A Roar A What?

The shootings have people fixated on this incident, which is tragic, but not in a major way.  Hundreds of thousands didn’t die, not even thousands or even hundreds.  More happens each day, both directly and indirectly, to affect far more people, and far more significantly.  But let’s look at this incident anyway:

1.     Who was the perpetrator?  Another loner white young male.  What does that say about our society?  That maybe we’ve lost our connection to each other and our affection for and responsibility to the greater society?  That maybe we can’t distinguish illusion and diversion from reality?  That too many feel powerless, that their lives are put upon or have no meaning?  That our very culture (and its vacuousness or exploitive nature) spurs mental illness—violent mental illness—too often?

2.     The proponents of, and those against, gun control, line up and start spouting.  What if the very premise of their argument is off?  Lots of societies (Finland, Sweden, Britain, etc.) have few to no guns, and have few problems of mass murder.  Others have a lot of guns, and also few problems.  An example of the latter is Switzerland, which is not a homogenous society, but has a “well-regulated militia.”  Switzerland’s pretty safe. 

3.     Handguns deserve separate consideration.  Since handguns have little to no function outside of offensive or defensive use against humans (and only secondarily in warfare behind assault rifles, etc.), societies with profusions of them tend to be more violent than others.

4.     As we become less trusting of each other, as we know each other less, as we find less in common, we have become what Vance Packard warned us about in his 1970 book, A Nation of Strangers.   A nation whose inhabitants lock themselves behind their doors often.  More gated communities.  More worrisome overprotection, which isolates even further.  We have become hyper-individualistic and increasingly non-communal.  This is likely reflected in opinion polls about handgun control.  Around 70% favored such  measures 40 years ago.  Barely 25% do today.  Fear and distrust, that.  We are a disconnected and afraid society.

5.     Still, is it an “epidemic” of mass murder violence?  Not statistically, not by a long shot (yes, another pun), and the chance of it happening to you or yours is really, really small.  But it does contribute to more fear, more suspicion of fellow citizens.  And the more focus on it, the more it is sensationalized, the greater chance some copycat will be moved to action.  And the rule of terrorist-type impact is to try to outdo one’s predecessors.

6.     Would more armed people have prevented it?  Unlikely.  The loners are usually ready to die, for starters.  More importantly, since they get to fire the opening salvo (where most casualties usually happen), that’s not going to be prevented outright.  Especially if sophisticated tactics (like the tear gas employed) are used.   And while the shooter MIGHT have been shot down by other armed members, does that really make you all feel safer?  What if it becomes a crossfire situation?  Even if you’re armed, being in a crossfire sucks, and can be even more deadly.  And how exactly are first responders (police) going to sort out “the bad guy(s)” when they arrive?  In general, having a population armed while “in public” creates more problems than it solves.  For example, misunderstandings, misperceptions about actions or movements, etc. can trigger (pun intended again) a violent reaction to…nothing.  More people would get hurt or killed with dozens or hundreds of these “misunderstandings” in a year than in 20 years of mass murders like what occurred in Aurora.

Everyone wants a simple answer, to “fix it.”  There aren’t any for this.  We have to, in this, as for many things, come to the realization that life is better when low risk is assumed, rather than extreme efforts to mitigate that low risk.

But the bigger issue is, what kind of society do we have and are perpetuating?  Correcting that will do more to secure us than anything.  It is also the hardest road.  The result will be worth it though.  However, it does takes more courage and determination than just buying more guns.