Guns, Heart and a Nation’s Identity

Most Americans love God, love life, but in an incomprehensible irony, also love their weapons. How is it that the most powerful, supposedly the most democratic and most advanced country on the planet routinely accepts massacres and mass shootings? How did it become a place where there is a greater chance of a person dying in school or at work than in a war zone?

It seems that they don’t mind 20 children dying in an elementary school, that 12 people were killed in a movie theater watching Batman, that three dozen students lost their lives at a university, and more recently, that 49 young people who weren’t harming anyone have been massacred in a nightclub. Horrors that, nevertheless, have failed to change the laws or the feelings of those opposed to more control; something Barack Obama himself has said is the greatest frustration that he has had as president.

On June 12, when the terrible events of Orlando happened, 164 days had passed in 2016 but it was the 133rd massacre of the year — the 15th in Florida and the fourth in that city alone. At the national level, in these first six months, there have been 97 days of peace but 76 with at least one mass shooting, the term used when at least four people lose their lives.

Mourning is constant and the United States is home to 325 million people with 310 million weapons. According to the latest figures, there are 101 guns for every 100 citizens. Thus, this country tops the list of industrialized nations with the most individuals possessing at least one gun. The United States has 5 percent of the world’s population but civilians have their hands on more than 50 percent of all weapons on the planet. If you live here, your neighbor has them and your neighbor’s neighbor has them too.

Those who oppose greater control and restrictions argue that it’s not the guns that kill people, but rather it’s the people who kill people. This is categorically invalid. Automobiles do not kill people either; it’s those who drive poorly who do, but that did not stop them from taking measures, thanks to which there are only 1.1 deaths for each 60 million miles driven by car. Meanwhile in recent years, the number of people killed by a firearm is 32,000 on average per year, including suicides.

The kind of violence that we see here does not happen in developed countries, at least not with the same frequency. Nevertheless, neither the president nor activist groups have managed to do anything about it. They have not been able to, not only because of the right wing and the powerful National Rifle Association, but because this is a nation with a history where weapons have always been abundant. The country was founded at gunpoint, first in revolting against the British invaders and later through violence by armed colonists in the Wild West. For many Americans, guns represent the heart and identity of this nation.

It’s easy to get a gun. It only takes a few minutes. If it’s in an established business, you fill out a form and with one call they check criminal records, but never your mental state. If the sale is between individuals, nothing is required. You give money and you get a gun. All that should change.

Opponents see it as a violation of the constitutional right to be armed, a right that in some states, such as Iowa, extends even to people who are blind and to people who are blacklisted by the government as possible terrorists, like the Orlando shooter.

Some states do not allow weapons in universities, but they are permitted in elementary schools, day cares and churches. In 26 others, they are allowed in taverns and bars. At the same time in Washington D.C., weapons are strictly prohibited in the Capitol building, home of the Congress that denies changes, arguing that handguns and rifles provide security and protection. But then, why is it that they don’t allow these weapons, and instead have turned their workplace into one with extreme restrictions, checks and metal detectors? Firearms are not allowed because guns kill and they don’t want to be shot. But, what about the rest?