On November 17, 1871, an organization was founded in the state of New York called the National Rifle Association.  That was 152 years ago.  Its goal was to “promote and encourage rifle shooting on a scientific basis.”  Not a bad idea back in those days, but rifles have come a long way since then, and the thought of promoting the kinds of assault rifles available nowadays just doesn’t seem appropriate any longer – or is it?  Americans like their freedoms, whether it’s their speech, religion, sexuality, ability to have an abortion, or their right to own a gun of any kind.  And there is always a case to be made in either side of each issue, but sometimes the argument is swayed by the tone of the media – both the news media as well as social media.

“Ban idiots not guns” as the saying goes on coffee cups and bumber stickers was probably devised to be somewhat sarcastic while serious at the same time, but it could also be “ban drunk drivers not autos” or “ban drug pushers not opioids.”   I wrote about this concept in an earlier post this year, but as I thought about this again the other day, it became less sarcastic and more and more serious to me.  What made me think this (and this is just my opinion) is because a gun, by itself, cannot kill or injure anyone.  It does take a person to do that.  To blame the gun and not the person behind it takes a lot of lopsided commentary that the public hears over and over again.  Commentary that tends to put the blame solely on the gun(s) involved, even when experts say it is a result of mental instability on the part of the shooter.  That message is regularly drowned out.  And what keeps me thinking that it’s the idiots and not the guns, is that the problem for other causes of death don’t get the vilification that guns get.  Things such as knives, opioids or even automobiles, aren’t treated in the same manner.

It seems to me if people want to kill someone they have multiple tools available other than guns, and they regularly take advantage of them.  Things like a car or truck or a large object like a hammer, a metal pipe, a knife and even poisons have all been utilized.  Regardless, none of these objects are ever considered responsible for the outcome.   In these cases, it is always the person wielding the tool that is ever blamed.  So why are guns singled out?

As I mentioned, poisons are often used to kill someone.  Everyone has them in their home, including such items as mouse poison, ammonia, and even car antifreeze.  People have used chemicals like these to kill other people they dislike for  centuries.  In modern times, antifreeze became particularly popular for this after media reports of its use as a poison and the difficulty in it being diagnosed during autopsies.  But there are plenty of other nasty chemicals out there.  We have gone so far as to strictly regulate the amount of chemicals which can safely exist in our environment.  However, it’s rare or practically nonexistent for someone to ever suggest to get rid of a chemical simply because a person died from it.  So why are guns singled out?

Drugs, like opioids and fentanyl, are another way to kill someone.  Although in many of these cases it probably wasn’t intentional and is usually a result of an overdose by the user.  But despite the fact that medical use of drugs such as these are controlled by regulators, they still end up killing people.  Extremely small amounts of fentanyl can kill, so it makes for a good tool to kill someone or for someone to commit suicide.  During every hour in the U.S., an average of 11 people die from a drug overdose.  Every hour!  In comparison, an average of 2 people die from a gun-related cause every hour, five times less than those killed by drugs.  So why are guns singled out?

Thousands of people are constantly killed every year in automobile accidents.  Some horrific crashes are sometimes mentioned for a short time in the news, but news coverage of mass shootings with fewer deaths than occurred in the car crashes will be discussed for days if not weeks by the news media.  This doesn’t seem fair since nearly as many people die in car wrecks that are killed by a gun, whether accidental or intentional.  So why is it when someone dies in a car wreck caused by a drunk driver that there isn’t a cry to ban automobiles the same way there’s a cry to ban guns?  I agree that a high powered weapon can create tremendous carnage when fired into a crowd, but so can an automobile that is purposely driven into a crowd.

In 2020, a year with available figures, 26,752 people died by an “object” other than a gun,  another approximately 100,000 were killed by drugs, 38,824 were killed in automobile accidents, and 45,222 were killed in a shooting (with over 54% of the shootings caused by self-inflicted suicides).  Although the numbers are high in each category (particularly drugs), guns still get singled out with the most negative reaction in the media.  This negative media reaction occurs especially when guns are used by a person to kill another person or persons, which accounted for only 24,420 of the deaths that occurred during the year – the lowest cause of death in the whole bunch.  So why are guns singled out?

Whether it is a large object, chemicals, drugs, automobiles or guns, people die due to the actions taken by another human being.  Whether it’s the PERSON yielding the large object, or the PERSON putting the chemical or drug in the drink or hands of another, or the PERSON driving the automobile that causes the wreck, or the PERSON firing the gun, it always amounts to a PERSON that initiates the action that takes the life of another.  So the phrase “ban idiots not guns” is not as ridiculous as it sounds. Stricter enforcement of current gun laws on the books I think is still necessary in my opinion, however. And better mandatory background checks prior to purchase is necessary, as well as well written red flag laws allowing people to help identify those who should not have access to guns, along with required response times for law enforcement to disarm them.  This I think is necessary because we can’t seem to get a handle on identifying and taking action on the idiots out there before they end up shooting innocent people, such was the case in Lewiston, Maine, that occurred on October 25, 2023.  Even after several warnings about the idiot in this case, he was not stopped before he killed 18 people and wounded several others.  Legislators need to create the kind of gun laws needed to protect the general public without restricting the rights of law abiding citizens to own guns.  I live in the mountains and I own a gun for protection from burglars as well as wild animals, so I would like to retain my right to do so.  This country can and should be able to find compromising legislation to support a person’s constitutional rights as well as their personal safety.  Unfortunately, with our current body of legislators in Washington who can’t seem to agree on anything, I don’t have much hope for change.