· in 2008-2009 5,740 children or teens were killed by guns—one every three
hours
· during the same time period 34,387 children suffered non-fatal gun injuries—one every 31 minutes (the Children’s Defense Fund’s report: Protect Children Not Guns in 2012)
· the homicide rate in the United States is seven times higher than the rate of 22 other higher income countries combined and the victims (in the US) are “disproportionally young.” (John Hopkins Center for Gun Control)
What can we do to reduce this violence? We can begin by acknowledging that acts of gun violence are overwhelmingly perpetrated by males—and in particular males between the ages of 14 and 34 (76%). http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/htus8008.pdf FBI figures indicate that women are responsible for only about 10 percent of gun homicides
in the country. Additionally of the 62 mass murders committed in America by guns in the past thirty years all but one was committed by males. http://feministing.com/2012/12/18/women-are-perpetrators-of-gun-violence-too/
Broaden the definition of what it means to be “a real man”
Much of what is portrayed as manliness in our culture today centers around fighting, (physically standing up for “your rights”) and getting revenge for injuries, real or imagined. Young males need examples of “real men” who are compassionate and empathetic. They need to learn about men who have demonstrated strength and toughness in their lives, not through violence but non-violence (Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., William Lloyd Garrison, William Wilberforce, Nelson Mandela). These men stood up for their own rights and the rights of others without resorting to violence. They proved Gandhi’s claim that “Manliness consists not in bluff, bravado or loneliness. It consists of daring to do the right thing and facing the consequences whether it’s in matters social, political or other.”
Change our entertainment viewing habits
Much electronic entertainment glorifies gratuitous violence whether it is in movies like Bullet to the Head a “brutally violent actioner sporting a sky-high body count and an obvious nonchalance about life and death" (movie critic Bill Wine) or TV shows like The Following or video games like Call to Duty: Black Ops.
The way to deal with such entertainment is to refrain from viewing it, keep kids from watching it and encourage others to do the same. When people won’t buy it, producers won’t find it worthwhile to produce it. Those who buy video games for children can go to the Entertainment Software Rating Board website (http://www.esrb.org/index-js.jsp) to find out how games are rated (i.e. Early Childhood, Everyone, Everyone 10+, Teen, Mature, Adult).
We can do even more. Television and movie producers often get tax breaks from the federal government and from cities and towns. We can petition our representatives to restrict tax breaks to movies and television shows that don’t contain wanton violence.
Many viewers are unaware that the television industry is responsible for rating the content of its own programs. Since it doesn’t want to scare away advertisers, the industry rates most of its prime-time programming as PG or TV-14 regardless of its content. Viewers can get a more impartial rating of television shows by visiting the Parents’ Council’s website: (http://w2.parentstv.org/Main/). The Parents’ Television Council also has initiated proposals to control gratuitous violence on TV, especially during children’s viewing hours. We can support those proposals.
Support Sensible Gun Control Legislation
Let’s press our Senators and Representatives to support reasonable gun control laws including universal background checks, a ban on semi-automatic weapons and high capacity magazines. While some argue that these are against their Second Amendment rights, there is little actual evidence to support this. I have included a link to one article that speaks to this point.
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/comment/2012/12/jeffrey-toobin-second-amendment.html
Finally
I began this blog with some disheartening figures about gun violence in America. I end with a story that underscores where we must begin if we want to reduce these numbers.
An old Cherokee was teaching his grandson about life.
"A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy. "It is an awful fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil: he is anger, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, resentment, inferiority, false pride, superiority, and ego. The other is good: he is joy, peace, love, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, and compassion.”
The Cherokee grandfather continued, “That same fight is going on inside you, and inside every other person, too."
The grandson thought for a moment and then asked, "Which wolf will win?"
Without hesitation, the old Cherokee replied, "The one you feed.
I invite you to comment and to add your own suggestions for addressing the issue of gun violence.