ANOTHER MASS SHOOTING

Cable news channels are mostly covering today the shootings in Maine where 18 people were killed.  Considering that there are typically around 20 firearm deaths in the entire state annually, this is consequential.  However, something like a staggering 150 suicides by gun yearly occur in Maine.

This is the 565th mass shooting (at least 4 deaths/event) in the U.S. this year.  In 2021, there were 48,830 gun-related deaths in the country.  54% were suicides (26,368) and 43% were murders (20,997).  Has the time finally come for gun control?  Nope.  There is something about the right to own guns and the efforts of the National Rifle Association that overcome any kind of common sense.  

Any chance for some kind of ban on assault weapons?  Well, a quarter century ago when President Joe Biden was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Congress passed the Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act, also known as the assault weapons ban.  It was Senator Diane Feinstein that was the chief sponsor, taking over for another Democrat, Ohio Senator Howard Metzenbaum, who in 1989 introduced the bill after a mass shooting on a schoolyard in Stockton, California, where 5 children were killed.  The new spark was a San Francisco law firm shooting in 1993 that killed 8.

Alas, there was a sunset provision, meaning Congress had to do this again in ten years.  In the meantime, Republicans gained prominence in Congress and the White House, there was the 9/11/2001 terrorist attack on the U.S. (New York World Trade Center and Pentagon), causing anxiety favoring private gun ownership, so the ban expired in 2004.  The Democratic Obama administration never could again bring back this gun control legislation.  The Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in 2012 killed 26, including 20 young students.  Even then, nothing sensible resulted.  

Looks like Biden will try again, but the deaths of just adults in Maine are not sufficient for winning over a public still dreaming about Constitutional rights. The Second Amendment actually does not guarantee the right to own a gun.  Read this.  Essentially, the times have changed.  We now have a dependable Department of Defense.  Back 200 years ago you pretty much had to actually defend your home.  Not anymore, for we also have strong police departments.  Arms today are mostly used for killing animals, including humans.

How out of step is the USA?  We lead the world in civilian firearms/person at 1.2.  #2 is Falkland Islands with 0.6 and #3 Yemen 0.5.  Others? #7 Canada 0.3, #26 France 0.2, #50 Thailand 0.15, #60 Mexico 0.13,  #68 Russian 0.12 (note that this is one tenth that of the U.S.), #139 China 0.04, #172 Cuba 0.02, #219 Japan 0.003, #224 South Korea 0.002 and #230 Taiwan ZERO.  

Zero?  Well, here is a video showing that gun violence is rising in New Taipei City.  Officially, in 2005, Taiwan was at 0.04 guns/person, but by 2017 the number dropped to ZERO.  But there is illicit ownership.

Regarding suicides, as high as these numbers are in the U.S., we are #30 in the world with 14.5 suicides/100,000 residents/year.  

• South Korea with so few guns is higher, #11,  21.2.
• Russia, with one-tenth the number of guns/capita  is also higher, #10,  22.
• Lesotho #1  0.09.
• World average is 10.5 suicides/100,000.
• #183  Antigua, Barbuda, Barbados  0.3
• #171  Philippines  2.55
• #150  Italy  4.3
• #100  Serbia  7.9
• #  92  Germany  8.3
• #  49  Japan  12.2

You might wonder, with so few guns available, how do South Koreans commit suicide?  More than half by drinking poison, especially pesticides, or by hanging.  Carbon monoxide is growing as an agent.  Also bridge jumping.  The Mapo Bridge is known as The Bridge of Death.  Russia?  Half of suicides come from alcohol abuse.  In Taiwan, which now prohibits gun ownership, people commit suicide similarly to South Korea.

Is there a moral to this posting?  Well, guns kill.  But do they also protect?  What is the net result?  Here is a list of countries of homicide rate per 100,000 people, compared to gun ownership rate?

                    Homicide rate        Weapons ownership rate (firearms/person)

                    Rank  

World                    6.1                               0.1

USA               51   6.8                              1.20

Yemen           53   6.3                               0.53

Canada         120   2.1                               0.3

France          148   1.1                               0.2

Thailand        68    4.8                              0.15

Russia            52   6.8                               0.12

China           181   0.5                               0.04

Cuba              75   4.4                               0.02

Japan            195   0.1                              0.003

S. Korea       177   0.5                              0.002

Can you make any sense to the above?  On first glance, there does not seem to be a clear correlation for firearms increasing homicide rate.  There are too many exceptions. 

As today focuses on death, on a ranked list of 33 songs about death, loss and grief, guess who is #1?  Taylor Swift with Marjorie.  This was a tribute to her grandmother.

• #15 is Candle in the Wind, Elton John.
• #29 is Knocking on Heaven's Door, Bob Dylan.
• #31 is Let It Be, The Beatles.
• #33 is Tears in Heaven, Eric Clapton.

-