What's Up Doc? Why do people blame guns, doesn’t someone have to pull the trigger?
Q: Why do people blame guns, doesn’t someone have to pull the trigger?
A: I think many people intentionally misrepresent the point gun control advocates are making. No one is blaming guns; it is the easy access to guns that is a strong contributor to the present medical crisis in the U.S.
Why call it a medical crisis? With gunshot injuries now one of the top 10 overall causes of death in the U.S., and the number one cause of death in Americans under age 19, the word that best fits the medical impact of all this is crisis.
Even non-medical people know that when people are depressed they may act impulsively, particularly in times of distress. The easy availability of a gun significantly increases the risk they will take their own life. In fact, suicide is WAY more common in people who own guns. For example, men who own a gun are eight times more likely to kill themselves than men who do not own a gun, and women gun owners are 34 times more likely to kill themselves than women who do not own a gun.
Is this balanced by the protection afforded by owning a gun? Although almost half of gun owners cite self-protection as the reason they own a gun, the data is very clear that the risks far outweigh the benefits. For example, for every "justifiable" homicide where a gun is used to kill a criminal, there are 34 murders using guns, 78 gun suicides and two accidental gun deaths. Yes, there are twice as many accidental gun deaths than there are justifiable homicides; would anyone want to accept a medical treatment that kills twice as many people as it saves?
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It is WAY past the time that we as a country should have addressed this medical crisis. Maybe we have finally come to the point where some sensible gun control measures can be adopted. And there are many sensible steps already proposed, some that I have noted in previous columns and some that several states have already enacted. Examples include:
background checks; very much including closing the loopholes.
enacting nationwide red flag laws.
making the age to buy a weapon be at least commensurate with the drinking age; is anyone foolish enough to believe that someone who is determined to not be of an age where they are responsible enough to drink (younger than 21) is responsible enough to own a gun?
renewing the ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines; how are these weapons of war needed for hunting or self-protection?
requiring education and competency on gun safety for gun owners. You must register a car and pass a driver's test to operate it, so why do we not require guns to be registered and gun owners to pass a gun safety competency test? All the responsible gun owners I know would have no problem passing this kind of test. And can anyone say that someone who cannot pass a gun safety test should actually be able to have a gun?
removing the excessive protections gun manufacturers have and instead holding them accountable.
funding research on gun safety. It is very clear that funding car safety research had a huge positive impact in making cars safer, why would we not want to research ways to make gun ownership safer?
leveraging new technology to enhance gun safety. You cannot use someone’s cell phone without their OK, for example by them telling you their passcode. Why can anyone just pick up someone else’s gun and fire it?
This is not intended to be a comprehensive list, but at least these sensible steps are a start.
So, no one is blaming guns for killing people, guns are inanimate objects. But the easy access to, proliferation of, and the types of guns that are easily available are absolutely major factors contributing to the medical crisis occurring in the U.S. The sensible examples noted above do NOT obviate the need to take other steps. For example, increasing access to affordable quality mental health care for everyone is another obviously sensible step we need to take.
Jeff Hersh, Ph.D., M.D., can be reached at DrHersh@juno.com.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: easy access to guns is a strong contributor to the present crisis
