Hey, Mom! Talking to My Mother #975 - More on Guns, Trump, and toxic America
Hi Mom,
This one has been in the works for some time, and it's time to release it in the state it's in with some commentary and let it be. I know you always love to hear me rant, Mom, though this one is I hope more thought provoking, though snarky, than ranting.
I have always followed terrible tragedies in our country closely and tried to think about solutions and what I could do, if even in a small way as one voice among the din of voices trying to be heard on this subject.
My first reaction to the recent Parkland shooting in Florida, as well as one closer to my former home of a young man who shot his parents on the campus of Central Michigan University, is that mental illness is involved and that we need better care for our mentally ill population. But if this study is to be believed, mentally ill people -- or as that clown in the White House called them "depraved sickos" -- are not responsible for the majority of these shootings.
The next article makes a very valid point that the hysteria and grief that follows these tragedies creates a greater divide rather than a coming together. Intolerance becomes the top of the heap operation for many (though thankfully not all) and defensiveness and backlash result as people are unwilling to listen to one another.
And that one caveat I added "if this study is to be believed" is important because in wading through all the content, one thread may be clear, not all facts that are being passed off as facts may be accurate. But then the article on mental illness makes clear that the statistic covers those with diagnosed psychiatric disorders, but adds "at least one that can be diagnosed." Not just meaning that some shooters may have undiagnosed mental disorders but that, perhaps, our system for defining what constitutes a psychiatric disorder may have its own flaws and agendas (dealing with health insurance reimbursement).
The "solution" or even steps in the right direction to ameliorate the tragedies presents a complicated tangle of issues with no easy answers. A total ban of all guns may be just as much an overreaction as arming teachers.
What we know is that AMERICA is the problem not the guns or the mentally ill. We have a deep cultural trend that makes this kind of action, resorting to gun violence, OKAY. Maybe this problem goes back to the Old West because it really smacks of the "guns strapped to my hips ready to shoot because I don't like the way you spit." Or maybe the cultural imperative driving our propensity for gun violence goes even farther back, goes back to our fight for rights. Our country was founded on a distaste for high taxes without representation and against a fascist regime trying to take our guns.
Our country is toxic. Its toxicity infects people and makes them behave like the gun slaughtering robots in Westworld. What's to be done? Surely, better gun control, fewer guns, restricted access to guns will help except for the problem with the "militia" and what it needs if it is ever to rise up against its own government. Not that this will happen as long as people can buy their pizzas, X-Boxes, and WWF tickets. Still, things could be done with gun access that will not fix the problem we have but will make a step in the right direction.
Or maybe, as one article suggests, the NRA should have conventions all the time as shootings are down 20% when they convene.
For my part, I am trying to sort the tangle, wend my way through the brambles. I want to educate myself better about the issues involved and be one more voice in the din of voices.
Our country is sick inside, and worse now because we have no reasonable or inspirational national leadership.
So here's a collection of materials to read and think about. If find this as useful as I tried to make it for myself, I am glad.
Mentally ill people far more likely to be the victims of mass shootings, than the perpetrators of them
http://bigthink.com/philip-perry/its-a-myth-that-mental-illness-is-the-main-driver-for-mass-shootingsBut according to the authors of the book Gun Violence and Mental Illness, less than 5% of such shootings are actually perpetrated by someone with a psychiatric disorder—or at least one that can be diagnosed.
Thirty years of solid research points to no link between mental illness and gun violence.
Only 4% of all interpersonal violence committed annually in America can be attributed to a psychiatric disorder. And in fact, the mentally ill commit less than 1% of all gun violence each year. Columbia University forensic psychiatrist Michael Stone keeps a database on mass shootings. As of 2015, out of 235 incidents, only 52 were perpetrated by someone diagnosed with a mental illness, just 22% of the total.
 |
| Someone with mental illness is far more likely to be the victim of a shooting than the perpetrator. Credit: Getty Images |
Vilifying Gun Owners Doesn’t Lead to a Better Society
https://reason.com/archives/2018/03/05/vilifying-gun-owners-doesnt-lead-to-a-be
"Progressives could be on the verge of delegitimizing their foes, on guns, but also on much else, rendering them untouchable for anybody who wants to stay in polite society," cautions David Brooks of the New York Times. He adds that "progressives are getting better and better at silencing dissenting behavior."
Warning that "we all live on campus now," Andrew Sullivan argues, "If voicing an 'incorrect' opinion can end your career, or mark you for instant social ostracism, you tend to keep quiet. This silence on any controversial social issue is endemic on college campuses, but it's now everywhere."
It's now everywhere, but the silence is allowed only with regard to "wrong" opinions. Enthusiastic endorsement of approved views is increasingly encouraged and expected.
This graph above is startling. I feel that now is a time when our artists, like David Byrne, as well as others who have a public platform and people listen to them, like sports starts -- Steve Kerr, whose father was assassinated in the 1980s -- can make a difference because we cannot expect any kind of reasonable or thoughtful responses from our national leader (or leaders).
Of course there were doubters, and the effects of the ban on some weapons were questioned. But repeated research over the years has proved that the change in policy saved a huge number of lives and granted Australians many of the freedoms that they cherish.
Other countries never had assault weapons available to the public, and some had no guns at all except those for hunting. For them, the issue of what do we do with all that weaponry was never an issue. But Australia’s experience shows that even that thorny question can be dealt with too.
The change needn’t be all top-down. Small groups who engage individuals have an inordinate effect. Change happens as new views, new thoughts and new opinions on an old issue accumulate. The law that ratifies this new way of thinking may need to be enforced top-down, but the acceptance of a new idea comes from a broad consensus.
I think reframing the gun issue as a public health issue—as well as an issue of our right and our freedom to live without a constant threat of violence—is the way to go in convincing our lawmakers, and more crucially our neighbors and our nation, to act on this issue. The public feeling is already there: Everyone should not have the right to risk everyone else's life and take away the freedom of others.
Some suggest we are bedeviled while remind us that the issue is about MONEY and not RIGHTS:
The NRA is not a patriotic defender of hunters and sportsmen, but a profit-driven, mercenary cult fueled by sales of increasingly lethal weapons designed not for hunting, but for the mass killing human beings. They oppose any and all gun safety regulations, including common-sense measures, like background checks, that the majority of their members support. And they suppress scientific research into gun violence by public health organizations—because they know the truth would appall all decent Americans.
And now we have new problems such as hoaxers and trolls affecting what we think is "news" and trending feeds of social media (which is not "news').
And then, there's the misdirection. It's a magic trick. When I don't want you to see the gimmick that makes the trick work, I distract you by saying video games are bad or what really deserves our attention and "ban" is pornography.
And then that lunatic some people elected under the mass hysteria that was reaction to the first ever women presidential candidate and eight years of the first ever African American president, Trump wants to arm teachers turning schools into even more dangerous places than they are now. Also, see what I said earlier about the dual pistols holsters Wild West reminder of the roots of our culture.
Remember misdirection? Because that man in the White House made it EASIER for the mentally ill to get guns (though this may not be the real problem with our shooting epidemic).
This is what mass hysteria look like:
According to Ledyard High School Principal Amanda Fagan, the student said "I could buy an AR-15" or something very similar. That's it.
"In an abundance of caution, despite the fact that this student is a minor who cannot, in fact, legally purchase such a weapon, we made the decision to consult with the Ledyard Police, who made the decision to take the student into custody," Fagan said in a statement, according to FOX61.
The student made the comment during his first-period class. The principal was quickly notified, and she made the decision to call the cops—even though it was clear to her that he was neither making a threat nor in possession of any actual guns. In a message to parents, Fagan stressed that the student presented absolutely no danger.
"The student in question does not have access to firearms at home," she said. "There was never any threat to the safety of your children or the adults who teach and tend to them each day."
Because now we are going to arrest people for what they say.Soon we will arrest people for what they think.
And don't forget the "real" cause is violent video games and pornography.
And yet most of the smart things are being said by the students in Florida, such as this one who tells us just to ignore TRUMP because isn;t that what we do with trolls and bullies?
Because the great thing that came out of this whole situation is one young woman who is the voice of the next generation: Emma Gonzalez.
Gonzalez said the president was trying to blame others.
“The best thing for us to do is ignore him and to continue fighting our fight, the fight he refuses to acknowledge,” she said, calling Trump’s words “disgraceful.”
TRUMP - RUBIO - THE NRA - YOU SUCKThe students also expressed their dismay over President Trump’s tweet suggesting that the FBI might have been able to stop the gunman who killed 17 people at the school had the bureau not been so focused on its investigation into the Trump campaign’s contacts with Russia.
“I think it’s disgusting, personally,” Hogg said. “My father’s a retired FBI agent and the FBI are some of the hardest working individuals I’ve ever seen in my life. They work every day 24/7 to ensure the lives of every single American in this country. And it’s wrong that the president is blaming them for this. After all, he is in charge of the FBI.”
Gonzalez said, “The FBI were some of the amazing first responders who were helping us get to safety. And the fact that he wants to discredit them in any way and he’s trying to shift our focus onto them is. … It’s not acceptable.”
EMMA GONZALEZ
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/commentisfree/2018/feb/19/after-florida-i-had-lost-hope-then-i-saw-emma-gonzalez
https://www.thecut.com/2018/02/stoneman-douglas-shooting-emma-gonzalez-change.html
This is the really good one! Image above and link below. The Lily is new required reading.
https://www.thelily.com/emma-gonzalez-is-young-cuban-and-bisexual-shes-bringing-all-of-her-identities-to-the-gunfight/
 |
| Danny Egan fills out mandatory gun paperwork Freddie Bear Sports on June 16, 2014 in Tinley Park, Illinois. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images) |
Look at all that money? This is not a mental health issue unless the whole country is mentally ill (and it is).
But does that matter? Is there truly a link between mental health and guns violence? A 2015 analysis of 235 mass shootings found that 22% of the shooters were considered mentally ill. As reported by the New York Times, mass shootings by people with serious mental illnesses account for 1% of all gun homicides per year, according to a book published by the American Psychiatric Association in 2016.
Experts agree that such measures as not selling guns to people with mental illnesses, which also have an 88% public support, could certainly curb mass shootings. But measures, like banning assault rifles and expanding background checks, are much more likely to prove effective. Just think - Americans constitute about 4.4% of the world’s population, but own 42% of its guns. And a 2015 study found that 31% of the gunmen in mass shootings globally are American. Maybe all else being equal, the main problem is not mental health. It’s the astronomical numbers of guns in the country, combining with lax laws to create a recipe for frequent disasters, some of which involve people with mental illness and some do not.
 |
| This February 4, 2013 photo illustration in Manassas, Virginia, shows a Colt AR-15 semi-automatic rifle a Colt .45 semi-auto handgun and a Walther PK380 semi-auto handgun and a copy of the US Constitution on top of the American flag.(Photo credit: KAREN B |
One other telling characteristic - the less education you have, the more likely you are a gun owner. About a third (31%) of the people who only have a high school diploma have a gun, 34% of those who some college education, but only a quarter of those with a bachelor's degree report to be gun owners. Among whites only, the number of high school diploma owners with a gun jumps up to 40%, compared to 26% for college graduates.
And as I noted earlier, if shootings go down when the NRA meets, then it should meet all the time.
Here's a fascinating finding: When the NRA holds its annual convention, the national rate of gun injuries goes down temporarily by 20% -- seemingly because the 80,000-odd attendees are hanging out and listening to talks, instead of handling their guns.
“The main implication is that guns carry inherent risk even among individuals who we might consider to be skilled and experienced in the use of firearms.”
But what they really illustrate is how valuable it'd be to have far, far more data on how and why firearm injuries and deaths take places in the US. Which is why it's time to repeal the Dickey Amendment, which took effect in 1996 and forbid the CDC from funding research into gun violence. As the Washington Post wrote last year ...
Gun-control research in the United States essentially came to a standstill in 1996.
After 21 years, the science is stale.“In the area of what works to prevent shootings, we know almost nothing,” Mark Rosenberg, who, in the mid-1990s, led the CDC's gun-violence research efforts, said shortly after the San Bernardino shooting in 2015.In 1996, the Republican-majority Congress threatened to strip funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention unless it stopped funding research into firearm injuries and deaths. The National Rifle Association accused the CDC of promoting gun control. As a result, the CDC stopped funding gun-control research — which had a chilling effect far beyond the agency, drying up money for almost all public health studies of the issue nationwide.The National Institute of Justice, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, funded 32 gun-related studies from 1993 to 1999, but none from 2009 to 2012, according to Mayors Against Illegal Guns.
Oh an yeah, this, so we don't even really have accurate statistic because a federal ruling forced the CDC to stop studying guns and violence.
And it won't even matter because guns are pretty much a DYI hobby right now anyway.
Reversing this process will not be a trivial task. "If the Supreme Court continues to duck these cases, a constitutional amendment might be the only civil option left," says Brandon Combs, president of the Firearms Policy Coalition. Combs says a federal law preserving national carry reciprocity is crucial, predicting that without such a measure, "I don't think the Second Amendment culture can survive."
Technology may step in where law falls short. Hobbyists have long built AR-15 rifles (including the so-called lower receiver, which is what the law views as a firearm) in garages using drill presses or other shop tools. Advances in 3D printing and CNC machining in the form of Defense Distributed's Ghost Gunner make creating guns in your own home much easier—though state governments are responding with new registration requirements. California's takes effect this summer; widespread non-compliance is likely.
"I think people are tired," says Combs, who was also one of the two plaintiffs in the California lawsuit the Supreme Court refused to hear last week. "There are a lot of gun owners out there. There are a lot of new gun owners. But they feel like it doesn't matter. If the Supreme Court isn't going to do anything about it, people aren't going to comply. They don't care about activism. They just won't comply."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Reflect and connect.
Have someone give you a kiss, and tell you that I love you, Mom.
I miss you so very much, Mom.
Talk to you tomorrow, Mom.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
- Days ago = 977 days ago
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 1803.07 - 10:10
NEW (written 1708.27) NOTE on time: I am now in the same time zone as Google! So, when I post at 10:10 a.m. PDT to coincide with the time of your death, Mom, I am now actually posting late, so it's really 1:10 p.m. EDT. But I will continue to use the time stamp of 10:10 a.m. to remember the time of your death, Mom. I know this only matters to me, and to you, Mom.
No comments:
Post a Comment