65 of 108 (the real number) are suicides, 1 are unintentional, 1 are undetermined, 2 are police shootings. 39 are actual homicides, 80% of which are gang related. I’m no mathematician but looks to me like we have a suicide and gang issue, not a gun issue. https://t.co/3pX8fdX4uH https://t.co/wln86OkM9q
— Colion Noir (@MrColionNoir) June 8, 2019
By Will
Gun control might not be an oft-discussed topic recently, but I think that it is an important one. Why? Because the gun control lobby is lying to us. Still. Like with other “pandemics,” such as the topic of the moment, Coronavirus, our friends on the left use fear and very misleading numbers as the basis of their arguments.
Rather than objectively looking at the evidence, they cherry-pick data and then misuse or misrepresent it. The most distorted among these are gang violence and suicides.
Gang Violence
“Gun violence,” as it’s currently known, is a problem in America. I completely agree with that and think that there are potential solutions to it. However, law-abiding gun owners are overwhelmingly responsible individuals. Aside from an insignificant minority, they don’t commit crimes.
On the other hand, gun-related gang violence is a massive problem in America. Those (illegal) gun owners frequently use firearms to commit crimes. Those gang-related shootings, homicides, and other forms of violence show up in the general gun violence data. In response, many on both the left and the right propose gun control as a response.
But gun control won’t work. It’s only relevant to the law-abiding gun owners. The ones who don’t use their weapons to commit crimes. Gang members, on the other hand, don’t care about the law. They’re criminals. So it doesn’t matter to them that certain types and classes of weapons are made illegal. They’re breaking the law anyway.
Gun violence — crimes involving the use of firearms — could be limited by focusing on reducing gang membership. Education and policing reforms could be very effective at cutting down the number of gangs, and gang members in America. Then we would certainly see a drop in gun violence.
As the tweet at the top shows, many homicides are gang-related killings. So are many so-called “mass shootings.” While those incidents are tragic, including gang-related gun crimes with more traditional mass shootings and homicides is misleading.
Because most homicides are gang-related, gun control will be ineffective at cutting the homicide rate, and the only ones who think otherwise are people who don’t understand that the gun control lobby is lying to them. Instead, these laws will only punish law-abiding gun owners. That shouldn’t happen; the Second Amendment rights of all law-abiding gun owners should be respected.
Suicide
Suicide is a horrible tragedy. I firmly believe that societies should do every reasonable thing that it can to cut down the suicide rate around the world. But gun control is not a rational response to suicide.
Most people who commit suicide are people who technically should be allowed to own a firearm. Although they are often depressed, they have done nothing wrong. It would be a gross violation of civil liberties to prohibit the sale of firearms to anyone who seems depressed. Not only would that be ineffective, it, like all gun control attempts, would punish the innocent along with the guilty.
Furthermore, it is not the role of government to get involved in the lives of law-abiding citizens. That is a cure worse than the disease because of how much it would limit individual liberty and our right to privacy.
Controlling the availability of firearms to law-abiding citizens is morally wrong and would most likely have a limited effect on suicide rates.
So, what can be done? The mental health system should be reformed. Concerned friends and family members should be able to report people who they think are struggling so that those people can be checked out.
Having a professional work with those who are struggling with suicidal thoughts could be effective, but the patient and doctor have to be connected. Setting up a report line and allowing concerned friends and family to submit names could be a great way to connect patients and doctors.
Additionally, those involved with treating patients who have suicidal tendencies should rely on more personal care and fewer pills. Medicines have their place. But many psychoactive drugs have dangerous and unpredictable side effects on the mental health of those taking them.
These are powerful tools, but can also be quite dangerous. Doctors and psychiatrists should work with their patients in person to help them through their problems rather than relying on pills.
Suicide is a complex problem. I don’t have all the answers; I probably don’t have any good answers or solutions. But what I do know is that gun control won’t work and that when people say it will, they only think that because the gun control lobby is lying to them.
As with gangs, those who want a gun will always be able to get one. We should focus on patient care, not restricting individual rights for society as a whole.
Conclusion
Suicide and gang violence are complex topics. They are also responsible for the overwhelming majority of firearm-related homicides. Too many people die from such “gun violence.” That is an issue that needs to be addressed in a variety of ways.
But gun control will not fix either problem, and restricting law-abiding citizens’ access to firearms is both unconstitutional and immoral. Gang members will always be able to get weapons. Those who really want to commit suicide will find a way to do so.
However, if more gun control is put in place to try and fix those issues, then everyone will be punished. That makes it not only an ineffective policy, but also an immoral one that will lead to the deaths of innocents.
We need to be on the lookout for these attacks by an emotional, reactionary minority on our Second Amendment rights. Gun control laws have proven to be ineffective time and again. To pretend otherwise is both dishonest and dangerous.
The gun control lobby is lying to us. It wants us to believe not only that gun violence rampant in America (it’s not), but also that gun control is an effective solution to the violence we do have. Don’t listen to the braying gun control crowd. Their ideas don’t work. They will only restrain your freedom and your liberty.
Will publishes www.genzconservative.com on which gun control is a frequent topic.