Guns for Guns, the Mindset That Kills So Many People

In the spring of 2020, when the COVID-19 situation started to get serious, I saw an article in the American media that made me doubt what I was seeing. The article asked, “Should I wear a mask?” The author said there was no great need to wear one. What was more perplexing than the writer’s conclusion was the reasoning behind it. The author claimed that wearing a mask reduced the possibility of your spreading the virus, but did not help much in blocking the virus spread by others.

What does this mean? If the probability of spreading the virus to others by wearing a mask is reduced, wouldn’t it make sense to ask everyone to wear one immediately? However, if you look only at yourself as the standard, it is not necessary to wear a mask because it does not block the virus spread by others. Of course, the fact that the mask’s virus-blocking effect is limited is far from the truth. Anyway, let’s assume that this expert is right. What if each of us makes a “reasonable” choice not to wear a mask, and consequently, the majority of people go without masks?

The number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States has exceeded 1 million people. In other words, an entire city has disappeared. There are several explanations for the unparalleled number of victims in the world’s most powerful country, which has developed major COVID-19 vaccines. There was a shortage of masks at first, and experts did not strongly recommend wearing them. I think this must have been based on a strange individualism like the above-mentioned expert’s point of view. It’s a mindset that justifies the conclusion that as long as I’m okay, I’m fine with everything else, even if it means putting others at risk.

The reason this article came to mind again was because of the logic behind the American right’s response to the mass shootings. Last month’s shootings in Buffalo, New York (resulting in 10 deaths), and Uvalde, Texas (resulting in 21 deaths), were both committed by 18-year-olds and involved the same model rifle. There has been a surge in opinion calling for raising the age at which people can buy guns and for a ban on the sale of certain rifles. Surprisingly, opponents of regulation have gone beyond simply objecting to rules and have instead chosen a completely different tactic. They have argued that it takes a good person with a gun to stop a bad person with a gun, and thus they have suggested expanding the supply of guns.

When you think of a situation in which you decide to face someone with a gun, holding a gun may be better than using your bare hands. However, the theory of expanding gun distribution is very dangerous for society as a whole. If you increase the supply of guns, the bad guys will still possess the same number of weapons. Naturally, accidents caused by carelessness also increase. This argument is nothing more than turning society into a battlefield between good people and bad people.

What is most certain is that the distribution of firearms and the number of victims of firearms are directly proportional. It doesn’t take much intelligence to understand. Nevertheless, “guns for guns” lives on as a strong ideology. In 2020, the number of gun deaths in the U.S. was about 45,000. During the three years of the Korean War, 36,000 Americans died. This means that in the U.S., there is a “civil war” that is greater than the Korean War every year.

A mindset that may seem like a rational choice for an individual but fatal to the community may be unique to Americans. The period of settlement in North America, and the early ethos during the founding of the North American continent, one which was full of self-help, self-reliance and frontier spirit, may have led to this way of thinking. The fact that there are so many people in the United States who are fiercely opposed to masks and vaccines shows the broad base that libertarianism has with little sense of responsibility for the community.

The attitude that I am responsible for my life is good. However, if the idea that taking responsibility for one’s life is all there is, paradoxically, social murder will continue.