and in Australia a lone 15 year old gunman assassinates a police worker at their Headquarters.

The Americans have volumes of statistics on why and why not people should have guns and it appears that one can chose which selection you need to back the argument you want. As with most other major issues, the basics are ignored.

Looking at logic, if humans get angry, some will fight and in such confrontation, if a weapon is at hand it has a chance of being used. Fewer weapons at hand and less chance of their being used. To get fewer guns you need to screen those likely to fight and have licensing to do this.

To get this into context, the ABC in Australia reported that there have been 10,000 firearms related deaths in the USA during 2015 year to date. So Donald Trump gets into the argument saying the problem is that there are not enough guns. He and the gun lobby argue that if more people were able to carry concealed weapons they would be able to shoot some of these terrorists before they could do more damage. For example, gunmen know teachers do not have guns at schools so they can carry out mass executions without challenge. Good argument but a terrifying thought that everyone you pass on the street could be carrying a secreted weapon. Road rage, blast them: domestic violence, pull out the guns on both sides.

Each time there is massacre in the USA the President comes out with the same line on need for more gun control. In Australia in response to what at the time was a world record killing in Port Arthur with 22 dead, the Prime Minister clamped down on gun ownership instituting an amnesty and gun buy back scheme. As a result there has not been a similar shooting since and Australia is quoted as an example of what can be done. The problem is that the crooks are not handing in their guns so if there is a shooting only the authorities can respond and sometimes as in the Lindt Café experience in Sydney, they get it wrong.

So are deaths related to gun numbers? After the USA Switzerland has the largest number of guns per capita and few gun related murders so this is not an answer. What it is really about is the institutionalized macho American Wild West ethos driving a national ego of how Americans see themselves. And why was gun ownership enshrined in the American Constitution? And never explained? It’s there because the Americans rose up against their lawful government under the English and revolted to gain their independence. They were able to do this because of all the privately owned guns. Now it’s a reminder of that independence built into the national psyche which is hard to diffuse. Jim Jefferies the Australian comic sums it up best, “Americans just like guns”.

What then is the answer? Do the government just give up and accept the death toll as inevitable? Unlikely, but then which side is winning? The more guns group look like in the ascendancy with more guns sold each year in the USA while gun related crime reduces depending which figures one believes. With the global terrorist threat and mobility of these murderers increasing, people react to the threats and become scared. Go get a gun.

If we want at the same time to ensure guns don’t kill people, the immediate answer if you can’t stop people having guns, stop people not owning guns from using them. Make it law that all guns have to be imprinted with the owners palm print so only they could use them. The technology is there. Remove all the other guns and it’s not against the Constitution. At the same time it imprints ownership and usage preventing kids in the house accidentally shooting each other and sooner or later the imprinted weapons become obsolete. Or do nothing…