Guns in America

An interesting news item was statistics on the numbers of violent deaths in several countries. Australia had 263 annually. Canada was next-lowest. The UK was next with still only a three-figure statistic. The US was some 23,000. Clearly, the US is relatively a very violent country, and we have to ask why.

I used to advocate gun control laws as a means of reducing the problem of gun violence in the U.S. Now I realize that, while the relatively ready availability of guns may be a contributing factor, it is not the only cause of our problem.

Whether or not guns are freely available, the problem is that people want to have guns. Europeans regard America as still the Wild West, and I have to think that that is partially correct.

America had its Wild West period, but how much of a lasting mark would that time and place have made on America? Largely beginning with Western movies of 50 or 60 years ago, Hollywood mythologized the Wild West, glamorized its gunslingers, and made the killing of people with guns heroic and glamorous.

The legacy of this is that in America today, to have a gun is mature, it is macho. This is the model that has been held up for our youth. I am sure it is a rite of passage for gang members and many other youths in certain subcultures in America to acquire guns, and maybe even to commit their first shooting. It is this culture of guns that is to blame. We need to begin to figure out how to change this.

Copyright © 2009 by Richard Stein