It=s the Guns, Stupid!

 

I keep telling myself that one subject I will not write about in this column is that of guns.  The reason is simple: I hate guns and I don=t particularly like to associate with people who love guns and own guns. I have never owned a gun and never will.    So there=s my bias, up front, in case you were wondering.

But recent events and commentary about such events leaves me so angry that I can no longer sit by quietly.  So to all you gun lovers out there reading this, this one=s for you.  My message is clear and straightforward: one of the main reasons behind the high rate of violent crime in this country (far greater than any other country) is that there are too many guns in the hands of too many people, especially youngsters, who apparently have little trouble getting their hands on all sorts of weaponry nowadays. I should emphasize that this is one of the main reasons, not the only reasons.

The homicide rate in the United States is more than double the runner-up among industrialized nations, which happens to be Finland, according to the latest figures.  However, such differences are even more pronounced if we factor in the use of guns in these homicides.  When we do this, we find that the differences grow to more than five times greater in our country than other countries.  One researcher compared two adjacent cities, Seattle and Vancouver, B.C.  This survey found that for most indicators (population size, ethnic composition, unemployment rates, income, etc.) the two cities were quite comparable.  There was one key difference: public policies on firearms.  Whereas Canada has many restrictions on the ownership of firearms, the U.S. does not.  One result is that in Seattle 42% of all households have a handgun, compared to just 12% in Vancouver.  Crime comparisons are revealing: while burglary rates are almost identical in both cities, the rate of aggravate assault was much higher in Seattle and the arrest rate for assault with a firearm in Seattle was eight times higher than in Vancouver.  Over an seven-year period, the number of homicides in Seattle was almost double that for Vancouver.  More interesting, however, was the fact that if we exclude homicide by firearms, the rates for both cities were identical.

Another interesting fact has to do with the business of guns in this country.  In a fascinating study, former NRA member Tom Diaz (Making a Killing: the Business of Guns in America), notes that the total number of guns imported into America between 1978 and 1994 increased by 200%, with handguns leading the way with an increase of 674%!  He also notes that most of the foreign countries that important guns to America cannot easily sell them in their own country.  Japan, for instance, only sells 1.2% of the guns it produces to its own citizens; the rest they ship to America.

Another interesting aspect of what can properly be called a Agun culture@ can be seen in the number of trade publications devoted to guns of various sorts.  Leading the way are two associated with the National Rifle Association, American Rifleman (circulation of 1,480,074) and American Hunter (1,059,010), with the North American Hunting Club=s North American Hunter close behind (715,725).  Other examples include such appropriate names as Guns and Ammo (circulation of 575,000), Shooting Times (189,634), Combat Handguns (126,498), Gun World (126,402) and one simply called Guns (circulation of 168,000).  Indeed, says Tom Diaz, this Agun industry@ helps to promote the gun culture, Awithin which the firearm is less a utilitarian tool than an icon, so laden with implicit value that its hold over its devotees approaches the mystical.@  Yes, we Americans love our guns!

Business is great within the gun industry.  Some examples include Sturm, Ruger and Company, with a net profit of about $28 million in 1997 on sales of $209 million. The number of pistols manufactured by U.S. firms increased by 92% between 1985 and 1992, while deaths from handguns went up by 48% during that period.  And the guns are becoming more and more lethal, by increasing the magazine capacity in most guns.  A Justice Department study found that whereas prior to 1993, only 14% of all handguns had a magazine capacity of ten or more rounds, almost 38% had such a capacity in 1993 and 1994.  The 9-mm pistol has become one of the favorites among active criminals, including many children caught with guns.  One result is that more and more victims are being shot multiple times, meaning the wounds are far greater and the survival rate much less.

Diaz gives numerous additional examples, too many to cover here.  The point I am making is that guns maim and kill far too many people and some of the blame has to be placed on the manufacturers, along with the afore-mentioned Agun culture.@  The latter seems particularly relevant for we as a society just love guns and we pay billions of dollars every year to watch their carnage on the movie and television screens, not to mention our fascination with the daily news accounts of gun violence in the nightly news, which seems to be dedicated to the proposition AIf it bleeds, it leads.@

So when asked to account for the Columbines, the Santees, etc., my answer is simple: it=s the gun culture.  Somehow, some way, we must change this culture.  We start by restricting the number of movies displaying guns, the reporting of gun violence on TV news and - sorry you gun lovers - restricting the manufacturing and selling of guns.

 

Las Vegas City Life, 5/17/01, with the title: AAnd they say we have no culture.@