The gun ownership rate is highest among non-Hispanic white Americans, who make up 60.1 of the population, but the FBI Crime Data Explorer shows whites commit 37% of murders. If the homicide rate is directly related to gun ownership, one would expect the demographic groups with the highest rate of gun ownership to commit the most murders, but that is not the case.
12
Conservatives profess to be pro-life. Unfortunately, after the fetus is born, they do nothing to protect it. Yesterday's shooting is case in point.
43
90% of all the violence done in the world is done by MEN. Why aren't we talking about this at every moment? Signed, a man who was a victim of male violence and survived.
51
I have a proposal. Perhaps the press should stop giving these shootings such a huge amount of coverage. It's grotesque, 'dead-kindergartner porn'. What these shooters seek is publicity and attention. If we put the reporting on page 9 with a two-paragraph article, these shootings would likely stop.
If your goal is to make the front page of the NYT and other media for days on end, the best way to get there seems to be to shoot up a class of schoolkids.
I doubt the NYT will give thought to my proposal. They have too much money at stake in their coverage of these shootings.
18
I think it is ridiculous to compare cars to guns. Cars are used for a inoffensive purpose and it is almost never used to kill. Guns' main purpose is to kill human beings, whether in defense or in rage.
One can argue about the joy of hunting or target practice; but these activities can be regulated without too much effort.
Kristoff does not recommend that we follow what other countries have done and make gun ownership much more difficult. He seems to believe, like many other commentators, that it couldn't be implemented because people would ignore such laws.
The NRA 's motto is: " a law-abiding citizen with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun". Even Kristoff proves that assumption to be wrong. What we do know is that a lot of those "law-abiding citizens" are disposing a huge number of guns into unsafe hands through a grey market of straw purchases, gun shows, street corners. And any of those "law-abiding" people are subject to fits of rage.
Thirty years ago I wrote to the Reno Gazette that "we are a nation of idiots with our love of guns"; the following week the Washoe County sheriff wrote in the same paper: "Mathieu is an idiot if he thinks he does not need to protect himself". In other words, law enforcement could not protect me.
Indeed, we see that police forces who are professionally trained have had little success in stopping the carnage.
Get rid of as many guns as possible!!
32
So Mr kristof you grew up in a farming community not far from me in clackamas county oregon were I am trying to survive ranching . What should I do the next time I have a cow prolapse , and run around dragging that uterus behind her if you manage to outlaw my elk rifle ? Chase after her with a knife , call the nonexistent vet or let her die on her own ? You people need to define the difference between a military rifle in a small caliber with a big magazine and my guns , which no one uses to do these horrible shootings with . Just like the women who got alcohol prohibited , because they wanted to stop domestic violence and instead created a whole new class of criminal instead . Just like you would do with me and the rifle my fathers troops gave to him for being a good guy and looking out for them , while they saved the world from japanese slavery and comfort women . I will hide that gun and never give it up to you just like the people did with their alcohol . Maybe if you concentrated on common sense , you could actually get something done , like inspecting all the bridges or funding the mental health crisis . You want to know why people vote for the GOP (and they will soon in portland ,because of the homeless ) , it is because the progressives don't have any common sense .
8
When Congresswoman Gabby Gifford's was shot, there was a 9-yo child, Christina-Taylor Green, an angel in life. I don't know why, but too many angels are falling. I grieved for that child like she was my own, for weeks.
After Sandy Hook, I had no more tears. The pain will always be there, like a wound that never heals.
Time-after-time, without fail or relief it goes on, and in many ways it's like the war, where the innocent are just slaughtered by lies and deceit, ...we grieve for them all, but are helpless to change the fact that 'this-is-who-we-are', not who we aspire to be.
So, ...this -is- America, and there is no truth other than the reflection in the mirror, because no matter what face we try to put on this endemic mass-murder, 'it-is-what-it-is'; "The Law", and a US Constitution that has been 'interpreted' by the US Supreme Court, with one[1] "1787" amendment that disregards the 'sanctity-of-life'; and for that "killing has become our 'way-of-life'". We are bound to 'obey-the-law', and indeed possibly be killed for peacefully-protesting the law, but know this;
The Law, Grammar, & Lawyers
"The law is neither the truth or justice, it is the 'interpretation' of the US Constitution by the Supreme Court; 9 Black Robes[...one empty]."
8
How to Reduce Shootings ?
Repeal the Second Amendment.
40
The article suggests that we "Keep men who are subject to domestic violence protection orders from having guns." Is it okay for women who are subject to domestic violence prection orders to have guns????? A male domestic violence victim wants to know
11
The tiny foot note under the graph, tells is all: "There is no hard data on gun ownership in the United States.". Why not?! If you DON'T want to solve a problem, the first best step is: don't look at it!!
14
If only the Democrats controlled both houses and the presidency! If ONLY 89% of the American public wanted gun control! THEN we could go on the offensive and actually DO something.
Beto O’Rourke tells us what time it is. The other Democrats backpedal, extenuate, whine. Do nothing.
9
Thank you for the truth about guns.
Southern slave owners needed guns; they gave us the 2d amendment, which is why we have 300,000,000 guns, gun crimes, mass shootings, and solitary suicides.
Repeal the 2d amendment.
23
Meanwhile, the NRA gun lobby and GOP politicians are gathering in Houston for their annual celebration of gun violence.
9
Nothing's changed. Same old story, might as well recycle the same old article. Let's hope we actually do something about it this time so that we can finally retire Kristof's article.
4
Good to have you back.
1
As a former NRA member I just want all you current members to know that your yearly dues pay lobbyist's to make sure the GOP will never make guns laws tougher. Wayne La Pierre makes sure of that when he's not robbing the NRA's treasury blind...so your $$$ keeps these things happening over and over and over...
18
90% of Americans want something done about this epidemic of gun violence. So vote out those we sent to Congress who are suppose to represent us and do what we want, but instead do the bidding of the merchants of death. Then vote to elect people who care more about the survival of you and your children than their rating with the gun lobbyists. This has to stop. No one is seeking to abolish the 2nd Amendment. Sensible gun control is not an act of gov't terrorism against you and your childish ideas of tin-soldier patriotism. You want to play with guns, join the military. Otherwise grow up. You're either part of the solution or part of the slaughter.
21
Pack up all the guns in this country and send them to the Ukraine where they can do some good.
13
Prescriptions required for ammunition. We require a Dr. Rx to prescribe 'killers' (i.e. Pain killers)... yet, ammo is OTC? (Hmmmm)
11
I appreciate the scholarly approach but we still need to match Causes and Preventions
Causes of Massacres:
Video Games
Defunded Police
Hollywood
Mental Illness
Border Invasions
Public Areas
300 Million Guns
High Gas Prices
How to Prevent:
Family Values
Private Security
Cable
School Prayer
Concealed Carry
Gated Communities
1 Billion Guns
Cable
Election Integrity
2
How hard do they have to beat you over the head before you stop thinking like civilians? This isn't about gun policy, this is about war. What's next, Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone? One day, you mark my words, one day you'll get it.
Can you let FoxNews.com reprint this pro bono? I like FoxNews though articles, photos and comments are robot-written, -picked & -generated. A little research won't hurt the readers.
Dear Nicholas,
Guns kill. Destroy them.
5
America in many ways is an incredible country, with a proud history of innovation and a stalwart of democratic freedom. But I'm sorry, as an Australian, I think your obsession with guns is sick. I get it, you have the right to bear arms in the Bill of Rights. But why does that right seem to be completely lacking in any form of sensible regulation and control? Why is it necessary for anyone other than your armed forces to have assault rifles or automatic weapons? Why are you allowed to carry a gun into a nightclub. or shopping mall in the state of Texas? Why do your school children have to have safety drills for active shooters? And backpacks that are bullet-proof? Can't you all see how sick that is?
Mental health issues are a problem world wide. But mass shootings aren't. Only in the US are they a problem. I do not understand why you haven't acknowledged that having 45,000 people die a year from gun violence, having hundreds of mass shooting events already this calendar year, is inextricably linked to the prevalence of guns in your society.
I could not live in a society where there is a real chance of my children not coming home from a school day due to some damaged person with an assault rifle, taking out his anger at the world. NRA be damned. The rights of the people to live in a peaceful country has to take precedence over the rights of an 18 year old to have an assault rifle.
44
Too bad. Kristoff couldn't be on Oregon's ballot. Very clear analysis very refreshing.
13
If you think about the idea of "hardening" schools, you need to think about what an incredible indictment of American culture it is to think that such "hardening" is needed. Other countries don't have to do that.
The Second Amendment starts out with the phrase "a well regulated militia". What the gun cult wants and what some Republican states and even the Supreme Court are implementing is no regulation at all. What we have now is an unregulated but heavily armed mob.
Start calling these semiautomatic weapons with large magazines what they are: killing machines. They are designed to kill people quickly and easily. They are very good at doing what they are designed for.
21
It is time for the leaders of our nation's Mainstream Christian Churches to call together leaders of congregations of all faiths to UNITE in their demand for congressional action to ban assault and rapid-fire weapons permanently - not with any Sunset Clauses that the Republican Party is so fond of, and to
strengthen all gun control laws.
This must be our next great awakening.
8
The United State’s 6.3 intentional homicide rate is high compared to Europe’s 3.0 intentional homicide rate, but the United States is not a European county. The United States’ demographics are not comparable to European demographics. Comparing the United States to European homicide rates is Eurocentric. The United States’ intentional homicide rate should be compared to homicide rate for the Americas, which is 17.2.
The USA will never use the scientific charts that show more guns mean more gun deaths. Why? Because every republican is against lowering both, since it would take NRA money out of their pockets and threaten their holds on power. A vote for republicans is a vote for the status quo and worse.
11
Good article, but are you preaching to the choir? Will any of these things reach anyone in power, and would they give a rip if they did? And, yes , less mass shootings than other types of murders, but , emotionally, psychologically these mass events are hugely destructive to any sense of well-being and safety . We allow politician's to terrify the rest of the country . They, the elected, do so because of their their love of powerr, not for love of children, or humanity, nor life liberty and the pursuit of happiness.. Madness.
6
The 2nd Amendment gives Americans the right to bear arms. In the 1780’s a single shot musket was the only gun the writers of the Constitution had in mind. The military style weapons on sale at any gun show shouldn’t be covered under 2nd Amendment privileges. Republican Originalists would have to agree to that. Unless they’re hypocrites, of course…
13
The gunman in the deadliest school shooting in Texas history bought two AR-style rifles legally just after his 18th birthday — days before his assault on Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. Obviously the gunman did not become mentally ill days before the assault, he was mentally ill for a much longer period of time. His mental illness status did not change, what changed was his access to weaponry. As soon as he had access to the weapons, he committed this heinous crime. Mental illness plus no access to weaponry equals no heinous crime like this. It is disingenuous to claim that mental illness caused this heinous crime. This gunman had mental illness and committed no such crime and then, when given access to the weaponry, he murdered little kids and their teachers. The politicians spinning this as a mental illness problem are disgraceful.
26
One more well written article that's preaching to the choir.
2
NOW indeed! Thank you for all the statistics. Will contact office-holders.
4
Great piece! Beautifully presented, excellent data - very well done.
Oh, sorry, forgot to add, it doesn't matter. Owning a gun is the core of GOP existence - GOP owns the senate - senate is run by evil old men who really don't care.
Sorry - its America - guns for all whenever you want. From Romney to Marjorie - its just the way it is going to always be.
7
The obvious fact from all these years of hand wringing and thoughts and prayers is that Americans really don’t care about the welfare of their children
9
Still, a strong part of the "solution" is the least talked about,
the one thing that scares our brave polticians: Ban military
style rifles and pistols from the citizenry. Call all such in under
threat of heavy fine and jail. Pay for the recalled guns. Yes, I
did say jail. These monster guns have no place among us. They produce an outsized sense of power in frustrated, paranoid men.
THEN go after background checks, etc.
11
Remember the GOP claims to be pro-life. Instead they are pro-gun.
7
Welcome back Nicholas Kristof. I'm sorry you weren't able to run for governor of Oregon. It is their loss. We should regulate guns like cars but we need to go further. Everybody needs to step, individually and at the local, state, and federal level, to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and racist domestic terrorists. Everyone has to be on the watch for people at risk; families, friends, acquaintances and online connections. A troubled teen who was inflicting self harm by cutting his own face should not have been allowed to purchase a firearm, and as soon as he posted to Facebook there should have been an alert to authorities. Everyone needs to step up and be involved. And can we stop the bullying, or sitting by while we see others bullied? That is how the downward spiral begins for so many troubled souls.
3
Just a reminder, folks, this article was written FIVE YEARS AGO. Nothing has changed. If the senseless murders of children in classrooms isn't motivation enough, nothing is.
10
This is a thoughtful and reasoned column. Sadly this is a thoughtless and unreasonable society intent on doing NOTHING about murdered elementary school children.
BTW the 2nd Amendment talks about a "well regulated militia"
and Putin loves and financially supports the NRA.
4
A lot of the fault can be laid at the feet of Justice Scalia, who read the Constitution the way he wanted it to read by leaving out the commas in the text, which reads:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
Since when are these shooters are a part of a well regulated Militia?
8
Not one sentence mentioned the NRA political contributions to elected Republicans who receive about 97% of the NRA millions and millions of dollars paid out to the G.O.P. to promote guns and to never, never, ever vote against guns in any way, shape or form. Tump got over 30 million from the NRA in his failed 2020 effort. Th NRA does not like losers.
In 2021, Texas Governor Abbot with his A+ NRA rating, signed a law allowing the purchase of handguns, license free, in Texas.
Mitt Romney has received in excess of 13 million NRA dollars in campaign contributions over the course of his career and the list goes on and one, right through the Republican Senate and Republican House of Representative members and on through G.O.P. state government elected representatives as well.
Houston, we have a problem.
12
The only reasons Americans pretend we have to reinvent the wheel to stop gun violence are:
the need to cater to "conservatives" touting an inane interpretation of the Second Amendment to validate their gun fetish;
the prioritization of profits over human life by an arms industry with the morals of a heroin pusher; and
corrupt, derelict politicians in thrall to the gun lobby.
We have a perfect model of gun regulation, proven to be effective, in the gun laws of Japan, where they average less than 10 shooting deaths in a year, less than half the victims killed in one day in Uvalde, Texas.
'If Japanese people want to own a gun, they must attend an all-day class, pass a written test, and achieve at least 95% accuracy during a shooting-range test. Then they have to pass a mental-health evaluation, which takes place at a hospital, and pass a background check, in which the government digs into their criminal record and interviews friends and family. They can only buy shotguns and air rifles — no handguns — and every three years they must retake the class and initial exam.
'Japan has also embraced the idea that fewer guns in circulation will result in fewer deaths. Each prefecture — which ranges in size from half a million people to 12 million, in Tokyo — can operate a maximum of three gun shops; new magazines can only be purchased by trading in empty ones; and when gun owners die, their relatives must surrender the deceased member's firearms.'
https://bit.ly/3wqYJIF
14
Probably most importantly we are losing 22,000 people a year by gun related suicide. That is a much larger story than the 400-500 people who are dying from active shooters.
The active shooters are the attention grabbing tip of the public health crisis iceberg.
Regulation to address this larger crisis is where we on the “anti gun side” need to be. We need to find where we can agree with people who feel the need to own guns. We need to evolve.
2
Great article but a couple of things not mentioned.
1. The USA exports these same weapons, millions going to drug cartels, gangs, and repressive police and military in the Americas and around the world.
2. Publish and interview who manufacturers and distributes these weapons. If schools and markets are not safe, shouldn't we have the right to protest in front of the factories, businesses, and homes of those who profits from the deaths of others.
5
Just make gum manufacturers libel for the injuries inflicted by their product. Then let them produce the regulating legislation with that liability in mind.
4
Ban guns. Sorry, it actually is that simple. There are many, many countries around the world that simply do not allow civilians to own firearms, and in those countries, almost zero deaths are caused by firearms use. It's unconstitutional to ban guns, you say? Then amend the constitution. It's hard to do, you say? Trust me, it's worth the effort.
12
Unfortunately one of the biggest flaws of human nature is we repeat trauma over and over again within families or globally. "Humans do not learn very much from the lessons of history, is the most important of all the lessons of history, and one of the most troubling facts." Aldous Huxley.
Knowing that we repeat trauma which contributes to violence and has been happening for thousands of years, what is then the purpose of life? I know that answer for myself and not saying it is the right answer but an answer that leads me to a path so much bigger then the trauma that gets repeated on earth.
5
The sad thing is - and what shows this essay’s age - is the the pandemic had shown how divided people can be even about public health. People who refused to wear masks are not going to give up or regulate their guns for the common good.
9
A great article that makes the point that firearms in the community are a major health issue. The idea that talking about a health issue in the middle of a pandemic is not strange, yet the gun obsessed would have you believe it so. Guns create a special kind of mental concern for gun owners, somehow the possession of one is conflated with a number of disparate and unrelated issues like, personal freedom, personal security, domestic safety , and self expression. These are the strangest of associations and point to a real mental health issue for the countries that allow uncontrolled possession of lethal weapons.
5
We have been running the experiment and gathering the data for three decades now regarding the premise that more guns and less restrictions would make us safer. The numbers do not lie and it is incontrovertible that more guns and less regulation make us less safe and lead to more homicide and injury. Would some of the suggestions that Mr Kristoff suggests help? Maybe but without much stricter regulation and control of who can have a gun (along with hundreds of rounds of ammunition) nothing will change. It's not a mental health problem (though many individuals committing violence with guns are mentally ill) and it's not a values problem. It is a problem with the number of guns and the incredibly easy access to them. Our inability to recognize the truth of the data on this issue is a deep national sickness and unless we can change this trajectory the tragedy will only get worse.
10
A very interesting analysis with thoughtful insights. Probably most Americans do not realise how much of an outlier their country is in this area (they may know that it is but not the scale). There is no mention of tax as a measure. Could that possibly a solution to make it a lot harder to buy guns by imposing a massive tax ? This would not violate the 'constitutional right' to own guns but it would possibly make it a lot harder for say 18 year olds to buy guns a few days after their 18th birthday. I am not suggesting a 10 or 20 percent tax but something much more massive. Would that require legislation or does the US federal government have such authority ?
2
How can this writer this say that the"liberal approach" to addressing gun violence is ineffective in one paragraph, and then a few inches down say that tightening gun laws is effective in bringing down homicides? Gun control IS the liberal approach to gun violence. Time to flush the whole concept of two sides to the story. The problem with guns is the Republican party. Just as they're at the root of so many of the rest of our problems, from the White sense of grievance, to climate change, to ineptitude in government, to our COVID response, to hyper partisanship, to a clumsy foreign policy, to President Trump. Etc.
12
@Fremont "Ineffective" does not mean wrong, just that it has not achieved a result. Kristof is looking at other means to curb gun violence, as it seems our, your and his, approach, has not really worked, no matter how common sense it seems to be. I could go into how little common sense seems to be present in our political climate today, but I think that would be a waste of time. Something needs to snap the attention of people who persist in voting for people who have not your interests, but their own, in mind. It is fairly clear from the data, that people both on the left and right, gun owning or not, want some sort of "gun control" whether it is phrased that way or not. We just keep electing people who do not follow our orders. They take their orders, and their pay, from an unelected army of lobbyists. That needs to stop. This article reads like a Powerpoint presentation, even while it says we have a dearth in data. Should he have left what data he does have out so it doesn't look like he is abusing this idea of two sides to a story?
1
@ted But, his data shows that gun control is in fact effective. Not to mention, in every way, his data are neither controversial or even new really. We've already known every jot and tittle here for twenty years. That includes the simple fact that gun control is a huge part of the solution.
The problem is thoroughly in our politics and that means the Republican party. They have stood athwart every move toward gun control since I became an adult in 1980, and all for narrow political gain. If the idea is to "snap" the attention of their voters, then cloudily and completely inconsistently, undermining "liberal" solutions simply takes the heat off of McConnell, Cruz, Abbott and company. Until those guys, and the rest of the Republican elite are completely removed from the scene, nothing will ever change.
3
I have seen news reports of school shootings for nearly 25 years. Throughout this period, Democrats have managed to lose all legislative battles.
Perhaps it is time to change the approach. Why try to legislate at the federal level? Why can't the approach be state-by-state?
Those who support gun control should try to develop and vote amendments to state constitutions that can stand the test of the supreme court of the USA. I understand this will take time and is difficult. Looking at the alternative, I feel this deserves a chance. If a majority of the voting population accepts a reasonable amount of gun control then this approach should be successful.
I heard that 90% of the population support background checks. This state-by-state approach will test that support. What is there to lose in trying, it is better than leaving to senators who have proven ineffective in this subject matter.
5
@Ramesh There's a case before the supreme right now where gun control in New York is set to be overturned. Nope, the only solution is to take political power. And that means vote for Democrats. Hold your nose if you have to, but vote for Democrats.
1
When 90+ percent of the populace wants something and our elected representatives will do anything and everything to make sure it doesn't happen, that says it all.
10
All non-gun owners in favor of stricter controls should join the NRA. There are more of us than there are of them. Then we can take over the NRA and make it back into a gun-safety organization.
8
Kristof knows guns and people who own guns. He knows that people who own guns appreciate how much damage can be done with them and are very considerate when handling guns, but with exceptions that can and do result in deaths and maiming injuries. He is not afraid of gun owners but neither does he ignore how dangerous guns become in the hands of people who are careless or determined to do harm to others. So his recommendation is to focus on assuring that whomever has access to guns does not pose a threat to anyone.
It does seem that only those who are familiar with guns have any idea about which he is commenting. The rest are just focusing upon when the madmen with guns will be coming after them, or demanding the right to shoot it out with the bad guys (as if some power protects good guys from harm).
1
They just keep saying its a mental health issue and not a gun control issue. My view is, any decent citizen would know it's both, and the contribution we make as citizens is to do what's right on behalf of the children and people being killed by people with mental health issues who have this easy access to firearms that can be stopped.
7
How about mandatory liability insurance for guns? The rates might discourage the purchase of more dangerous guns, e.g. AR-type semiauto vs. bolt-action hunting rifles.
8
@Large Moose
All insurers need to do is write into their policies, (homeowners, renters, car, umbrella) that any unlawful use of a firearm by a policyholder or their children results in cancellation of their policy. Policy holders would be on their own and subject to whatever liability lawsuits come their way.
5
Armament is literally written in the 2nd amendment to be regulated.
The multi millionaire land-owners turned nation-builders didn't write into law UNregulated armament.
Who would? Rather, “…regulated through militias,” (here we can assume States).
In that, the states are liable and should be held accountable and not be bailed out.
7
Mr Kristof, you've presented the impeccable, logical, constructive case that has been obvious for decades and has made no traction. The issue is emotional. You know these people - Republican politicians and their supporters. How, if at all, does one reach them, with sense, patriotism, the Bible ... anything?
3
The problem with the car/gun comparison is that there is no constitutional right to own or drive a car. The constitutional right to at least some level of gun ownership is what complicates attempts at additional regulation.
@Jim Ah, but is there really a constitutional right to own guns? Given there is little in the way of background checks going on regarding gun sales, and there is a well-tuned licensing and registration system with cars, the comparison is quite apt. Use what works with one and add it to the other. Nobody seems to be arguing for the right to unfettered access to automobiles for a reason. My grandfather went a long period of his life without a license, because there was not licensing for quite some time. Unfortunately he remembered that when he was old and frail and had not managed to renew his license, he kept his car and continued to drive. Losing your right to drive is a punitive measure, not to be taken lightly. Neither of these are constitutional rights, but the way they are seen by many, they might as well be.
2
Excellent article based on evidence. I suspect many Republican politicians are aware of this evidence. I wonder if any of them have second thoughts about their promotion of guns?
It is an awful but not unrealistic thought that many Republicans are pleased about the recent increase in homicides because they can promote their George Wallace like law and order strategy.
But, do the Republicans dig into the evidence about gun suicides, the leading cause of gun deaths? Most are white men who own guns. How many of the gun suicide victims are Republicans? Does the Republicans’ promotion of guns result in the deaths of their own supporters?
The same case can be made for Republicans promoting misleading information about COVID vaccines. And, they call themselves pro life, not so much for their own supporters.
6
How about removing protection from civil suits and imposing a strict liability standard for guns like we do for other inherently dangerous products? Nothing brings about change faster than changing the economic calculus.
12
When people talk about the gun lobby they tend to get things backward. The gun lobby sounds like a rather limited thing, maybe financed by the manufacturers. It's sort of odd the power they exercise over the Republican Party.
The reason guns are untouchable in this country is that guns are a potent identity issue used by the Kochs and the Mercers and the the Thiels and the mainline Republicans to put money in their pockets. It's core Republican money driving the gun lobby, not the other way around. That's why there's so much of it. The only legislative achievement of the Trump years was the monumental tax cut for the rich. Bought by guns with an assist by Murdoch.
Guns are money. That's the only real story. It will continue as long as we let them get away with it.
7
@jerryg This is a link to a History Professor at Boston College. She writes a column every day and one can subscribe for free. This is what she had to say about the shooting. She gives background.
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-24-2022?utm_source=substack&utm_medium =email&utm_content=share&token=eyJ1c2VyX2lkIjozNTgyOTU3MCwiXyI6InNUaHlUIiwiaWF0Ijo xNjUzNTE3MTIzLCJleHAiOjE2NTM1MjA3MjMsImlzcyI6InB1Yi0yMDUzMyIsInN1YiI6InBvc3QtcmVhY3Rpb24if Q.Dr7q-8AfIKZ_nSC2bnNgagbhbRNVVd2av_v28HV9Cw4&s=r
2
@jerryg Guns are tools and tools are nether good or evil . You can kill someone with a hammer ,should we outlaw hammers and build the house with a flat rock instead ? Want to stop these horrible shootings , fund the mental health care , skip the protest and VOTE.
1
@jerryg Tax ammo 100%, 200%, whatever it takes. Watch the murder rate drop.
"Gun enthusiasts often protest: Cars kill about as many people as guns, and we don’t ban them! No, but automobiles are actually a model for the public health approach I’m suggesting. We don’t ban cars, but we work hard to regulate them — and limit access to them — so as to reduce the death toll they cause."
Also, you kind of need cars (it would be nice to have better public transportation in the US but it falls short there as well compared to most of the other developed countries mentioned here, so for the time being people really need to have cars -- and even in those other countries people have cars, just fewer and smaller ones and they use them less often, but still they have them).
But you don't need guns.
9
As I understand it, machine guns were banned in the 30's due to an increase in organized crime, fueled by Prohibition; that was the Al Capone era.
Also said was this: "Machine guns have been comprehensively regulated at the federal level since the 1930s, and the manufacture or importation of new machine guns for sale to civilians has been banned since 1986."
I haven't heard the - well, I'll just say it - r's complaining about that, yet.
About 27 years ago, I wrote a letter to my local paper at the time. Someone was complaining that the military and law enforcement have assault weapons, so why shouldn't all citizenry? I wrote: "I'm not sure what law enforcement has beyond assault weapons, but the military has tanks, bombers, missiles and battleships. How many of us could afford these things, much less store them? This is a "keep up with the Joneses" mentality. I fear heavy debt! Could we really win an arms race against our own military? Against each other?"
I wrote a little more than that but basically it means if my neighbor gets a machine gun do I need to get one to protect myself against that person? If the neighbor gets a tank, do I need to get a tank to protect myself from that person?
4
@CDW
Fully automatic guns shoot more bullets that most people want to shoot and at that time only crooks were obtaining and using them. Banning them for a public safety reason was confirmed to be justified in the courts because they were not being used for any non-criminal purposes, so the ban on unregulated use and sales of these weapons was upheld. That argument cannot be used to ban semi-automatic rifles or handguns because the huge numbers of these in the hands of civilians and not being used for crimes.
1
@CDW Many dangerous tools are regulated , and no one cares , but they are not banned because that is silly . No one needs a tank or a military rifle that is only good for killing people in a crowd , but I do need my rifle . The progressives think like children just like the organized religion does , that some is good so more must be better . Don't retrain those police , so they do a decent job as civil servants , but defund them instead . They sound like miss america saying she will end hunger and bring world peace .
1
Plenty of great ideas in the column and comments, but historically little political will. Here is another one for the pile, retroactively outlaw large magazines (anything biggerthan 6 rounds) and adapter kits and pay a substantial tax free bounty (anonymously) to anyone who "drops a dime" on someone who possesses one. Most of the people who possess these kind of weapons can't wait to show them or put pictures of them up on social media, suspect that they could be thinned out substantially if their acquaintances availed themselves of a few thousand dollar reward for ridding society of the potential deliverer of the next taker of human life and their means of performing the act.
5
@Kevin Yes , common sense is what we need . This doing it all deal is silly , then nothing gets done . No one needs a military rifle with a huge magazine to put down a sick cow like I do . So stop talking about silly things like defunding the police , stopping fossil fuels (you can stop using the 80% of the electricity the fossil fuels create ANYTIME ) , banning guns and vote .
1
The only solution is to remove all the guns. Yes, yes, that is not going to happen as the SCOTUS and the 2nd Amendment get in the way, and then there is the issue of how to legally confiscate 300 million guns with a few million people hording their collection, but until we start finding ways to make it less desirable to own a gun the simple fact is suicides and homicides will continue to outpace accidental gun deaths by 100:1
3
@steviedweb Yes, this has been one of my questions--more regulations only affects going forward if we are so lucky. What happens to the 300K guns already out there? Sadly there is no circumstance where I can imagine these guns being taken out of their owners' possession in numbers sufficient to make large scale change.
@steviedweb So I have to give away my rifle my dad got for being a good commander in WWII so that crazy people can't get a metal lathe and make their own gun like I would if you steal mine . How tough do you think it is to make a gun ? So all the criminals like me will have one and all the good people will not . Just like defunding the police because some have acted horribly .
1
It is so nice to see Mr. Kristof's sensible writing back on these pages.
9
Hope that Ted Cruz's children are never exposed to this danger in school or in a shopping center. I'd like to see Cruz' stance on the "constitutional right" to own guns if something like this mass shooting happened in their school. Nothing like a personal tragedy to see the right way and give up opportunism.
5
Nicholas,, I am usually in agreement with most of your thoughts, but the headline for this column is stunning. Reducing shootings is to accept that there will be shootings without number. Eliminating shootings, I realize, is a pipe dream. Nevertheless, we are still left with gnawing question of how many are acceptable. Accepting the idea of reduction means that we are party to a future where children and adults are destined to die in cruel and inhumane ways. Is that where we are at?
1
so, if all the regulations listed were in place last year, how many fewer deaths would there have been?
And no mention that most homicides occur in a few sq miles of the entire country: drug dealers and such?
We can't confiscate the guns already in circulation.
I'm not against these controls, but little evidence supports them making much difference.
@Lee Herring Did you read the article? There are several very clear graphs illustrating that sensible gun laws do indeed reduce gun-related deaths. Even just implementing the 21-and-over requirement for gun purchases would have prevented the latest massacre, as the shooter purchased his weapons shortly after his 18th birthday.
3
Indifference Is How I Died
I had dreams of flying but will never touch the sky.
That first car I always wanted I will never buy.
All the questions asked will never be answered why.
It was not by a gun.
But indifference is how I died.
In hollowed halls the killings they solemnly decried.
When it came down to it, it was all a lie.
Always a handful of cash standing close-by.
It was not by a gun.
But indifference is how I died.
Casting blame upon the shooter, it is once again time.
Social media, mental health, Christian values, they reply.
Telling you they are blameless while they look you in the eye.
It was not by a gun.
But indifference is how I died.
Children are our future upon that you can rely.
The moral courage to do something is in short supply.
I learned the angel of death wears a necktie.
It was not by a gun.
But indifference is how I died.
With our constitution they say we must comply.
With words twisted beyond what they were intended to imply.
An exercise in futility, comes their standard reply.
It was not by a gun.
But indifference is how I died.
My mother, father, sister, and brother never got to say good-bye.
My heart aches for the bitter tears all of them must cry.
They all thought it would be someone else, surely not I.
It was not by a gun.
But indifference is how I died.
22
Stronger gun laws will lead to the imprisonment of more people of color.
LA County’s district attorney has announced he will not seek longer sentences for criminals who carry guns while committing a crime as long as the gun was not actually used in the crime.
He took this stance because sentence enhancements based on guns result in longer prison terms, and that was falling disproportionately on people of color. This has to do with crime statistics, not racial targeting.
Kristof’s suggestions are sensible, but he says nothing of enforcement and punishment for the many who will circumvent any new laws, just as they currently circumvent existing laws.
2
A better term is 'regulation', but there's nothing wrong with 'gun control'. Only criminals and anarchists can utter a coherent objection to it.
Any comparative with other 'regulated' activities or substances is valid, but fraught and open to sophistic retorts (i.e., superficial ones). A water supply isn't made to poison people; but is always regulated. Poison itself is made to kill; and is similarly regulated. But water is not analogous to poison. An automobile is not made to kill people; a firearm is. Also, you could theoretically construct a car from scratch and put it on the road... if it conformed to engineering and safety standards; but you can't found an armed gang; private militia; private air force, navy, or personal army in a normal country without permission. On the other hand, you could do so in a video game (or in the swamp of pre-civilization).
Pleading for greater gun control gets us nowhere. The baseline is America's faith in freedom of the individual.
America’s tombstone should be inscribed with the phrase, “Death by rugged individualism.”
It should be remembered in memorials to the victims of the Texas school shooting.
The culture of toxic individualism has deep roots.
Much of it is tied to the cultural legacy of manifest destiny and the settlement of the West: the myth of the up-by-the-bootstraps pioneer who helped tame the uninhabited West in the name of the United States.
Rugged individualism has its cultural representation in the form of the solo cowboy. The Lone Ranger and the westerns of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood.
Then there's the strapping Marlboro Man of cigarette advertising campaigns, once described as epitomizing “resilience, self-sufficiency, independence and free enterprise.”
Toxic individualism will bring down 'freedom loving' democracies.
12
This is a rational article with many measures that make sense.
Unfortunately they will go nowhere with this republican congress.
Their mantra is always "it's crazies and people with mental health issues." That is true in some cases, but often alcohol, tempers that flare and die down, impulse and accidents drive gun deaths. If a gun wasn't present, there likely would not be a death.
The GOP also doesn't fund any "mental health" treatment. They don't expand medicare, don't fund mental health professionals' education or presence in schools. Almost impossible to get a decent therapist that take insurance and the number of visits is limited.
Also, as several GOP senators said today, if someone doesn't have a gun they'll use something else. But nothing else is as effective as a gun. Knives, swords etc can kill, but not that many people at once. A gun, particularly a semi automatic is the best weapon for killing a lot of people quickly. That's what they're made for. It's call war.
I truly believe that most GOPers think a lot of deaths is the price they, maybe not other people, but Republicans are willing to pay to have a lot of guns. Just the way it is. Guns are important to some people's self image, their manhood, their sense of grievance, making up for a lack of self confidence. Nobody, nobody needs this number of guns for sport or hunting.
The people that need the mental health counseling may be the ones that need a gun to feel like a man. ie Republicans.
11
For the life of me, I do not understand how a particular group of people claiming impartiality and moral superiority, both support gun right laws and denial of basic human rights to women and girls and, now, children. There was a man who said "You can tell the health of a nation by how it treats its children."
9
Thank you for the article, I 100% agree that guns should be regulated like automobiles and believe that responsible gun owners should support this concept. The statistics presented clearly show that our current model does not protect or serve the majority of citizens, gun owner or not. The right to bear arms comes with the personal and regulatory responsibility to control their use and protect those who cant protect themselves.
Take action please! Teach gun safety, require a license demonstrating qualification to own, require insurance and registration, and monitor ownership transfers. Enact mandatory zero tolerance penalties for non compliant possession.
Gun owner or not, we are all responsible for the care of our citizens.
9
To start, background checks are great as are a ban on military-like weapons. Other restrictions will be difficult to enact because of regional issues. Having been fishing in northern Montana and Alaska you don't leave the vehicle in many places without a 12ga with slugs and a .44 sidearm. The issues is Brown and Grizzly bears.
Background checks, insurance, safety training annually etc. I am all for that in the U.S. 400 Million guns is crazy, just crazy.
5
@Samuel
FBI data shows rifles, including assault rifles, are used in 3% of murders, but banning all rifles would not reduce murders by 3%. Killers denied rifles would handguns.
Texas' new gun laws under Abbott set the stage for their school massacre by removing all prerequisites for buying a gun, enabling this disturbed eighteen-year-old youth to freely and legally buy his weapons of choice and simply walk out the door. And if seeing children murdered in school over and over again does not change the mind set of gun companies and the politicians they own, then nothing ever will.
These are the same politicians sending condolences and prayers.
This ultimately is about money and the NRA excels in protecting the gun industry with the politicians they have in their enormous pockets filled with money. These precious children are just collateral damage. This speaks volumes to who we have become as a nation. Money talks and everything else seems meaningless.
18
@Shimar "Texas' new gun laws under Abbott set the stage for their school massacre by removing all prerequisites for buying a gun, enabling this disturbed eighteen-year-old youth to freely and legally buy his weapons of choice and simply walk out the door."
And what regulation in another state, or on this list, would have stopped his purchase?
Could we not make one of the provisions for owning guns mandatory insurance, as required for car ownership, along with licensing? Who does pay for the horrendous cost, beyond the unimaginable suffering victims and their families, of gun deaths and injuries now?
7
Rational arguments are all well and good, and Mr. Kristof makes an excellent case. But this is a highly charged emotional issue, and rationality is not part of the equation. If is was, we would have banned many guns decades ago. There is NOTHING that will change this calculus.
6
We need to face the following realities:
1. Single issue supporters of unrestricted gun rights are nearly always a more potent political force (especially in our post Citizens United and heavily gerrymandered world) than the vast majority of Americans who "generally support" reasonable gun safety legislation. Typical polling tends to miss this point.
2. "Follow the $$" means recognizing the gun industry will do whatever it takes to financially carpet bomb even the most modest gun safety initiatives.
3. Ardent gun rights advocates (and their gun industry supporters) have so far won the messaging battle by equating gun rights with Constitutional liberties and a means to "own the Libs". It's a long road to make reasonable gun safety regulation be accepted as "Pro-Life".
So what to do? Place all efforts on one single piece of federal legislation that has the unique advantage of not regulating individual gun ownership at all and so can't be labeled as an attack on 2nd Amendment rights: Repeal the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act. When the gun industry faces the same civil tort liability as Big Tobacco and Big Auto did, we will see over time a significant reduction in the Killing Fields that the USA has become.
15
I thought when I read this op-ed in 2017 that it is a well-reasoned, evidence-based, accessible essay. It's used of graphical data in support of his argument
superb.
Indeed, I used it as a reading in a writing class and walked through it with students.
It introduces a deeper understanding of the complex gun problem in America--one that many of my students had never been exposed to.
It's an excellent baseline model for approaching gun violence in the U.S.
Thanks, Mr. Kristof an the NYT.
9
I cannot prescribe medicine, but my physician can because he has been trained, tested, certified, and licensed to do so.
The same goes for tattoo artists, barbers, cosmetologists, nurses, public-school teachers, automobile owners, etc.
But gun owners not.
Those who hold the safety of others in their hands have to be trained, tested, certified, and licensed. But not gun owners.
A well-regulated militia or the military trains, tests, certifies, and licenses (on their DOD or governors' records) people who bear arms.
But anyone can buy and use a weapon that is designed to kill other people (not deer, for example) can do so without being trained, tested, certified, or licensed.
Am I the only one who sees this problem?
25
While I generally agree with the article, there is a statistical irrelevancy problem in the mid-article paragraph below "Fewer guns = fewer deaths". Number of violent criminal acts stopped by responsible gun owners is not accurately measured by the number of "justifiable homicides".
About 15 years ago at night a female stranger ran to my house for protection from her violent, very large boyfriend. Her boyfriend was chasing after her and a few hundred yards behind her. I got my stainless steel revolver out of the safe (fingerprint reading lock for fast access), turned on the porch light, and took the gun to where he could see it under the light, while my wife called 911. He stopped when he saw me, a very short guy, with a gun. And then ran off when he heard the police siren. When the police were turning onto my street, I put the gun back in the safe so as to not provoke a police over-reaction. Police then took their report and got her in touch with social services. This thankfully did not fall under the "justifiable homicide" but was an instance of a gun stopping a violent crime.
3
@Aaron : I think the owner stopped the crime. However, statistical information reveals more than the anecdotal type. Good read, though. Like hard-boiled detective pulp.
4
@Monk I am sure there are more cases than just mine, though it does not seem to be something they keep stats on.
When I moved back to the US from working for the Navy overseas, I joined the NRA as membership included their magazine and entrance to the gun show for the same price as entering the show. Then I saw they were attacking as "anti-gun" moderate Dem Virginia state legislators for proposing reasonable gun safety laws such as need to buy a trigger lock or sign an affidavit that you own a gun safe with gun purchases. I did not renew my membership.
4
@Aaron: I am positive hundreds more cases go unreported because of Domestic Violence, Replacement Frustration, Rapists, Murderers and some, I presume, who are Good People.
True, it seems "They" don't keep stats on those cases. A few bad senseless massacres make all the good, sensible massacres look bad.
I apologize for being ironic but something in your tone tells me you are not quite the moderate you claim to be.
Let's look at our history. We have had 45 previous Presidents.
Four of them were assassinated, and two were wounded by guns. That is 9 and 13 percent. Any job with those rates of fatalities and injuries would be outlawed. When you add the failed attempt's the percentage approaches 30.
Since we tolerate that level of violence to our Presidents, we will tolerate it for anyone.
As a senior citizen who lives near Newtown CT, my minimal contact was through Camera Club activities, I still have not been able to come to terms with that tragedy.
Sunday, one of my granddaughters received her Masters in Education, and about to start a teaching job.
What happened yesterday is a continuation of an ongoing nightmare.
Who are we?
15
I am a gun owner, believe in the 2nd Amendment, and agree 100% with every one of the dozen proposals listed at the end of this excellent article. I don't know a single gun owner who would have much of a problem with these proposals, either.
Most of these proposals have the right focus: keeping guns out of the hands of the wrong people - criminals, violent male spouses, the insane - rather than on banning specific gun technology which, to date, most of our gun control laws have done.
We know one thing for sure: at the next NRA convention there will be apocalyptic rhetoric about the end of the 2nd Amendment and the United States constitution itself. Think crazed right wingers in camoflauge waving "Don't Tread On Me" flags.
Please - please - don't believe these living steretypes are where most most gun owners are, or that they are not just as horrified about these endless atrocites as you are. There is a lot of common ground to work with.
15
@Livonian
Thanks for speaking up here. But can you and others like you not join the NRA and bring change from within in that organization? Or form a different organization of like minded gun owners who do lobby for common sense laws?
1
None of what is mentioned here will happen. The Republican Party is dedicated to making sure nothing changes. That's the real "blunt, damning truth"
Too many guns? Republicans want more of them.
Regulate them like autos? Republicans say no.
Public health approach? They'll filibuster.
Tighten gun laws? The Supremes will say no.
More research? They don't want no stinkin' research!
Training? Fine, but don't even think about requiring it.
The way forward? There is no way forward. Their answer is that we'll all be safer when we're all armed. Unless the Republican party is disbanded we'll have to live with death. It's what we voted for.
16
@Jonathan
Unfortunately I agree. So depressing, so hard to accept. But here we are.
@Jonathan Thank you Jonathan
fantastic contribution to public understanding. thank you, Mr. Kristoff.
3
I'm Canadian and have to admit I'm shocked to see we're in second place in terms of guns per capita and gun homicides per capita.
Having said that, the majority of guns used in homicides in Canada are illegally smuggled in from the US. We have strong restrictions on availability and access to purchasing firearms.
I agree with the ideas of background checks and banning bump stocks. Locked storage makes sense for safety, but would not significantly reduce gum crime.
However, I think a ban for under-21s would be ineffective. They'll get guns illegally or just have their parent buy for them (as in Michigan). Smart guns doesn't address the issue of conventional weapons out there in the millions.
To me, the key to controlling gun crime in the US is to control the supply. Sales only through licensed gun shops. A ban on sales through markets and yard sales. Make guns more expensive to buy and limit the number of guns an individual can buy. Have a national gun-ownership registry with makes, models and serial numbers of guns owned by each individual or household.
Ban concealed carry permits.
Some are going to argue that measures like this infringe on 2nd amendment rights.
Tough!
The people who have been killed in mass shootings had a right to free speech, liberty and happiness. Shooters violated those rights.
Shame on the GOP for not doing anything to reduce gun violence and shielding the NRA and gun manufacturers from shouldering some responsibility for this epidemic.
23
@Ron Jamieson Canada is second in guns per capita, but it's a huge gap. Not even close to the US.
Unfortunately any of your good suggestions will never happen here. Nothing will ever change.
Gun owners in America, and Republicans, with few exceptions, are willing to put up with a high gun death rate. Even the death of children is better in their minds, than laws for safer guns, stored properly; they want unlimited access to firearms with no license, background check or training.
4
Among the inexhaustible array of misdirections that assault weapons rights extremists offer is to refer to the weapon used by the killer in a particularly gruesome mass killing as a "rifle".
But of course there is an extremely deadly difference between a conventional hunting rifle used to kill a single deer an a military style semi-automatic, high capacity battlefield weapon that can kill many human beings quickly.
11
I'm not disagreeing with the main thrusts of the article, but there's something else fundamentally larger going on here that we still are not capturing, and I'll offer a bizarre anecdote to illustrate it.
In suburban/exurban Houston in the 1970s, my high school parking lot was full of urban cowboyesque pickup trucks filled to gills with guns (rifles and shotguns) fully on display on gun racks.
Nobody gave it a second thought. So plenty of guns on campus and little carnage.
I suspect the calculation now includes items that were not graphed and illustrated. Increasing mental illness, limited social mobility, increased electronic connectivity conversely leading to both social isolation and a web of conspiracy theories. It appears that men (well, let's go ahead and say it, white men) are literally going crazy, and we still haven't figured out to address the fundamental alienation and abandonment increasingly present in American society.
10
An unscientific observation to which others with more knowledge are invited to respond: in my experience, there are a lot fewer people with guns than there are guns. When we look at the sheer number of firearms in the US it contributes to our sense of hopelessness - how can we persuade so many people to buy fewer guns or even give up their guns (never). But gun owners typically own more than one gun. In fact, the gun owners that I know - and I know a lot - own lots and lots of guns. Scores of guns; they buy firearms all the time, especially if they are hunters (or survivalists). One former office colleague, since retired and an avid hunter, opened up the rear of his pickup one time and revealed, literally, a heaping pile of firearms. Probably over 100. I think there are many others out there like him. So opposition to rational gun laws might run deep among gun owners, but it's possible that the number of gun owners - or at least gun owners who oppose reasonable regulation - is low enough to be a defeatable interest group.
4
The second amendment was written way back when guns did not have the capacity to kill so many people at once. The gun lobby has been around for almost as long as the 1800's in a different way than in modern times but guns were for militias according to the wording of the second amendment and to defend their state but in some states the right to bear arms was for hunting for example. Nowadays the picture is grim, the love of guns in the country is above and beyond the love for life it seems. My question today was, let us see how many senators receive donations from the gun lobby and what are the amounts. If senators vote against legislation that is supported by the majority of the people in the country they do so usually because they are receiving money from some companies or some individuals, dark money, for example. The lobbying in this country is a legal form of bribes and nothing gets done for their constituents even when it is supported or makes sense or save lives because the money is the main motivating factor. Take money out of politics and people will start singing a different tune in government. These killings will continue, that, I know for sure.
11
This can be solved by acting monetarily. Here's my solution: Tax ammunition at 100%. Tax reloading equipment at 100%. Make it a federal crime with severe penalties to manufacture your own ammunition. Require separate liability insurance for all gun owners and tax that too. Tax it all until it becomes impossible to own a gun.
Guns are useless without ammo.
9
@BAR Why penalize (tax) the millions of Americans who own guns, use them (if at all) responsibly and safely, buy and own in accordance to all BATF regulations, and do not commit crimes (certainly not with a firearm)? Just because YOU want to make gun ownership impossible? A poor solution.
@BAR Hyperbole "impossible to own a gun" isn't helpful.
The cat is out of the bag and has been since the 1970's. The fight was lost 50 years ago. America has *400 HUNDRED MILLION* guns in circulation. This past year, American arms manufacturers shattered all previous records for output. This much is clear: people want guns.
Increasingly affordable CNC machining and 3-D printers will soon allow people to make guns at home. Anybody that is dead set on buying a gun can find one. We can try to do something symbolic like address magazine capacity or get to work on the real problem: violence. Gun violence is a but a subset of violence in general. Decrease violence and gun violence will follow. To do this, we're going to do discuss some difficult issues. The War on Drugs? I got bad news for you, but a lot of serious drug cases also have gun charges. Guns are omnipresent in the drug trade. If you're going to prosecute guns, you're going to prosecute drugs. Gang violence with very clear demographic trends? This is a thing. Poverty has become the default excuse, yet not all poor people are killing themselves at the rate of black males. It's not just poverty, it's cultural. Because that's victim-shaming, we can't talk about it. We'd rather push the narrative that the biggest threat to Black lives is the police. America needs to look in the mirror and start getting real with itself. We are churning out very angry people at a furious pace. We need to figure out why.
3
This current shooter had a speech impediment that caused him to get, for apparently a long time, bullying from others. This of course causes great pain, frustration and mental health problems. He of course was 18 years old and as noted, that age should be 21 for buying a firearm. People in high school of just out are often unstable due to normal maturation, puberty, and social problems of that age. Perhaps this current shooter might have stabilized his life with time out of high school and with help for the bullying problem. Yes, we cannot continue with doing so little. Republicans my be voted out if they keep fighting this which they are doing. Make it a major political fight in your life as I will do.
7
We live in a country in which the gunman has the right to terrorize the rest of us. One of the political parties has chosen to make him a cultural hero, emblematic of the cowboy who was pitted against "the Indian," or the colonizer against the colonized. It's time to admit we are governed by a rabid, violent minority that aspires to autocracy. The gunman is part of the scheme, to silence the rest of us.
8
This statistics about what ideas that most Americans support, from background checks, waiting periods, banning assault weapons and such show commanding percentages in favor of legislating positive changes in these areas to reduce the slaughter of innocents that happened yesterday. Many of these changes have been proposed and approved by the House, but have been blocked by the Senate. It is clear that the filibuster combined with nonsensical lobbying is why, and the common denominator for all of this is Republican senators standing in the way. If you want better gun legislation, start by voting Democratic in the upcoming election. Vote the Republicans out!
8
When I tried to adopt a rescue dog, I couldn't take her home until my extensive application had been verified and a pet facility worker had come to my home to check out its pet friendliness.
Just saying.
14
A preschooler is more likely to be killed by a gun than a cop. What flag do I put out to support the kids? What's all this talk about how precious a child's life is?
7
Meanwhile, watch how nothing changes after the Texas shooting. A country that lets at least 750,000 die needlessly, ongoing, because it wants to shop without masks and ventilation isn’t going to balk at twenty dead kids every so often.
8
This column is 5 years old.
What has changed in those five years with respect to the gun problem?
Nothing.
But, please, feel free to run this column again after the next massacre.
And the next.
But don't expect anything to change.
7
The success of the efforts to curb vehicle deaths could be extended by taking away the right of violent and criminal persons to own and operate vehicles. Nobody walks to the school carrying an assault rifle.
And absolutely none of this data will matter one whit.
No one is safe. At the supermarket. At the movies. At church. At a school. At work.
No one will read this well thought approach.
We wring our hands each time this happens.
We say "this must change" and "we must do something to prevent such easy access to guns."
We offer the usual thoughts and prayers.
Meaningless. Useless words on a screen.
When no one did anything when the babies died in Sandy Hook I knew there was no chance there change was coming.
People will stand with their guns aloft, screaming about their 2nd amendment rights.
The medical examiners are asking parents for DNA samples because those who have not been identified "may have been so severely wounded and grouped so closely together that they were difficult to identify". Think about that. Think about that parent, right now.
But it won't matter.
I hope the good Lord will find a way to forgive us. I doubt it.
6
The media could be part of the solution by refusing to include the shooter's name when describing these tragic events. It seems to me that these obviously troubled individuals are, at least in part, encouraged to go down this path by knowing that they will finally get their 15 minutes of fame. I can handle some common sense restrictions on the right to free speech as well as those restrictions on my right to bear arms as described in this article.
7
When I was in grad school studying statistics, whenever we needed an example of bad analysis, we used papers on gun crime, regardless of their political orientation. Take, for example, the study referenced in the article, comparing gun homicide rates in Connecticut and Missouri. Connecticut saw a decrease in gun homicides at a time when homicide rates were plummeting nationwide. Missouri saw an increase when national rates were flatter and more variable. Unless the local trends are differentiated from the national ones, you can't demonstrate local cause and effect.
The field as a whole has too much poor data and poor analysis, rife with political bias (if you want an example from the pro-gun side, read any study by John Lott). While I am a big supporter of gun control of exactly the kind that the author mentions here, using lousy research to make your case just gives ammunition to your opponents.
3
Make gun owners buy insurance-the insurance companies already have the infrastructure to analyze the risks and, if necessary, to deny insurance to those who are in a high risk group. While this will not remedy the scourge of illegal weapons, it will limit the amount of weapons in the public's possession.
4
When there is more than one gun for every American most of the recommendations we read about are akin to shutting the barn door after the horses are in a different county.It is time for a discussion about who, in what circumstances, should be permitted to own what type of gun. Sportsmen and hunters, those who live in relatively isolated geographies some distance away from law enforcement and those in law enforcement or security would make up 95% of the resulting "gun universe". Using an Amendment to the Constitution intended to arm newly decolonized Americans in case their ex Colonial masters return should not be the reason. In theory, the so called "originalists" on the SCOTUS should have no difficulty supporting such a position. Anyone holding their breath?
7
What are we doing to stop felons from owning guns? What are the demographics on homicides?
3
Is it a coincidence since the police have been minimized and disparaged that these mass shootings have increased? The vilification of law enforcement can't possibly be causal could it? The same people screaming for gun control laws don't want the proactive, intrusive law enforcement and aggressive prosecution that matters to protect the community. SMH
2
@CWS :"Is it a coincidence since the police have been minimized and disparaged that these mass shootings have increased?"
You're falling into the NYT trap. Firearm shootings have increased which includes mass shootings. But the former have been attributed to COVID-19 lockdowns. The former are the fault of the NRA and white folks.
@CWS
The US spends more on policing than any other developed nation yet our violent crime rates are the highest. In fact our police force would rank as the 3rd largest military force in the world. So no, there is no causal relationship.
5
@Ted :"In fact our police force would rank as the 3rd largest military force in the world. So no, there is no causal relationship."
You're comparing spending with other countries.
The question was related to the deltas and attitudes towards the police within the US.
1
The majority of American voters have already made it clear that they do not want to lower the number of firearms in this nation or make them more difficult to access. Further more restricting types of firearms is ludicrously beside the point, which is why are people driven to the extreme of this kind of violence.
So let's try another approach. Let's concentrate the reasons people take firearm in hand and use them for inappropriate violence.
School shooting are as this article says a small part of the misuse of firearms. We need to understand why society and in particular schools and in particular public schools are so clearly failing students and leaving them in a mental state where they resort to mass violence to express their concerns.
Let's also look at how these schools are failing young men and in particular white young men is such a way that they despair or become open to white nationalism and misogynistic hate groups to assuage their pain.
We should also look at why society drives older people again principally white men to commit suicide because they have lost all hope of being able cope with society.
Then we can turn to the societal reasons that young black and brown men resort to gangs, crime and ridiculous internecine violence. I have a hunch we have a good idea of the neglect that leads to this situation too.
I'm sorry none of this is simple but the inanimate tool used in this violence is still simply not the problem.
4
@Richard From Massachusetts
1- Most Americans do want some form of gun regulation.
2- As the President said yesterday, all other nations also have young men with "issues". What they don't have is mass shootings. The difference is the availability of guns.
3- Guns may be "inanimate", but their intended use is to inflict severe bodily harm or death. In the case of many modern long arms and even handguns, the weapons are designed to inflict as much harm as possible within the shortest amount of time. Thus,
these "inanimate" objects, in the hands of anyone, can and will inflict much more serious harm than a knife. Its why our military does not go to war armed with swords.
4- No one knows when a "law abiding gun owner" will become a "law breaking gun owner".
5
@Richard From Massachusetts
And the scientific correlation between the number of guns and the number of gun deaths? So large it can be ignored?
1
@Kent Karlson
@Jerseytime
Sadly you both missed (or ignored) my point about the need to address why some people pick up guns and commit crimes. These people are in extremes and there are societal reasons for this behavior.
Gun without people are lumps of steel. Society is clearly doing great damage to people to put them is a place where they think violence is an answer.
That is the crux of the problem.
The analogy to automobiles is brilliant and probably the only real way forward given the fact of the 400 million guns extant in the US. Using technology to personalize usage and eliminate pass-along users is smart. Holding gun owners personally accountable for their usage shouldn't concern any responsible gun owner and it certainly doesn't violate the "precious" 2nd Amendment.
6
Extremely informative. But . . . all the items on the list of Mr. Friedman's "public health approach" are already incorporated in the "liberal approach." The distinction between the two is a distinction without a difference, prompted by both-sides-ism. Nor is there any evidence that presenting these proposals as public health measures (especially post-Covid, with public health itself weaponized by the right) or "common sense" has any more power to persuade than the so-called "liberal approach." And despite the overwhelming evidence that large majorities of citizens are in favor of most, if not all, these measures, doesn't Mr. Friedman understand by now that elected politicians on the right serve other masters than the electorate, and that voters on the right do not vote in accord with the policies they wish to see passed? This article is strong on policy but exceptionally weak on American politics.
6
Finally, a pragmatic approach to the gun issue versus the wild eyed "solutions" and attacks of both the extreme right and the progressive left.
1
What other right do we hold so dear that we are willing to sacrifice innocent American civilian lives to preserve it? Usually we sacrifice our rights to support life. The right to bear arms might be our politicians' highest value.
5
The only political force more powerful than the gun lobby is the teacher's union. I would challenge the National Education Association to stand up and demand change. Teachers and their students are being murdered. How much more can we take? Maybe a national work stoppage with motivate people to act.
7
This should be required reading for every lawmaker in the country - particularly those in the U.S. Congress. Sadly, the divisive polarity existing in these institutions render any substantial policy change highly unlikely. One could say 'dead in the water,' but it's probably too soon. My anger is only slightly tempered by overwhelming sadness.
2
As always Nicholas's has a thoroughly researched and cogent article which offers solutions rather then the normal dismal gloom/doom articles which focus on the problem but offer no remedies, bravo to Mr. Kristof!
But i do wonder if any of these ideas would have had an effect in stopping this tragedy? Void in most gun articles is the mention of mental health and how to determine the persons mental state.
My take away from these types of events is always the mental instability of the shooter, in this case it was obvious the shooter had sever mental health issues, maybe as well as gun education/regluation/control we could also include better access to mental health resources.
1
I applaud your pragmatism, Nicholas, and I hope you'll succeed. But I fear the main problem is that Americans think they need guns to be safe, proud, brave, patriotic, or some other misguided reason. Real courage would be to say that no, under no circumstances will there be killing devices in my house, both for my family's safety, and because I don't want to leave in a society where arming up is the norm. *That* is how people in those other developed countries think. But I don't believe that a significant majority of people in this country is capable of thinking that way — at least not now, or for the foreseeable future.
3
I appreciate this research but the problem isn't we don't know how to do this. It's that we refuse to do it. So all the research in the world really won't matter without the political will. Republicans in the House and Senate have blood on their hands. We've become a deeply violent, increasingly anti-democratic state due to their so-called leadership.
13
@Ellen "We only can't because we won't" Michael J. Fox on funding Parkinson's research.
1
Mr. Kristof, just a small comment, in Switzerland, almost all males who have served in Swiss military and are in the reserves keep their official firearms at home, with one difference, no ammunition is allowed to be kept at home for those military assault rifles.
3
Unrestricted production ensures that the guns will get out there somehow. I'm not sure why we allow it, except for capitalism, greed and the fact that humans like to kill each other.
2
Excellent article - clearly demonstrates the positive impact reducing number of guns and increasing gun regulation will have on reducing gun violence.
But as long as Republican Party is wedded to gun lobby for mutual benefit (votes and election wins for Republicans - increased revenue and profit for gun manufacturers), NOTHING is going to happen.
Democrats will shout about with empty rage. Press will do breathless coverage for a few days - and then drop it to go cover the next breaking news. The whole cycle will repeat after each such massacre.
But NOTHING will be done.
7
You have to realize that our red-state Republican leaders only fear being primaried from the right. If they support any sensible gun control legislation, no matter how weak, they will be toast in their next primary race.
It is reported here that a majority of Americans support strengthening our gun laws. But when many of these people enter the voting booth, they seem to focus on immigration, CRT, election integrity, abortion, and, heaven forbid, high gas prices. That suggests that saving our children from slaughter just isn't really that important.
10
In reading these comments, and even in discussion with a coworker, it appears that far too many Americans think the periodic mass slaughter of children is "worth it" to "preserve the freedom of law abiding gun owners".
I'm sorry, but this is sick.
22
Your country's inability to do anything to regulate something that is designed to kill, in this discussion - guns is aligned with a much deeper problem - your citizens seemingly do not value a human life as much as the citizens of the countries with low gun related deaths. Most of the countries not having your gun problem also have something your's does not - social programs that elevate the sanctity of a human life e.g. universal health care, paid maternity leave, higher minimum wages, and much longer vacation time.
30
If anyone should have a personal opinion concerning access to guns for the purpose of self-defense... it's me. I was shot in a holdup attempt at the corner of Stanford and Manchester (South Central LA) on a Friday evening in April 1973. Two teenagers came up to me as I was turning to leave a pay phone located in a liquor store parking lot and demanded that I "give it up". I stupidly assumed that we were going to have a fight so I raised my fists. Instead, one of them pulled out a Saturday night special and shot me in my upper left chest. I heard a pop that sounded like a firecracker, looked down and saw a red dot. Luckily the bullet missed my heart. I didn't feel a thing. The kids ran off and people came up to me offering to help. I decided instead to drive myself to Martin Luther King Hospital. I woke up after some rather painful surgery a couple of days later with multiple tubes running in and out of me. After moving to Detroit many years later I decided that it might be wise to get a concealed carry weapon. I took the required course and got a CPL and a Glock 23. The State of Michigan requirements were ridiculous. The course was only a few hours long. I didn't feel that was adequate given the obvious significance of lethal force. I then spent thousands of dollars on additional training. It's absurdly easy for any fool to obtain the power to kill. We need rigorous background checks and serious training to obtain access to lethal force. What do we have? Gutless politicians!
9
Does the end justify the means? Maybe there are times it is the moral thing to do. The system isn't working for the majority of Americans. What to do? Is going outside the system the moral solution? Sound radical? No more radical than the murder of hundreds of school children each year.
The failure of government to protect its citizens may be justification for unusual methods to get results. The two party system is a failure. Especially when there is asymmetrical gamesmanship. One party plays by the rules of institutions; the other party says: "there are no rules."
So, we are left in quandary of what to do. What we do know is that the current methods are not working. So, how do we bail ourselves out this mess? We adopt the asymmetric party tactics. Ignore the rules. Level the playing field. Fight fire with fire. Otherwise, expect to be steamrolled over. It's time to take off the gloves.
6
The analogy to cars is appropriate except for one omission. To drive a car (legally) one needs liability insurance. Why not use the same requirement for the possession of guns. It would immediately reduce the number of guns.
21
Barely 50 percent of gunowners support a federal database on gun ownership. Why is that? My guess is there is a huge proportion of Americans, well-armed, who hate the rest of us.
10
@mmk
Many gun owners like to think they're incipient heroes of a right wing revolution. That they must have a gun for some unspecified time in the future when they and other gun owning heroes will rise up and overthrow the US government.
The periodic deaths of dozens of school kids, or the ongoing street crime deaths of inner city dwellers, is seen as "the price of freedom". "Freedom", of course, being the ability to own guns.
2
These are all great suggestions that every American should get behind - thank you for your thoughtful approach based on actual data! I did want to point out, however, that it is the press, not the "left" as you said, that continues to use the term "gun control." Organizations like Brady United and others have been referring to "gun safety" and "reduction of gun violence" for quite a while now. Time for the press to make the change as well.
11
Mr Kristof cares deeply about this and makes a compelling cause-and-effect argument between the ease of access to guns and the resulting deaths.
To me, the conclusions seem inescapable.
But still the cult of the gun rules America. Should we blame misinformation of rightwing media? I think that's a cop-out. I think that, for many Americans, life is cheap. Getting their kicks from shooting tin cans with their AR-47 means more then keeping their countrymen safe, from keeping their children safe.
By the way, I blame so-called "liberal" Hollywood, too. I like a good action movie as much as anyone, but I'm sick of cliched gun violence in movies and TV shows. It feeds the guns-are-cool myth and makes me a little nauseous, and a little bored with Hollywood's script writers.
Mr Kristof is a good man, many Americans are good people, perhaps even most. But a sizeable number of Americans are just plain crazy. My brother was one of those, with easy access to guns which ended in tragedy. Which is one of the reasons why I left America and have never considered returning.
6
The right is adamant about banning abortion but does nothing to protect and foster the children who are already here. Yearly, more children are killed by guns in the US than police officers. Covid is bad enough but enduring "representatives", Supreme Court members and private citizens who care only about their personal power is maddening and depressing. No more condolence speeches from people who do nothing to protect our citizens from gun violence. Elections are coming. Let's throw the bums out and elect people who will enact laws that reflect the majority wishes of our country.
10
This essay was excellent then and excellent now, but it avoids discussing two very important points about America and guns: why we felt the need to enshrine gun ownership in our Constitution and why (mainly) Republican politicians fail to pay a price for their inflexible and irresponsible support for unregulated gun ownership. (Hint: like most things in U.S. history, it has to do with slavery and the subjugation of our indigenous people. That's what the "regulated militias" of the 2nd Amendment were supposed to protect citizens against and they would do so with guns.) If that is in our country's DNA, it seems doubtful that we'll ever take the steps necessary to enact significant gun regulation.
7
I feel that we need to make laws that prevent people from buying guns before the age of 21. These impulsive shootings have all been done by people under 21. Sandy Hook, Columbine, Parkland, etc...Another thing that we should do is insist that to own a gun you must have liability insurance. The NRA should not object to that. It should cover wrongful shootings. They are protecting people who do not do wrongful shootings not criminals. Insurance should cover costs of funerals, and loss of income to anyone who is killed or future income if they are children, and all damages. This is only when the killing is wrongful. Otherwise, the person who kills should be liable themselves. Not just jail time, but all of their assets should be sold to pay for costs of funerals, etc.. they may not have assets. Gun dealer who sells a gun should have insurance. Also, guns should have locking device that needs owner to release or won't work. Smart locks. The NRA could even become an insurer if they wanted to make sure people could have insurance. I assume people who are bigger insurance risks will have to pay higher premiums. Some may not be insurable and will not be able to get a gun. Insurance and 21 a must for owning a gun. It would be like driving a car. Why should the standard be lower?
9
@Linda I’m not sure how gun liability insurance could exist. What company would insure a known hazard without exclusions for intentional acts?
1
This is the only country I know of where schools have regular drills for active shooters. These are SCHOOLS. There are already guards there, they are already armed. More guns are not the solution. We have more guns. We need better control of who can get one. An assault rifle (hence the AR) was designed to kill people. It is not needed for hunting.
Someone please let me know when is it the last school shooting?
How many parents have to bury their children before we stop this ?
No other country on the planet has this problem.
16
@Jenny
I've raised this issue with people.
I get even some well educated professionals saying that's because "we're free". As if other first world nations were dictatorships.
It appears to boil down to dead children being the necessary price of "freedom". Its barbaric.
3
@Jerseytime - Agree! apparently we are free to be shot down in the streets or in this sad, horrible case, in our schools. Or maybe in the subway. Or in the grocery store.
There is a right to bear arms and let us not forget the second part of the second amendment: in a well regulated militia. There is supposed to be visibility and
control. Right now, not enough of either. As other commenters have noted, the murderer couldn’t legally by a beer but he could buy a gun. Referencing another commenter: make guns as controlled as cars, as a public health issue.
How many children have to be slaughtered in order for some people to see reason?
1
This article completely skips "ghost guns" (now more than 50% of the guns used in crimes in California) where you can buy a kit online (with no checks because it technically isn't a gun yet) and with a little bit of work with a drill and a file have a gun. Doesn't matter how many felonies, or domestic abuse charges you have. None of this will accomplish anything as long as people can bypass all of the checks so easily.
4
@Erik
Your argument doesn't stand up to the facts. States with more gun regulations have less gun violence and no other wealthy country has anywhere near the level of gun violence as America because they have deliberately reduced it by legislation
3
@Erik As long as there are gun shows where anyone can buy their gun of choice anonymously, there is no real gun regulation and ghost guns are redundant.
This article completely skips "ghost guns" (now more than 50% of the guns used in crimes in California) where you can buy a kit online (with no checks because it technically isn't a gun yet) and with a little bit of work with a drill and a file have a gun. Doesn't matter how many felonies, or domestic abuse charges you have. None of this will accomplish anything as long as people can bypass all of the checks so easily.
2
Are the millions of people in this country who own and carry around guns part of the "well regulated Militia" that our Constitution proclaimed was "necessary" for our "security (as a) free State"? Perhaps in the 18th century when our Founders wrote that. Most certainly, NOT today!
Let those individuals who are hunters or others who need firearms for legitimate reasons possess them. All others should not!
7
@Sid The problem I see is that I do not know of a single state that has regulations for "well regulated Militia". Please correct me if there is one. What we have is a lot of people claiming to be Militia but they are not regulated by the State, therefor using a common sense their claim to keep arms is no valid.
1
@Max
That's because the various state military organizations have been called the National Guard for well over a century.
Use "National Guard" in your searches, you'll get plenty of information.
Help! My government cannot find the will to do anything. I feel like I am living in a "Purge" film. I would like to ask some of the more civilized nations of the world to consider imposing sanctions on the US and specific government officials who stand in the way of getting guns off American streets. This is really a human rights issue. Please, civilized nations of the world, take action!
15
@Pigsy I don't blame you Pigsy. Canadian here and as your close neighbour I'm sad and frightened about the state of your society. We're not immune here and have our own issues but I don't worry about my grandchildren being massacred at school and if my granddaughter wanted / needed an abortion no one is going to send her to jail.
I'm sorry for the many good Americans . I hope they speak up, vote up and make change.
3
We need you to remind us weekly of exactly what you are saying about gun violence and the horrible death rate caused by a firearm. It bears repeating until Congress and our Senate pass laws that follow your suggestions. We will not improve our numbers until action is taken at the Federal level. So continue your excellent opinion until such time as it "takes" with our split parties, one of which never blames the arms, just the shooter. Keep up the good work.
3
Thank you for this excellent article. There is indeed a mass of evidence based analysis that provides for the rational decision making that is so necessary to turn this situation around. How did the right to own guns become such an intrinsic, almost holy value for so many Americans? To my knowledge this is unique to the United States. How could we learn from countries who have high quality of life, democracy, freedom, etc., without all the guns and gun related deaths? Some of the countries listed in the article suffered far worse in the past from gun related deaths than they do today. We could learn from the steps taken by others to deal with this horrible situation. They have proven the situation is reversible.
4
Everyone who owns a gun is to blaime. The profits from your purchase are used to manufacture the guns used to commit the murders we read about. Guns kept in the home are overwhelming used against those who live there, not against intruders.
7
This is utterly heartbreaking and devastating. The hypocrisy of politicians who profess to be "pro life" but are against banning automatic assault rifles is beyond disgusting.
One question: Why can't insurance companies get in on this? Why aren't the insurance companies lobbying hard for incredibly strict insurance requirements for gun owners? Seriously. If we cannot convince gun owners to get rid of their military assault rifles, then they should have to pay through the nose to insure them, and the insurance companies should have to audit owners to make sure sure that guns are kept in gun lockers separate from the locker in which they keep their ammunition. In order to buy a gun you have to show proof of insurance. If you have a gun in public, you also need your insurance card, just like when you are driving your car.
This is not rocket science. It is common sense.
I agree with JK. Shame on Greg Abbott and other politicians who refuse to take action; do not dare call yourself "pro life."
16
America, a shining light on the hill for the rest of the world, gives all the freedoms any sane person wants. Some where and some time during America-nation evolution, the country took a profoundly wrong turn towards guns. The result is any one who can shoot can buy a gun, no questions asked and no morality pondered. If your house is built with bricks of nitro glycerin, do not expect your peace of mind and your welfare for the next season.
4
Abbott knows the facts, he just doesnt care.
The NRA is a money funnel from firearms manufacturers to politicians. They take a transaction fee every time.
14
@lance NRA also funnels money from donors outside the US to GOP politicians. You can bet Cruz, Abbott, and Trump benefit from those donations.
6
“That's why they call it the American Dream, because you have to be asleep to believe it.”
- George Carlin
11
When 26 little kids got gunned down at Sandyhook and our leaders did nothing, I gave up any hope that we would ever have sane gun laws in this country. The most extreme rightwingers even went so far as to deny Sandyhook happened at all, because how can you let little kids get shot and killed and do nothing? The problem is men with masculinity issues who think a gun is the solution - that includes most NRA members.
10
The numbers do NOT LIE --as the right-wing politicians do. Just look at the facts. the BLUE states with tough gun laws have FAR fewer gun homicides. FACT. GOOGLE IT!
I just did. Mass. is the safest state along with Hawaii. and the list of the safest states are ALL BLUE states with gun control.
The worst are the RED STATES of course. Where guns are easy to buy and have few if any background checks.
But we will see the same old song and dance from the republicans. we will see Tucker C. "kill the messenger" as is his only tool in such a tragedy.
we live in 2 nations. I am grateful to be a BLUE American. Texas glorifies guns as if it is 1883! What a pathetic government they have.
Why not license guns as we do for driving a car? Because our idiotic Senate is incapable of such an easy solution. check the facts before responding that gun control does not work. IT DOES.
10
Children are gunned down in the schoolyard and Gov. Greg Abbott gives a speech about "evil" and "blessings." The man's out of touch. The man's supremely out of touch.
Fact is, Abbott's borderline idolatry of gun culture and his overwhelming support of the NRA is part and parcel of the problem. You won't hear him admit it.
18
We have made airports safe. We have made entering a justice court building safe. When the school day starts, children coming to school should go through a metal detector manned by a police officer. Once the school day starts, the school is locked and there is a guard at the door who can only open the door to the school (using a code that only he and the principal know) after a person has individually one by one gone through a metal detector. If the shooter kills the guard, he can't get in the school because he doesn't know the code. It can't be that hard.
1
@Elizabeth Blackwell - Give me a break. Permanent lockdown is easily defeated by a “known” person. Plus, please read the whole article - school shootings are a small percentage of the annual carnage.
3
@Elizabeth Blackwell Unless he drives his truck through the fence. Or shoots the lock on the gate. Also, who on earth wants a school to have the same security as an airport or justice court? The only truly effective way to reduce the number of these shootings is to introduce sensible gun restrictions that make it much harder for mentally ill individuals to get their hands on weapons. It has worked in other countries. It would work here, but there is no political will to make it happen. Americans have concluded that maintaining easy access to guns is more important than preventing rare but awful events such as these.
6
@Elizabeth Blackwell All schools have many, many doors rendering such an idea ineffective. Students can also be mowed down while waiting in line at the metal detector.
1
Sadly, the last time an 18 yo shot people one of the late night talk hosts called out the salient point: how is it possible that an 18 yo is old enough to buy deadly weapons in a routine purchase BUT not old enough to buy a beer?
How does our society decide that an 18 year old is not mature and responsible enough to buy and consume a beer or other alcoholic beverages BUT they are mature and responsible enough to buy all the guns and ammo they can afford?
I like the idea of gun ownership insurance policies. I have to have car insurance to get a new tag for my car each year. Most people are required to have renters insurance to rent an apartment or house; you must buy homeowners insurance to get a mortgage to buy a home. I have to carry a million dollar liability policy to get a license to serve beer and wine in my business.
Why not include gun ownership? If you get a rider for art, jewelry, or other collectibles on your homeowners or renters policy, it's not a stretch to include a rider for your gun. Have an insurance card that must be presented (current, valid dates) in order to buy ammunition. Just as states have a minimum liability for car insurance, they could set a minimum liability for gun insurance.
No, it would not solve the problem but it sure wouldn't make it worse. Anything that might help should be considered. Thoughts and prayers just aren't doing the job.
21
@SensibleHobbit Exactly. The brain's prefrontal cortex that controls judgement does not grow in until 21.
1
And what makes our country so dangerous? Guns, especially in the hands of teen boys or young men on anti-depressants. For this type of school shooting, the profile is 100% known and predictable. I have read nothing about the shooter except that he is 18. But I can predict that:
He is an isolated boy who has been having mental problems with depression and anxiety. He recently started taking anti-depressants. He quickly went downhill. He had access to a gun. He wrote about it and someone knew. This is 100% predictable because they all follow the same pattern.
What is not widely known is that there is a neuroscientist named Dr. William Walsh who has made a comprehensive study of what triggers the brain of school shooters to go haywire. There is a simple blood test that should be given to everyone before they take antidepressants that raise dopamine. If that is too cumbersome, then certainly all teenage boys or young men who seem to be the most likely mass shooters should take the blood test before being prescribed antidepressants that raise dopamine. Every teen boy shooter has followed the same pattern.
None of this had to happen. Solutions are known. We need the Walsh specific blood tests to screen teen boys from being prescribed anti-depressants to stop this particularly horrific form of gun violence in our country. It's the very least we can do.
@Stephanie
People should know that Walsh is not an MD. He is a psychologist with his own institute, to study nutritional issues regarding depression. His profile on his own site indicates that he disfavors modern anti depressants.
This is a very controversial topic, one that many medical practitioners disagree with. To suggest that public policy be based on Walsh's studies/opinions alone is extremely premature.
4
@Stephanie
your plan will simply never work all of the time. There are ALWAYS going to be mentally ill that fall through the cracks.
The ONLY way to deal with this is to strictly limit and license guns.
All other ideas are a whitewash.
3
@Stephanie Orthomolecular medicine, the kind preached by "Dr." William Walsh is not the answer. Reasonable gun laws and gun restrictions are.
Mr. Kristof says "Abbott should look at those charts" showing more guns means more gun deaths. Get real: Republicans like Abbott don't care about facts.
12
@Bobbo
I couldn't agree with you more, and this is the fundamental problem. The modern GOP not only ignores empirical evidence, it has complete disdain for it, which only emboldens more crazy.
Winston Churchill once said "you can always count on the Americans to do the right thing after they have tried everything else." History has show that he was being far too charitable.
5
There are two graphs in the article - one shows murders at 3.4 per 100,000, but total gun deaths at 10.5 per 100,000. What is the difference? Are the additional 7 from other causes like suicides and accidents?
1
@Jamie Viceconte
Not all deaths are murders. With guns, many are accidental.
1
Shame on all the politicians who refuse to pass restrictive gun laws. And shame on all the citizens who believe it’s their right to carry guns. And shame on all of them who think it’s fine to take away a woman’s right to an abortion. I say, take away the guns, restore a woman’s right. We live in such a hypocritical world it makes me angry and sad. It’s pathetic.
14
From the NYT: "An hour after the market opening, Smith & Wesson was up nearly 10 percent, Sturm Ruger rose about 4 percent and Vista Outdoor gained more than 8 percent." Greed and guns.
15
It pains me to ask this, but let's have the "open and honest dialogue" about the senseless gun violence in this country.
What would the Congressional response be if the American family dog was the intended target for mass shooters?
Innocent children at school is one thing and our "thoughts and prayers" go out to the families.. What if Queeny, Prince, Duke, Buddy and Daisy were routinely mowed down at dog parks? I have a sick feeling that's when the bi-partisan political wheels would start spinning in overdrive. This is a gross assumption to make but something tells me I'm right, and I'm not happy about it at all.
5
This article makes many good points and proposes may possible measures to address gun violence.
But I must admit the statistics stopped me in my tracks. Not because of the staggering numbers. Americans love their guns! Rather I found the choices for presenting the data odd. The numbers are interesting in each table and somewhat instructive. But the charts seem to be meant to interact with each other, but they don't The the bases for comparison for the ownership rates (per 100) and for gun deaths (per 1000) do not make for ready interpretation (apple slices to orange wedges). If all guns are equal (they are not) the death rate is infinitesimally small ON A PER GUN BASIS, for all countries including the US.
The fact is a solution for Connecticut isn't necessarily a solution for Wyoming. Until those differences are appreciated and addressed in policy messaging, progress cannot be made. Everyone is talking past each other.
One starling graphic suggests that the solution may lie elsewhere is the graphic of gun deaths by suicide. We must address the mental health crisis if we are going to make any progress on preventing preventable deaths.
1
The continuing Congressional inaction to enact stronger gun laws makes a mockery of the children and teachers killed in Uvalde, the citizens killed in Buffalo, all the victims killed everywhere. The families of victims don't need official "sympathy," they need action. Republicans should "man up" and act to prevent these continuing thousands of gun-deaths—murders—in our country. Why must the country be condemned to live in thrall to the twisted, corrupt relationship between the NRA and Republican Senators and Congresspeople?
7
Can part of Alex Jones' sentence be to meet with the parents of the most recent school shooting? Seriously. It might be instructive to publish the dialogue. It could backfire and give him strength, or, in Court it could be argued he has repented. But the dialogue would be a part of history as is the rest of this hot mess.
2
I believe nothing will be done until the Supreme Court revisits the Heller decision and rules that individual gun ownership means guns used only in the defense of the home and kept in the home. Guns found outside of the home should be subject to confiscation and prosecution . The ability to carry a gun outside the home could be coupled with a legal hunting license. BTW, I am a gun owner and would welcome the above limitation.
19
I'm not a lawyer but I believe that a person is responsible for a misfortune if they could have taken reasonable steps to prevent it. This is obviously the case with gun violence in the States. No other wealthy country on earth has anywhere near these problems. And that is because there are proven legislative actions that can be taken.
It should be noted that government research into gun violence isn't banned but rather government funded advocacy of gun control is banned. But in effect research is banned because it clearly proves the efficacy of reasonable gun control.
'Liberals' have to get over their social reticence and loudly denounce the dishonesty and depravity of republican leaders and voters at every opportunity. The probability is that Republicans will retake congress, the senate and the presidency by 2024. How on earth is this possible? Frankly I wouldn't care except that the US continues to have enormous influence on the world and even more so on my country
10
Get rid of the guns and less people will be killed. It’s that simple. Having guns everywhere makes everyone less safe, and this is backed by statistics as well as the examples of how laws in other countries affect their gun deaths (and deaths in general). Most people I know who own guns do so because it makes them feel better. It also makes them and those around them much more likely to be a victim of gun violence. Having guns everywhere makes the police much more likely to use their guns, yet I haven’t seen a single police union support a politician who advocates the banning of guns. Why? Because the police feel better when they own guns in their personal lives. Sure it makes their jobs more dangerous, but it makes them feel good, so that’s what overrides the safety issues. Stop making people feel good and pass laws that make people safe. The idea that having more guns makes society safer is complete lunacy, yet many politicians from a major political organization advocate exactly that. They know it’s false, but they also know that people vote based on how they feel, and guns make them feel good. Again, stop passing laws that make people feel good but actually make life more dangerous. The evidence is overwhelming. Ban the guns.
17
@JusticeForAll
More guns is not the answer. If it was, given that there are more guns than people in the US, our nation should by this time be gun violence free.
1
I am a lifelong gun owner and I agree with everything this article said. I have long been shocked and dismayed by the polarized reactions of our poliytical class that prevents any of these commonsense safety measures from being implemented. It is equally as demented for liberals to attempt to ban guns as it is for conservatives to remove all restrictions on their use. Guns are simply a mechanical device that must be designed and used safely, or injury and death will follow. This is a public health issue and not a political issue.
But the concept of the common good has itself been turned into a wedge issue. It is often framed as individual rights against the common good and individual rights have been given priority. As if there are any individual rights at all without the laws that create the common welfare of society. We all live together, and our safety depends first, last, and always on the people around us and not on our everyday carry piece. We need to care about our neighbors and work to make them safe instead of caring only about ourselves and the imaginary intruder that may come in the night.
And if it is a competition between the lives of school children or gun rights, then I come down on the side of the children. If you don't then you are the problem.
43
@Bobotheclown Why is it “demented” to advocate for the banning of guns? There are many countries where guns are banned. Those countries also have much lower rates of homicide and drastically less gun deaths. Is everyone in those countries “demented”?
8
@RS
USA, USA, USA. We're number one: In violence against its own people.
It's time we admit, we are a violent people. Don't believe me, just look at the stats in this article. it began with "Manifest Destiny" and continues today. Americans love guns. You know, the way we conquered the 'wild west". With history like that what could you expect? The great American Individualism is root cause.
I'm tired of death. We should all be.
3
The Supreme Court, among many institutions in our federal and state governments are to blame for the UNRegulated and rampant gun proliferation in the US, especially when the 2nd amendment has been severely distorted as to be ignored:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.
The states and the federal government are liable in their dereliction of duty by ignoring the first 4 words of this amendment.
It can certainly be proven that there has been very little Regulating and very little Militia in respect to arms and the populace.
10
Back then our country didn’t have a significant military, and yes, defense of the nation was largely left to state level militias. How is that relevant today? Would anyone seriously argue that state level militias are necessary because our federal military isn’t sufficient? You’ve got to be kidding me.
5
@JusticeForAll
Kids in school were again killed by assault weapons. This occurs in no other wealthy country. This makes America freer?
1
@JusticeForAll we do not live in 1776. and owning guns will do NOTHING to prevent a modern army from taking over your town.
in 2022 (the year I live in)--guns will not keep us safe from drones and tanks. this fantasy of yours is obsolete.
Soon we will have "hummingbird drones" that will make guns useless in combat.
It's simple. There are too many guns circulating in our country. People with a grudge of any kind can easily get a gun and go shoot people to death. A lot of people who do that, do not care if they die in the attempt. Sensible gun laws would reduce the carnage.
The Republican political response is ridiculous (i.e., give guns to teachers), and they know it. They are willing to trade people's lives for their political macho prowess. And they know it.
They are meeting in rooms right now, figuring out how to frame the Uvalde tragedy so that it doesn't affect their chances of being elected. They make possible every one of the deaths that has resulted from these mass shootings. They cannot possibly be unaware of the terrible pain caused by the deaths of children, their parents and their grandparents - and all who knew the victims. And these politicians don't seem to care. Will nothing get through to them?
13
The entire "pro-life" conversation is nothing more than complete nonsense given the inability to even have a common sense conversation about the proliferation of any type of gun a person wants to carry anywhere.
14
My guess is that a clear majority of Americans do not read the NY Times and access such thoughtful articles as Mr Kristof's "How to Reduce Shootings". (Within this majority, there has to be who do not want any restriction on gun control.) It would be a miracle if Fox News spent any time suggesting its listeners to read this particular article.
Mr Kristof's biggest challenge is to seek an invitation to speak on a "Right-Wing" news channel. Perhaps Oprah should invite him!
6
This quote says it all:
"“You don’t have to say, when you’re looking for a permit to speak on a street corner or whatever, that, you know, your speech is particularly important,” Chief Justice John G. Roberts said. “So why do you have to show in this case, convince somebody, that you’re entitled to exercise your Second Amendment right?”
Because, John Roberts, guns kill and kill and kill again. Or haven't you read the newspapers lately? How come, once again, these passionate defenders of "originalism" manage to totally ignore the elephant in the room of the Second Amendment; the existence of a clause that demands a "well-regulated militia".
11
@Frank Casa
And, Roberts completed missed the fact that in order to stage a protest, most municipalities insist your get a permit first.
1
It's not just the weapons, it is in fact the murderers, specifically young males (mostly white). If young women were killing children in classrooms, you can bet there would be new restrictions on their rights. Young males with mental health issues is the real public health threat that desperately needs to be addressed.
3
And Republican Ted Cruz has already appeared shrugging his shoulders for the cameras. I guess from his perspective a certain recurring number of young casualties is unavoidable for the continuance of our "freedom."
Make sense to you? Remember this lackluster Republican response to the senseless murder of our children the next time you vote.
11
@Sally That's how he keeps getting elected. The gun advocates agree with him.
3
To hold all gun violence enablers accountable, target where it hurts them the most - money. These enablers should be required to fund a restitution trust fund on behalf of victims, survivors, families, and all those who are indirectly affected by gun violence. Group 1: gun and ammunition manufacturers, dealers, and sellers. Group 2: public figures – politicians, judges, justices, organizations, lobbyists, media personnel. Annual funding: Group 1 - specific % of total proceeds; Group 2 - specific $ amounts. Case funding: Group 1 - 50% of sales proceeds of gun(s) and ammunitions used for each shooting; Group 2: politicians – 200% of amounts received from lobbyists in the 12-month preceding the shooting; lobbyists – 200% of amount spent on lobbying for gun violence in the 12-month preceding the shooting; all others in Group 2: specific % of renumerations, membership fees, donations, etc. No taxable deductions. A trust fund should be managed and operated by professionals in various areas and have a board consisting of survivors, family members, psychologists and other professionals. Trust funds will partially be used for gun control lobbying. Parents/other adult caretakers – imprisonment for involuntary manslaughter and/or assault; must surrender all firearms in possession. US Military – must keep accurate inventories for weapons.
4
another week, another mass shooting. more meaningless thoughts and prayers. these moments of silence from the republican party are telling and the silence is deafening.
7
Gun deaths are the taxes paid for the Second Amendment. For most countries, guns 'are' the problem, in the US they're still seen as a solution.
An addict knows they're destroying their life, but it's not reason enough to stop. America knows, tens of thousands of lives are destroyed by guns in the wrong hands, but that again is not reason enough to stop.
America can't change, it's a gun junkie.
5
@NewMessage RED USA you mean. In BLUE USA-- MA. has the toughest gun laws and has by far the fewest gun homicides. google it. 2 per 100,000. the deep south? over 20. that's 10 times more gun homicides than in the NE. we live in 2 nations. I'm grateful to live in Blue usa. of course, Abbot uses Chicago --as all right wingnuts do--to make his point. But I just looked it up and he is lying. Chicago does not have more gun homicides "in a weekend" than this massacre. he should know the facts before he lies to his fellow Texans.
4
@jack sherman Also they always bring up Chicagos tough gun laws but neglect to mention that the majority of guns used in crimes there come from Indiana which is a half hour drive away, and has very lax gun laws.
2
Get the money out of politics now.
9
I am a victim of violence. The crime perpetrated on my person was for revenge - I called the police frequently about crime on the street I lived on in Oakland, California, and for a small amount of money.
There is so much about the attack and the aftermath that is not relevant here, but what I will report is that the reaction of people to my having experienced nearly being killed and left for dead on the street, is to
1) get a gun
2) take self defense classes
As the victim, I was blamed for having been attacked by as many as twenty people.
So, my point, people see guns and the use of guns as a solution to violence in their communities. And to that observation, I reflect often, "What if I had had a gun on me at the time I was attacked? Would I have survived? What would be the consequence? "
And my inner self responds, it would have been a catastrophe. Doubtlessly, the assailants would have taken my gun and shot me dead. Or if I had to have used the gun, in time, to turn around and shoot three men in less than two seconds, I would not succeed, and my partial lack of success and or success in killing the men who were attempting to kill/rob me, would land me in jail.
A woman in Sacramento was murdered by a man who gained access into her house, despite her dog less than a year ago.- the man had been released from jail ( on a temporary hold) had a large
gang tattoo across his midriff. He shot her dog and then her. A gun with a bullet might have saved her.
3
@Cert A gun with a bullet is literally what killed her. Get rid of the guns and that problem goes away. Of course someone can still kill without a gun, but it’s much harder and takes a lot more dedication.
3
@Cert
A old friend of mine's dad was a member of the 6th precinct in NYC in the late 70s. A time of a fair amount of street crime.
At that time, our group of friends were starting to travel to the city to bar hop. The dad took us aside to give us some advice.
Part of the advice was to point out that the incidence of severe injury or death for victims went way up when the victim tried to pull a gun on the perp. The reason is simple, and can be seen in most old westerns- The perp has their weapon out first.
I am sorry that you and your friend have been victims of crime. But its highly problematical if the crimes could have been prevented if you had guns. Instead of surviving, you might both be dead.
2
The chart ranking states and their gun laws reveals that states with higher quality of life, states with higher incomes and better education opportunities, have lower rates of gun violence. I don't own a gun, don't want one in my home, never have never will. But it's clear to see that what we can do is improve the quality of life for our citizens.
Watched a piece of the presser in TX, they are promoting mental health counseling for the citizens of Uvalde. Really? Apparently these folks have never tried to get counseling in Texas. Maybe the NRA could help them find the resources needed. I hear they're coming in to party in Houston this weekend.
I think it's doubtful that our reps in DC or TX will enact any meaningful changes in gun ownership requirements. But, could they at least stop making education and our teachers the enemy in their dystopian drama? It's really wearing thin.
7
Agree with the points of the article and methods to reduce gun violence. However, the framing of the left vs. right approach is so disingenuous and in such bad faith that it makes my blood boil.
Claiming that "the liberal approach is ineffective" completely absolves Republicans from the fact that their approach consists entirely of "do absolutely nothing". In the comparison between Connecticut and Missouri, there is no mention of the composition of the legislatures that enacted the laws which did prove to be effective.
Remarking that "Abbott apparently believes, along with the N.R.A., that more guns make a society more safe, but statistics dispute that. Abbott should look at those charts" is a laughably charitable interpretation of Republican's attitudes toward gun violence. They know that premise not to be true, but feign ignorance to it at the behest of the NRA.
Hiding behind a rhetoric of neutrality while refusing to acknowledge the complicity of one side in this matter is reprehensible. And in this forum, you are preaching to the choir. A choir that is fed up with the complete and utter resistance from Republicans toward common sense "gun safety" measures
5
Excellent article and of course timely. It's unimaginable that the US is incapable of removing and keeping assault rifles from public possession. It's also unbelievable that an individual can buy a weapon at the age of 18. These two things as well as mandatory background checks are a basic necessity as we can all see.
There isn't as much we can do about mental illness as one can look fairly "normal" and then be crazy.
The US is not in the top 10 countries for homicides or the top 20 for that matter. However we are or should be better than this in our gun safety. One of the most salient points in the article is the one about how counterproductive the liberal rants and mantra for "gun control" are. This too needs to stop.
1
@DED
Are the top 10 homicide countries in the third world?
Comparing the US favorably to third world nations means our goal is not to be like other first world nations in such statistics. Which is sad.
3
Clearly these children were deprived of their fifth and fourteenth amendment rights. When the second amendment was written in 1791 they had a different idea of "Gun". Firearms of the day were muskets and flintlock pistols. They could hold a single round at a time, and a skilled shooter could hope to get off three or possibly four rounds in a minute of firing.
4
@Thomas if that is the case, then your freedom of speech is limited to verbal & quill/parchment paper. They could most certainly envision constant enhancements in weaponry, but couldnt have possibly foreseen the internet.
Even if you could somehow ban all 400,000,000 guns that exist in the country, all you do create more criminals out of good people, me being one of them. Worse yet, you create a lot more victims because bad guys wont turn in their guns. Government only knows where about 25% of the guns are. As long as (bad guys, gangs, cartels, etc) have guns, I wont give mine up.
There are well over 5000 enforced gun laws already on the books. Every time they pass another one, it's the magical law that will stop all gun crime, then it doesnt. Creating more laws, even banning guns, wont solve the problem. Would probably make it worse.
Take this law for example.... Gun Free Zones, such as schools. Only the good guy will abide and leave his gun at home. As you can see, bad guys dont. The magical "No Guns Allowed" signs failed to do their duty.
1
@Robert
The 2nd paragraph, and the essence of your argument, simply isn't true. The truth is that more gun regulation leads to less gun violence. As shown in the article and as shown by the fact that no other wealthy country has anywhere near the amount of gun violence as the States. And that is because they have reasonable gun control
6
@Robert "Would probably make it worse" he says with absolutely zero statistical backup, and in the face of an entire article and trove of data suggesting otherwise.
There was an armed school resource officer at the school yesterday and at Parkland, for that matter. Complete strawman, try again.
The goal is not to "criminalize" legal gun owners, it's to more effectively regulate access to guns. To create more responsible gun owners and improve overall gun safety. Just because these measures will not be a total panacea doesn't make them not worth trying.
Ask yourself why Republicans oppose even the most common sense gun control measures, those which the majority of Americans agree with. And then consider if you still want to blindly repeat NRA talking points.
6
Compassion - that's what is lacking among the lawmakers who keep on witnessing these tragedies.
And compassion is also something that's lacking among people who elect such lawmakers.
8
The gun is the weapon this time, it was masks weeks ago.
The truth about "us" is that there is no "us", only "I" and what "I" want. It is more important that "I" keep my guns than have the introspective, soul searching discussion about what is best for "us". And that what is best "us" might call for a slight sacrifice. Sacrifice of your semi automatic weapons but you can keep all of the others, sacrifice of manufacturer profits. We on the other side can sacrifice the idea that we will never be a nation without guns and that gun ownership is viewed and valued as a "unalienable"right. (I don't agree but I could compromise).
Mateship - a collective caring about the community" is how Australia was successful post their shooting, And honestly is how they have moved through COVID with a dramatically lower per capita death rate than ours (7,500 per 26m to 1m to 350m). They may not always agree with it but the collective is far more endemic to their culture than the I.
The "Greatest Generation" made incredible sacrifices. We, when asked, cannot, will not, stomp feet and simply refuse to make the smallest sacrifice. Our leaders cannot find their way around the money or the fear that the "we onlys" we vote them out if they had the true courage to ask for that sacrifice.
The only sacrifice the "I" is willing to make is someone else's children and loved ones.
9
The police were notified about a crashed car and a man with a rifle running toward the school. They responded, engaged the man and were wounded, after which the man was able to enter the school.
2
I appreciate all the tables and work that went into this article but why is there no statistic on the gender of guns owners responsible for deaths and injuries?. No one ever addresses this as a masculine problem- is everyone blind? This has to be taken into account when we address this as a societal problem and look for solutions.
10
Please anyone who reads this, do not let the Republicans start trying to steer the topic away towards mental health and away from gun control. There's no magic cure for mental health issues in a society of millions of people. Were never going to just lock troubled teens up for the rest of their lives for displaying red flags.
There is a solution for unrestricted access to firearms across the country. Other countries have done this and it clearly works. Less guns = less gun deaths, don't let anyone tell you different.
18
@Fjdjd: The suspect had no mental health record and no record of criminal activity. The only available information prior to the massacre was his posting(s) on social media.
I just heard that on NPR but I don't think they're fake facts.
2
There are several things that can be done without any infringement of 2nd Amendment rights. First, require that anyone with a gun have liability insurance to cover its harmful use. We do it with cars and we can do it with guns. You'd have to show proof of insurance to buy a gun or ammo. Second, states could actually form WELL REGULATED militias. And if you wanted to own a semi-automatic rifle you had to join the militia and keep your gun at their armory.
Mass shootings are only a tiny part of the problem, but with no change in laws what if whenever someone purchased body armor the the local police were tipped off.
12
@Brent Meeker you dont understand the terminology. "Well Regulated" doesnt mean what you think it does (government regulations). Back then it meant "Well Maintained". Then it goes on to say the right of the "people" to keep & bear arms.... in other words, well armed people = well armed militia since a militia is a citizen military. Since it says "Keep & Bear", then requiring my guns to remain in a militia armory is indeed and infringement.
While it wouldnt stop criminals looking for easy enrichments by taking from those who have worked hard for what they have.... your idea would certainly reduce suicides in moments of misery, or murders in sudden bouts of anger. It would cut gun deaths in half.
Also, having or driving a car is not a Constitutional Right. As such, government can add whatever regulations it thinks it can get away with.
@Brent Meeker Sir, you are right on target, so to speak. Those who wish to own guns must take responsibility for use of the weapon; thus market-priced liability insurance. This significant expense would certainly reduce teen gun ownership. If the gun owner were liable civilly and criminally for any use of the weapon, owners might be more careful about securing the piece. Similarly, if the gun manufacturers had liability, they too would require owners to compensate them for the liability exposure.
I don't understand how the "well regulated militia" clause is always selectively ignored in discussing 2nd amendment rights; your comment in this regard is exactly on point.
Lastly, the constitution says nothing about ammunition. Purchases could be registered, with an identifying mark on every shell, so that the use of given ammunition falls under the liability of the purchaser.
None of these infringe on arms rights. Meanwhile, the left continues to wring their hands, wail and posture, the right continues to deny, deny, deny, all in order to garner votes from their respective followers while accomplishing nothing.
1
@Robert - Thanks for saving me the trouble of accessing the NRA website.
This problem is more complicated than most will admit.
While I can't argue with the statistics presented in this article, or the desire to regulate who has access to guns, I can't help but feel that our biggest enemy is the "I" mentality of so many Americans instead of the "we" mentality. Whether it's packing heat or refusing to get vaccinated, there is a selfish mindset in our country that prioritizes individual "rights" over community "responsibility." Couple that with our dismal handling of mental illness and social dysfunction and we have a formula for violence.
If guns weren't so easily available, would the unstable find another means to express their anti-social tendencies? Or would they abstain from violence? How many shooters have been whipped into a frenzy by far-right agitators? What are the effects of poverty or social disaffection on these shooters?
I wish I knew what would stem the tide of violence and hatred that seems to permeate our society, but I'm not convinced that gun control alone will ameliorate the situation. We need to take a long, hard look in the mirror.
14
@Bill McGrath I think you are right on target. Horrifying incidents like these shootings are a result of social problems in America. It's a matter of how much compassion and caring exist in communities across the United States.
2
@Bill McGrath
Insightful but not helpful.
@Bill McGrath I could not agree more.
I'd like to add a point that's always missed in these articles. Reporting the number of CASUALTIES is as important as reporting the shocking number killed in any incident. Each of us is more likely to BE a casualty than one of the killed since there are so many more who are shot but survive.
The NYT Morning article "Dozens, every day" and all articles like it on the topic always focus on the number killed. However, there is a much greater tragedy that gets shoved under the rug with this narrow focus. Please, Please, Please, also report on the total number of CASUALTIES as well. It only adds a few characters to the story but so much more realism and impact by including the number of victims who were shot but survived. That is a very real number.
From the Las Vegas shooting as example, "he fired more than 1,000 bullets, killing 60 people and wounding 411 with the ensuing panic bringing the number of injured to 867." (@Wikipedia)
This information conveys so much more horror than the horrific unfortunate 60 killed. All 867 of those others will likely be scarred (and scared) for the rest of their lives. And people can identify with that (each of us is a potential victim).
News reports should include the number of casualties as well as killings in any stories about shootings.
14
@JohnW this is a very good point. I would like to see the numbers of injured included in all reports and discussions. Of course the casualties go beyond those with physical injuries. PTSD among witnesses and the grief of family members of the wounded or dead. The pain is amplified. Why as a society we can not get a handle on this amazes me. We the majority are currently being held hostage by the US Senate. Time to call in the calvary and send in the Marines. VOTE BLUE. Hold our Senators and Representatives at the federal and state levels accountable.
6
A few years ago I listened to a podcast about the NRA. I listened in the spirit of "keep your friends close and your enemies closer"; describing myself as anti gun is putting it
mildly.
Imagine my surprise to learn (at that time) the NRA had 5 million members. That's it!
How has such a small percentage of our population been allowed to have such a stranglehold on gun policy?
12
@planetmom
Money and lobbyists, to start. People who want to get elected in certain areas of the country, and a court that misreads the Constitution.
6
@planetmom Newsflash. Most gun owners don't care for the NRA and are not members... unless you think 5 million people each own 80 guns.
1
@planetmom Because you're not talking about just the NRA, you're also talking about Smith & Wesson, Sturm, Ruger & Co., Remington, Mossberg, Sig Sauer, and the other 12,555 gun manufacturers we have here. They are all in cahoots for the profits. And your elected officials line their pockets, while people are gunned down.
Comparing automobile deaths to firearms deaths is disingenuous. Automobiles are not designed to kill, whereas that is the entire purpose of guns. I am so very tired of this comparison.
12
@Julie It is not a comparison, but an approach to some regulation. AT LEAST regulate firearms the same (if not more strongly) than cars. That is the point.
8
@Julie But cars still kill so the comparison is apt. The idea is that cars have been regulated to be less of killing machines than they otherwise could've been.
1
Women and children are not safe from gun activists and the politicians in their pockets. In fact, no one is safe is this country as long as people are allowed to let a gun speak for them.
12
Right on! This article should be required reading for all mwembers of House & Senate.. This is a practical approach that should convince sensible people.
9
Hey Gov. Abbott...nice pro-life state you have there!!!
30
Who cares?
I ask this because if as a country, we could do nothing after Sandy Hook, why on earth would we be able to do something now? This isn't about Republicans - their attitude is unchanged. It's the selfishness of the majority of our country that votes Republicans into office. My mother-in-law is the perfect explanation for our stasis on this issue. She's sickened by this and wants gun control, but refuses to vote for anyone other than a Republican. Go figure.
35
@Citizen
Except that it's not always a majority that is voting Republicans into office. The Republicans have only won the popular vote in presidential elections (Bush in 2004) once since 1988. That's part of the problem.
In Pennsylvania, Democrats have constituted at least half (usually more) of registered voters for decades, yet Republicans, thanks to effective gerrymandering and occasional Democratic apathy, have dominated the legislature for the past 30 years.
It's fine to protect the rights of minority opinion, but minority rule over a period of may years can definitely have negative consequences.
9
If I had school aged children today, I would not enroll them in school. As a mother, my first duty is to keep my children alive.
12
let Americans keep their guns... just be sure to have a mandatory 40% tax on the price - including ammunition.
is there a law preventing taxes from being levied?
also, how is the NRA so powerful? I thought they were bankrupt?
18
@George the NRA helps people get elected and the elected officials protect them; rinse,repeat
9
I really like the analogy to car safety.
Let’s get to work on incremental solutions and track their results. Searching for the perfect shouldn’t preclude implementing the good.
8
Cry havoc. The scenes of slaughter should be broadcast on every channel. We should warn the families to not turn their televisions on for the week that this broadcast is aired. Every day, every hour until everyone has the horror of it seared into their brains and rises up to say "no more".
8
My Kristof mentions that there is a shocking lack of data. There's a reason - for 25 years until 2018 (funding actually delivered in 2020) the CDC was functionally prevented from treating gun violence as a public health issue.
Technically the 1996 Dickey Amendment to congressional funding bills said no federal money could be used to advocate for gun control, however the practical outcome was that because data on gun violence would almost certainly lead to recommendations to limit gun availability, ownership or other controls, then the CDC wasn't allowed to gather data.
Conservatives made learning about the problem illegal, because they feared they wouldn't like the solution that the data led to.
18
Speaking as a liberal gay man, I will say this:
Meaningful gun control will not happen in the United States until it is as much of a litmus test issue for the left as it is for the right. Because so long as a candidate says the right things on economic justice, reproductive rights, and/or LGBTQ rights, we are far too willing to overlook their shortcomings on gun control.
10
This keeps happening because of the NRA and their soulless puppets in the Republican party. Republicans and the NRA love guns more than murdered children.
21
@Dominic
Wonder if Republicans would feel differently if their offspring were the victims of such assault? Example: VP Cheney and Sen Portman were anti gay until they had a gay in their family. One a daughter, the other a son. Is that proof that until you walk in the shoes of the other, views change? God forbid a future event results in the loss of a Republican offspring. That would be horrible. And I wouldn't wish that on any parent.
I guess we'd hear about thoughts and prayers? Or would we hear something different?
Naaaaah, the NRA would just up the blood money they send to Republicans. Book it! This is the 2nd amendment for god's sake!
This is a great article spelling out what can be done and should be feasible even in the USA of today! I would hope that even more is possible like getting the rapid fire guns and mega ammunition restricted which certainly would also help to reduce the number of victims in situations like what happened again now. But even if that is not on the cards, please do anything possible to just lower the number of dead by guns. The US is still a place so many look up to and it has many great things alongside some real challenges like all do. But as this article points out it is very unique in its problem with gun deads, which is especially striking when seeing it compared to where close partners like the UK and Australia are. So please find common ground to get something done on this!
3
This is a great article spelling out what can be done and should be feasible even in the USA of today! I would hope that even more is possible like getting the rapid fire guns and mega ammunition restricted which certainly would also help to reduce the number of victims in situations like what happened again now. But even if that is not on the cards, please do anything possible to just lower the number of dead by guns. The US is still a place so many look up to and it has many great things alongside some real challenges like all do. But as this article points out it is very unique in its problem with gun deads, which is especially striking when seeing it compared to where close partners like the UK and Australia are. So please find common ground to get something done on this!
2
How to reduce shootings? Putting gun criminals in jail and holding them accountable would be a good start. Recently a youth convicted of two armed car jacking was given the revolving door treatment by the social justice warriors in Chicago. Guess what? He allegedly got another gun and an innocent little girl paid with her life. And the list can go on.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/crime/2022/1/27/22904678/melissa-ortega-bail-emilio-corripio-xavier-guzman-little-village-shooting
3
@B W
And now some gun advocates would love to see nationwide and permitless open carry as some states already have instituted. I'm sure it would be a thrilling experience as a cop in Chicago or any other large city to walk up to a group of gang bangers openly and legally carrying firearms.
2
I support Nicholas Kristof's ideas.
8
Who cares what we call it. Republicans will never allow this country to reduce the ownership or availability of guns. Full stop. Also, based on the republican response to CIVID-19, they don't care about public health.
16
The facts won't change and the people voting for the politicians won't change. I would ask people of faith, what does god have to say about this? I know people have been shooting each other for centuries, but those events were at least adult conflicts. But kids in grade school? I wonder if those thoughts and prayers are going to the wrong address?
4
Great display of the data. How about something to connect it to names of representatives who are up for election in November. Below the graph of gun deaths versus gun law strength have some illustration of WHO voted to strengthen or weaken guns laws and is up for election in November. Whenever, wherever you can name names. Make our representatives responsible for the results of their actions!
10
Given how divisive the public health arguments were during the COVID-19 pandemic I'm unsure that the public health argument will be more successful for this gun violence epidemic. There seems a large part of the population who unless directly personally impacted will not consider change.
4
I think lots of people don't understand that to some gun owners, this is just the price to be paid for having their choice of guns and nothing's going to change that.
8
@Carlton but they’re not the ones paying the price.
2
@Tanya
Which makes the choice even easier.
5
"The Second Amendment is one constraint, and so is our polarized political system..."
Both those miss the point. There is only 1 obstacle to action on gun safety - the GOP.
15
@rls - That is not totally accurate. The Dems could eliminate the filibuster today and pass gun safety laws but Manchin is opposed to that.
Back in 2008, the Dems were given the Oval Office, the House, and the Senate campaigning to stop the war in Afghanistan but they did not such thing. Instead, the Democratic government made record weapons sales and go down in history as being at war longer than any other in our history. The Dems just talk on the campaign trail but once in office they don't do anything, either.
7
The terminology you should use instead of gun control is not gun safety or reducing gun violence, but "gun care."
@Art Perhaps a campaign framed as "Every bullet is precious" would sway the folks who don't seem to care about the actual lives being lost?
3
It's almost 10 years since Sandy Hook. Not a lot has been done about gun laws since then, but as an intelligent and educated parent I gladly pay an additional $100 annual fee to fund 1-2 armed full-time security personnel at every one of the 4 private religious schools my children attend. Common sense is not easily found among politicians and those who run the public schools systems; probably not worth saving a few bucks to protect our children.
1
@ERA
Turns out that in Texas, the armed resource officer was unable to stop yesterday’s shooter because of his body armor. A tactical team was called in and finally took him down. Not sure your security personnel will be able to do the job.
9
@ERA I would, too. The irony of having to have armed guards at our schools in a supposedly civilized country does not escape me, though.
7
@ERA
Having security is logical, although it's horrendous that such measures are necessary in a so-called civilized country. And even that is no guarantee of success.
The shooter in the recent incident at the Buffalo grocery story killed the security guard, whose shots didn't penetrate the shooter's body armor, and apparently a guard in the Texas school was unable to stop that shooter. Unless security is in exactly the right place at the right time, someone with a semiautomatic weapon can shoot many people before help arrives.
And if guards are inside the building, there is absolutely nothing stopping some creep from shooting kids on their way to school or out on a playground. The Buffalo shooter shot several people in the parking lot before entering the store.
2
Have Gov. Abbott explain to the people whose children are dead why it's still OK for the NRA to have their annual convention in Houston on Friday with Sen. Cruz being one of the speakers.
Abbott doesn't even have the guts to ban the convention that pushes guns and reduction of gun laws while 19 children lie dead and unburied at the hands of an 18 year old who was able to buy multiple guns and rounds of ammo with which to kill those little kids.
32
Why does America spend billions of dollars and send troops to Europe to stop Russians killing Ukraine's and yet not prepared to change a law that allows assault rifles to be sold to kill fellow Americans? Let's get the home patch sorted first before trying to stop violence on the other side of the world.
9
@Fight4FreedomGirl there's nothing "ordinary" about a semi automatic rifle. Or handgun for that matter. They may be legal, but the rates of fire, penetration characteristics, relatively small caliber, large magazines (17 rounds in a Glock 17 - what do you need to shoot rapidly 17 times?) and ability to inflict mass casualties are all military characteristics designed to suppress an enemy in combat. There's no civilian need for high rates of fire. Range targets don't shoot back. Game animals don't shoot back.
7
@Fight4FreedomGirl
More semantics, eh? These AR 15 knockoffs are highly lethal weapons with a rapid rate of fire as recents have shown. And they have a larger magazine than the M-1 rifles our troops used during WW II to kill thousands of Germans and Japanese.
I'm sure the relatives of the elementary school students killed in Texas would be relieved that you don't consider the shooter's gun a military weapon.
1
@Fight4FreedomGirl Be sure to explain the technicality to the parents of these kids.
1
While I still find this to be a compelling and persuasive piece in favor of what really is a simple proposition (more guns will not contribute to a safer - or at least more civil - society), I'd be interested to know and hear more discussion around the connection between gun violence and behavioral health. The article tends to lead readers toward a sense that less guns means less travesty attributed to violence (which is likely but not certainly true), but is loss of life really the yardstick we want to assess our situation by? Understanding it is visceral and tangible, but does eradicating gun suicide imply less suicide or suicidal ideation? Does making it more difficult to commit homicide with a gun mean individuals who are themselves truly unwell become less wanton to commit acts if extreme violence? It seems to me that seeking to address a symptom of a fractured, suffering society, though necessary, is not a lasting solution.
2
America is circling the drain... it's in steep decline.
All empires eventually fall.
I give the country another 20 years before the experiment fails.
Please, prove me wrong.
25
First outlaw the machine gun look-alikes. We have to stay on message. First, the machine guns!!
5
@Fight4FreedomGirl
Ban assault rifles with high capacity magazines and high capacity magazines for handguns. What is the reason for them existing?
6
@Fight4FreedomGirl Tell that to all the yahoos running around with AR-15s strapped to their chests. The entire point is to dress up in a Rambo costume and look tough. Young people (and old people) see these guns and think about how cool they look. All the arguments in the word about how they function are just a canard - people want to look and feel like a "warrior". This is the culture that we need to stop in order for any of this to get better.
5
A tax on guns and ammo would be a great idea. Use the money to upgrade security at schools instead of using money that should be going for education.
11
I believed the exact same thing as you do now Mr. K. when my 7th grade classmate was shot to death on the way home from school. After a life impacted knowing adults shoot children and kill them - 34 years later not so much.
8
@Jena
Cris Rock had the right idea a decade ago "...let people have any kind of gun they want but bullets are $5000 each! That will put an end to so called 'accidental' shootings."
Funny but a real good idea.
6
This is what people want want and I see no reason why I should care when this happens. I cared the first dozen time and it's only gotten worse.
They could regulate guns, they could build better schools where you can't waltz in off the street with rifles. Almost anything would be better then what they are doing, which is nothing.
I'm sorry for the parents and the children who died, but they are dead because the adults can't shut up long enough to solve the problem.
5
@Morris Remember eight years of "Obama is coming for your guns"? Gun sales skyrocketed, and the NRA coffers overflowed. Too many people profited for them to allow the problem to be solved. Obama is out now, and frankly, dead children sell guns; doing something about it is the last thing they want.
2
The obstinance on gun laws is not based on rational models. It's based on campaign donations.
The money in politics is the culprit. The ideology was back-formed to comply with the manufacturers' interests.
11
@Occupy Government
'The money in politics is the culprit. The ideology was back-formed to comply with the manufacturers' interests.'
Yes. It's the money. The more guns bought, the richer the gun manufacturers are, the more members for the NRA. They don't care who they sell to (even foreign dictators), they just like being rich no matter what.
They throw a lot of that money at the gun lobby, who passes it on to like-minded Congress members to make sure Congress stays friendly to guns. Congress obliges.
Real gun regulations don't get passed, because Congress members (even those already millionaires) really like that largesse. No one wants to stop the gravy train.
3
Very well done article.
The problem we have is that gun lovers assert their supposed rights are more important than public safety. They won't accept even popular limitations on gun purchases out of fear that it will the beginning of a slippery slope. Dead children don't change anything.
The rationale offered is that we need more guns (e.g. in the hands of classroom teachers) or more mental health programs (not that we hear pro gun politicians advocating more funding for mental health services - with no clear explanation of how that would work) or more of some other bogus solution to the problem.
I fear that we'll progress to politically motivated shootouts in the streets and, even then, gun lovers will remain faithful to their sweethearts.
8
@RickP
Perhaps we'll return to the old West gunslinger days where everyone wears a gun. With everyone wearing a gun it would be very different. A crazy man would be much more willing to use a firearm on defenseless children or others than against others who are armed as they are.
I don't want to criticize the overall tenet of the article, but the comparison of the different categories of NIH grants is so ridiculous and meaningless and off the mark, it just does not help the valid arguments the author is trying to make at all. In fact, it seriously diminishes it.
NIH funded research on the stated diseases not only studies the epidemiology or clinical presentation of the disease. We know those very well, we hardly need hundreds of grants to do that.
No, what these grants are studying are the disease MECHANISMS, i.e. the molecular and cell biological workings that are affected by these diseases. And THAT in turn is teaching us novel biochemical principles that lead to unpredictable novel therapeutic approaches, often in areas that have absolutely nothing to do with the disease that was initially studied.
By contrast, I would be hard-pressed to come up with a worth project to spend NIH money on firearm "research". Common sense already tells us everything we need to know. The main problem is that common sense is not a valid quantifiable parameter. And that is nothing the NIH can change.
Why is it I can read and comprehend the 2nd Amendment to the US Constitution and yet Americans seem to have such a problem wrapping their collective heads around it? What part of, "A well regulated Militia," don't Americans understand? How many mass shooting perpetrators belong to, "A well regulated Militia'? Regardless, historians tell you that the context in which it was written was meant for the times anyway, when firearms were all muzzle loading single shot weapons, not for the automatic, large capacity magazine weapons and/or multiple round handguns of today.
So before you have another endless, futile debate over gun control and, "the right of the people to keep and bear Arms", consider by starting with amending the 2nd Amendment. Surely there are enough intelligent, rational and competent people in government and academia that could draft the necessary legislation to make it happen. Make that the focus, get it done and then tackle the extant weapons that are out there in the hands of the newly unqualified gun owners.
13
@EllBee Well the GOP thought that Scalia was intelligent and he's the one on the SC who twisted the meaning of the Second Amendment so it would say something that it never said. So much for the "originalist" propaganda spread by Scalia and the members of the Federalist Society.
5
@Amanda Bonner
This SCOTUS doesn't appear to care about the rights mentioned in the Constitution anyway, no wonder they parse every word and phrase to make it mean what they want it to mean.
The conservative bloc of SCOTUS now has all the power, and is only biding time until after the midterm, when a new Republican Congress can write a new Constitution.
Ratification of that new document will reveal some truths about the states, and have a major impact on the 2024 election.
If Congress is completely in Republican hands in 2023, a presidential election may not even be needed in 2024. So much more efficient to just ask the top GOP members to install a new leader.
3
Develop a special excise tax (probably State) for handguns, ammunition and weapons of war. Tax ammunition sales outside of licensed gun ranges... a $10.00 a bullet tax would mean you could afford to protect your house and person. Tax exempt ammunition used on a range would let you practice blowing up all the targets you want... Control ammunition ...not guns ---nothing in the Constitution says you have the right to untaxed ammunition. Use the tax system to make it costly to own a gun... tax them out of existence.
12
Reporting like this is why I subscribe to the NYT. Just can not get these kind of data anywhere else that I am aware of. If similar studies are available elsewhere, please point me toward the source(s). Thank you.
18
The Republican Party: The party that believes abortion is murder but blocks every gun safety proposal backed by the vast majority of the country including their constituents. The party that protects fertilized eggs but not children.
51
So here's the thing:
America is so sick that we allowed a predator named Alex Jones to torture the families of the deceased children from the Sandy Hook massacre. The local, state and federal govt agencies did NOTHING to stop this atrocity that Alex Jones committed. This is not free speech. It's hate speech.
Based on this, America is a bottom less pit of despair, fear and hate.
23
@Steve
I know. I'm waiting for someone to start telling us this was a hoax, "crisis actors" etc.
7
@Steve Well, Alex Jones certainly is, anyway.
3
Just two days after Salvador Ramos turned 18 this month, the gunman who killed 19 children and two teachers he did not know at Robb Texas elementary school in Uvalde, Texas on May 24, 2022 purchased two AR rifles, 375 rounds of ammunition and at least seven 30-round magazines, according to Texas State Police.
Ramos was a high school senior who frequently missed school, struggled to get along with classmates, acquaintances said, and had few friends at Uvalde High School, his classmates said.
In this day and age how did this not raise red flags?
Yes, I know, "we can't be expected to obtain and correlate this data".
Why on earth is anyone allowed to make these purchases under these circumstances without raising reasonable suspicion?
Why did the arms dealer not notify local law enforcement of these suspicious sales?
Why are bartenders held responsible for over-serving customers but not arms\ammo dealers and manufacturers?
31
This is why Superman is putting away his cape. I'm like a hamster on a wheel without meaningful gun reform. And the ironic part is the police were the ones, local, state and federal––as well as their unions––who were so conditioning me to code for them, via the misphonia trap I've described at length. And they are the biggest supporters of the NRA. So I will not torture myself or be tortured for their laziness and bullheadedness.
3
Heres hoping NYT doesn't censor this comment as it often actively engages in viewpoint censorship of views its moderators disagree with. As a strong supporter of the 2nd Amendment I agree with many of the authors points w/few exceptions. The problem with discussions around gun control is that little of the conversation actually focuses on what the founding fathers were concerned about when they developed Constitutional protection for the right to bear arms. They were NOT concerned about citizen self defense against their fellow citizen. They were concerned about tyranny.
The 2nd Amendment is a Constitutional failsafe the founding fathers employed for American citizens to pick up arms against its own government should it ever become tyrannical like the British government became with the colonies. For people who think I'm crazy & if you think America's government can't turn tyrannical and start brutally oppressing its own citizens, youre sadly mistaken.
Just consider the fact we just had an autocratic president who was infatuated w/autocratic rulers like Putin & Hungary's Orban. Trump was willing to burn down our democracy, eviscerate our institutions, subvert the Constitution & overthrow an entire election to stay in power? Imagine if the military had gone along w/him? What recourse would Americans have if they had no access to the same weapons a government led by President Trump had to suppress any uprising by citizens trying to stop him from remaining in power?
3
@Sophocles
This would not be an unreasonable point if in fact the "well-regulated militias" envision in the US Constitution would have any hope today of actually ... taking on the US military? Do you think that could happen? I doubt you think that. Straw man argument. Not remotely related to what the framers of the Constitution were talking about.
3
@DW It's only a straw man argument to a person who so die hard anti-guns that they can't hear an alternative perspective. You might want to actually study the history of the Second Amendment. The historical documentation and literature around this is well settled. I have no problem with disagreement as long as its competent disagreement. What you have expressed here is not a competent argument but a feelings driven retort. I don't bring feelings to a fact fight and the history surrounding what the founding fathers were concerned about when drafting the 2nd Amendment is historical knowledge and NOT partisan bickering. Cheers.
Tam veri studio volumus atque.
1
@Sophocles The problem with your assertion is that the vast majority of gun owners support the type of autocrat that you're saying they are a necessary bulwark against. So the second amendment wouldn't serve the purpose that it was meant to anyway.
The article says "Some of you will protest that the immediate aftermath of a shooting is too soon to talk about guns, or that it is disrespectful to the dead to use such a tragedy to score political points."
Perhaps, but what about the opposite case, which describes me? I thought light gun laws were a foundation of American liberty, until the Sandy Hook massacre. I realized guns are not "protecting" us but rather being sold to virtually anybody, including many murderers and criminals and insane people. Not to mention the mass surveillance of the public was already becoming a vast government operation with zero resistance by the armed citizens. The innocent victims are MUCH TOO HIGH A PRICE for the "freedom" of anyone to buy a gun regardless of their background.
7
@Will Wilkin
And the mass surveillance is because of all the weapons and guns. It actually justifies the intrusion while doing nothing to stop the problem.
2
I am for the strictest of strict gun control laws, similar to Ireland (Dublin). That region is so safe cops don't even bother to carry weapons. That said, the column cherry picked a few crucial stats and needs clarification: 1. the USA is NOT leading the world in murder by firearms. In fact, we are 30th in the world per capita at 4.0 per 100,000 (El Salvador, Venezuela, etc. have around 26-36 per 100,000 compared to our 4 per 100,000. 2. the stats selectively were looking at high income countries, and yes, compared to those countries, we are #1. (Source: U. of Washington Center for stats; quoted by "The Trace" a pub regarding gun violence, October 2021. So, the lesson here is to do your own review of any citations listed in an article-go to the source.
3
19 Families had to wait outside a reunification center until they were the only ones waiting.
Children had to be identified by their clothing or shoes and finally DNA.
An average 10 year old weighs 70.5 pounds 32 Kilograms.
The impact shreds everything in its path and leaves an exit wound the size of an orange.
Thoughts?
Prayers?
Lowered flags?
How is it that we let society and the senate run away from an orange sized exit wound in a 10 year old?
35
@Small Being Lay them all in state at the Capitol and make the Senate see the results of their decisions.
3
There is no constitutional right to operate an automobile. On the other hand, the Second Amendment confers the only right with the words "well regulated" in it. So yes, a conversation is needed, but it has to be that, a conversation with all stakeholders involved, based on mutual respect. As a society, I am seeing less and less mutual respect, so we are moving in exactly the opposite direction for a productive conversation to occur. Failing that, using health memes as a foot in the door to regulate guns will be seen, rightly, as a disingenuous power grab, which will only harden attitudes.
I remind everyone that when we saw the Twin Towers fall and the Pentagon burn in 2001, Americans approved of anti-terrorism laws never thinking that we needed it to counter noisy parents at school board meetings. But under Biden that is exactly the abuse that happened, and the lesson will not be soon forgotten when it comes to discussing "reasonable" legislation with respect to guns.
2
We have been here before and we will be here again. The prolife caucus of America loves guns. They have even corrupted a constitutional amendment to mean what they gun industry wants it to mean. They have completely detached 'well regulated militia' from the amendment.
Gun reform in any aspect is a third rail for the GOP they won't touch it. With the minority in control of what passes the Senate, nothing will change. Common sense republicans or democrats need to win Senate seats in our small rural/conservative states.
10
@D. Renner
Blue states need to start calling for a dissolution of the union. This must stop.
Either we get proper representation as the senate is obviously captured by special interests or we get a divorce.
6
"After each such incident, we mourn the deaths and sympathize with the victims, but we do nothing fundamental to reduce our vulnerability." Very true. Gun deaths in the United States are as predictable and as inevitable as deaths due to forest fires on the west coast, tornadoes in the Midwest, hurricanes on the gulf coast or severe weather nationwide. We do nothing to reduce our vulnerability to those hazards either. If one is really bothered by the gun violence in this country, the only practical and feasible solution is to emigrate. But to where? Every location on this planet has its share of hazards.
2
As a teen sitting through a driver’s education class prior to obtaining my license in 1966, I watched a short film called “Signal 30”. Those of us who saw this film can never forget the horrific images of twisted wreckage and mangled bodies that resulted from the improper use of automobiles. Everyone who wishes to purchase a firearm should be required to attend a gun safety course and watch a similar film on the horrors of death by firearms. Unfortunately, especially in this country, there’s no shortage of material to draw from.
15
@Bob My company showed videos of industrial injuries and fork-truck accidents to all new hires during initial training. We had a great safety record.
4
@Bob - I say forget watching a film. I watch Seal Team, NCIS, and Chicago P.D. every week and see folks getting shot up. No, make everyone spend a week working at an ER helping stitch up victims. Spend a week with the coroner arriving at the scene in the middle of the night and help put those victims in body bags. Spend a week in a morgue embalming victims. And spend another week on a police ride-along getting shot at by crazy Americans.
And we should start by enrolling every elected politician in such a course starting with Ted Cruz and Gov. Abbot.
6
@Bob
Not a bad idea. It would need to be very graphic, to compete with the violent and bloody fake images they see routinely in video games.
But knowing the blood and torn bodies are of real people could sicken them and make a difference in future behavior.
I wonder how many parents would refuse to let their teens view such images.
I have long thought guns should be treated more like we treat cars. Training, testing for licenses, insurance, and the ability to revoke the right of use for cause seem perfectly reasonable. Having safety items such as fingerprints or bracelets that allow firing also seem reasonable. Yes, as one commenter noted, they might be overridden, but not quickly or as easily as having nothing. It would allow the police to remove weapons from those who should not be allowed to have them and it would allow us to have “classes” of users as well. I just read that over 80% of households in my state have a gun. They want them in our schools and public buildings and at public parks. I would ask that we act more like the Wild West and have people check their weapons in at the sheriff’s office and pick them up when they leave town.
5
Sickening to watch the bump in gun stocks in the market today. What can the government do about weapons companies being traded on the market?
8
A rational, concerned appeal that will not change America’s penchant for guns and tolerance for wanton gun slaughter of innocents.
Add this to a seemingly inexhaustible litany of grave fundamental issues that go unresolved for decades at the state and federal levels as a result of political indifference and endemic partisan gridlock.
The American affliction that seemingly defies remedy.
2
We need gun safety and gun reform pronto. Have to keep insisting with our politicians. Join Moms Demand Action and Every Town for Gun Safety.
9
Comparing guns to automobiles is silly. Most car deaths are the result of accidents. The shooters in all mass murders did not "accidentally" killed people. Cars are designed to transport people from one place to another, gun are designed to kill.
7
@Claudio Rodriguez There are sadly many deaths by accidental shooting in this country, and many of them involve children. The data are presented 1/2 way up where the bullet graphics are located. FYI, friend.
3
@Claudio Rodriguez
No, guns are not automobiles. So what? That excuse is just a way to shrug and say, 'Eh, what can we do??'
Requiring training and a license, with regular testing for renewals, would help to make buyers aware of safety and potential for devastating harm.
It would also help weed out who should not own a deadly weapon.
2
The taking of innocent lives by gun violence is a gaping wound in the soul of America. We hemorrhage people and blood daily, punctuated by mass murders like the tragedies in Buffalo, Uvalde and so many other cities and towns across our nation. There are two divergent groups of leaders, and by extension, citizens who turn a blinkered eye and cold heart toward this abomination. One group wants to apply pressure to the wound and the other is willing to let the arterial flood proceed until our country has bled out. Today, ask yourself: Will I be one who applies pressure to this wound or watch while the heartbeat of America slows and eventually stops altogether? This is an existential question best asked in front of a mirror. Especially now.
6
Can we gun some gun control / ownership / gun murder statistics from Brazil added to this compilation?
2
@Conservative-Liberal-Moderate-Radical
Guess who sends and sells all those guns down south. Do they manufacture them or do we?
3
“The Second Amendment is one constraint,…”. Indeed it is. The Heller decision showed that members of the Supreme Court will tie themselves in rhetorical knots to use the 2nd Amendment to restrict regulation of firearms. I don’t think it much more difficult to repeal this outdated part of the Constitution than to pass many of the regulations mentioned here. All the proposed rules would be challenged and most likely rejected by the Court. There is a vital first step: repeal the Second Amendment.
10
@Fight4FreedomGirl Why replace it? As many commenters have pointed out, automobiles are not mentioned in the Constitution and we do a fairly good job of regulating them.
1
@R M Second Amendment right: the right to kill. That obviously takes precedence in this country over the right to life — of a “born” person, that is.
2
without a repeal, replacement of the second amendment, i don't see how we get past the a culture of gun violence. the supreme court is where gun control legislation goes to die.
11
For many years, I've waited on tenterhooks for Colorado schools to be out for the summer, knowing that it meant our kids would be safe from a mass shooting for three months. Then, it was the theater up the highway in Aurora. Then, a grocery store in Boulder. Then, a shooting spree in a Denver suburb. I'm so exhausted by the continuing threat of mass gun violence. Will it ever end?
16
Using the car example is exactly how I arrived at an understanding of why so many people are anti-regulation on guns.
How many times are we told about examples of police using thinly fabricated traffic stops as an excuse for horrific crimes? Reminder of recent state sanctioned murders over air fresheners and reminder of the abject senselessness of this.
If I look at the abuses leveled again Americans by the police over cars, I would NEVER vote for guns being regulated like cars.
For a vast swath of America getting in a car is tantamount to being subject to everything from murder to bankruptcy under the coercive boot of the state in the name of "safety."
We can do better...we have to do better.
I don't see how an 18 year old with assault weapons shooting up an elementary school is part of the "well-regulated militia" described in the Second Amendment of the constitution. This amendment doesn't comport with the gun-toting "hands off my guns no regulations, full stop" attitude of gun proponents. If our so-called "originalist, textualist" Supreme Court justices, in addition to our conservative congressmen on the right were honest about this, they would recognize that their current stance is not constitutional and that regulations should not be banned. If people cannot own rocket-propelled grenades, then why not ban assault weapons?
21
Chris Argyris, Prof at the Harvard Business School found that organizational change can only be sustained if the values of the organization are defined and consistently drive the desired change. Until America deeply questions its culture of violence, not much will change. It is a deep in the culture from foreign policy, military expenditure to export of guns and individual gun rights.
7
I feel the best deterrent to these or any crime should extend to any and all persons who are complicit in the act. I doubt VERY few are isolated individuals. Parents,friends,neighbors,co-workers,relatives or any associates would know a person and his/her attempt to harm another, If they do not come forward,they are complicit and should be prosecuted along with the criminal.
5
I agree with this article, which was well-researched and describes our gun problem objectively. I also applaud Sen. Schumer and President Biden's efforts to curb gun violence.
Sadly, as long as SCOTUS insists on manufacturing this inalienable right of individuals to own weapons of war, this state of affairs is bound to continue.
When you serve in the US military, you do not own your rifle, or your pistol. Your branch of service owns them. You must relinquish your weapons when you are discharged and separate from your branch. That's because the US military rightly believes that weapons of war do not belong in the hands of civilians.
Speaking as a US vet:
- Weapons of war do not belong in the hands of civilians. Period.
- The right to own and operate a weapon of any kind is earned, not granted at birth. You must prove that you are a responsible enough individual to own and operate a weapon.
- The US military requires as much from all service members.
- Civilians should be required to prove the same degree of responsibility and maturity, just as service members are.
Apparently, SCOTUS believes it knows better about weapons in the hands of civilians than the US military. That's insane.
39
Great article. Would love to see tips on how we can make a difference. Clearly voting, but what can we do today to let our representatives know that we all want background checks and more gun safety laws? Can we all come together and let our representatives know that we will No longer vote for people who let the NRA control them?!
16
Perhaps more than "the gun" itself it is the fetishizing of the weapon, deeply ingrained in the DNA of this country, that is even more responsible for the carnage. Since our "self determination" came from the muzzle of a musket, whether in the hands of 17th. century pilgrims, revolutionary "minutemen" or pioneers heading West, the gun was the means by which we determined ourselves as "Men" and our Nation as "free." It HAD to symbolize something courageous, noble, "many" and just in order to distract from the fact that it was, in fact, an instrument of plunder and aggression. This totemism reached it's zenith in the 19th. century when East Coasters could consume tales of the testosterone fueled heroics of men like Wyatt Earp, Billy the Kid and Buffalo Bill. As is the case with most of our national icons, they were planted as cynical advertising campaigns to draw consumers and business further west and to open up new territories. Much like today, those entrusted to enforce the law were often as lawless and murderous as those they were deputized to corral! It didn't matter. The more skillful and deadly a man was with his gun, the more he should be admired no matter his moral compass. No one looked too closely at the morality of John Wayne picking off Apaches from atop the Stagecoach as it brought disease, poverty and death to the indigenous people of the rugged landscape turning to dust beneath its wheels: men like Wayne made this country and the gun made the man.
17
@charlie It’s a sickness in the psyche that “responsible gun owners” don’t want to look at and we’ve given them a pass. Their hunting (killing), target practice (a hobby) and defense of home and hearth (how many gun deaths out of the hundreds that happen monthly occur in defense of the home and person), are much more important than the deaths of innocents, including children.
3
Cool article, but until our undemocratic, oligarchic Senate decides to pass any legislation whatsoever that would hamper gun access, there's no way forward. Too bad we can't abolish the Senate.
16
@Sam I like to point out that Wyoming has the same population as Colorado Springs, which is about 10% of the state's population. The senate, on the other hand, is determined by lines arbitrarily drawn on a map more than 100 years ago
8
Yay! You’re back, Mr. K.
9
Honestly, I don’t see things getting better any time soon- if ever.
This country’s bloody foundation: slavery, capitalism, genocide- and guns have always been integral to the grotesque imagination of this nation.
Where else on the planet do citizens equate ‘freedom’ with firearms? It’s brutal. It’s insane.
28
Ah - yeah, the cars/guns argument. The thing is, there's a good reason to own a car: the provide millions of people with transportation to work every day. Without cars, the entire American economy as we know it would cease to exist overnight.
What if automatic assault rifles ceased to exist one day? Would the American economy disappear? No. Would it even notice? You might see a blip if you used a microscope.
So it's a bogus argument. The argument that gun owners push is that without them, the unholy Federal US Gumint would establish comminism. Has this happened in Japan? No. Germany? No. The UK? No. Of course, some of the most extreme of the right wing crowd argue that the entire rest of the world is now communist. Ironically, many in that crowd seem to want to establish a theocracy with a hereditary Trump monarchy.
I know lots of people use their guns to hunt, but an assault rifle is not a hunting rifle. Sorry, it isn't. It's a gun for people with Rambo fantasies. And as we see, every once in a while, a sociopath turns those fantasies into a reality.
24
@Andrew Well, you know, the MAGA crowd would use their guns to protect us against the government — by, for example, kidnapping the governor of Michigan.
3
@Andrew - A seventeen year old with a laptop can shut down power grids, satellite systems, communications systems, banking systems, and do it while playing a video game in mom's basement. If Gen Z'ers ever realize the power in their hands, maybe they will stop spending so much time trying to be TikTok influencers and change the world around them. A bunch of hippies stopped a war, got the draft abolished, and got ERA passed simply by smoking weed, strumming their guitars, and gathering together in large numbers and sitting down.
2
These are our children. This is our country's lifeblood. Cancel the Memorial Day recess, and get back to WORK. Display the horrific images, and attach names of politicians endorsing/enabling the gun lobby. Bring up the House-passed Bill in the Senate, with a well-publicized vote. Stop with the pathetic platitudes.
19
One simple and obvious start to reducing these massacres would be to raise the age for gun purchases/ownership to 21. Most of them have been committed by 18 and 19 year olds. Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Buffalo, Uvalde and I'm sure others. Of course households where the over-21 adults have weapons need to keep them locked-up and safe from the unsupervised use of minors. Ultimately the smartest and best thing would be to ban assault weapons, period, but that horse has unfortunately probably left the barn.
10
Except that in 2017 it wasn't as clear as it is now that these killings are a coordinated terrorist takeover of our country. At what point will a paper like this connect the dots for everyone -- this is part of the white nationalist takeover of our country. Talk to the experts in white nationalism and spell it out for everyone. They hate women, they hate minorities, and they are recruiting our white sons as killers in their army. This, and other school shootings, are driven by misogyny. There is a reason why a woman in their lives is killed before the rampage (here a Grandmother). These aren't lone wolfs (a term coined by the white supremacy) and they aren't mentally ill. They are part of a coordinated political movement intent on subjugating or killing blacks, jews, women and their children as an extension of them. We are all in the fight for our lives and papers like this insist on acting like it isn't even happening.
9
How to reduce shootings? Elect Democrats. Republicans will block any effort to limit access to guns.
18
@Eddie Torrial Has any Democrat this Century acted to reduce shootings? The last good act by the Dems was Bill Clinton's 1994 Assault Weapons Ban.
3
@Eddie Torrial - Uh, we did elect Democrats and they control the Oval Office, the House, and the Senate. But Manchin has made it clear that he will not eliminate the filibuster to pass any gun laws. Did the Dems end the war in Afghanistan when we voted them in back in 2008? Nope. They made record weapons sales all across the globe and went down in history being at war longer than any other administration in our country's history.
Get rid of the Dems and the Republicans and maybe, just maybe we can get a bridge fixed in this country.
1
@Matthew B
Today, yes today, Congressional Democrats have proposed two bills, one for universal background checks and one to eliminate the sale of semiautomatic rifles which are weapons of war. Both of these bills have been proposed by Democrats multiple times this century only to be shot down by Republicans. Republicans, today, said that these new attempts will not pass.
5
the only thing that will change anything is publishing photos of the aftermath of these shootings in the newspapers and billboards, and making members of the public (like being called for jury duty) clean up afterwards, starting with the members of Congress and the NRA board which is conveniently in the area for their convention.
6
Forbid private ownership of any firearm that can shoot more than one round without manual reloading.
10
There is only one way to activate outrage from the American people toward politicians or turn to voting in mass for politicians who will not hide from this issue. That is showing the carnage in that school, in that classroom. The real images of children blown apart by the shooters weapons. Broadcast these images so everyone can see what is taking place only in America. People are desensitized by TV programs where multiple people are shot and killed each and every night. The American people need a big dose of reality. Real pictures and video of a massacre of children and teachers. I am sure most if not all of the families of the victims would sign off on showing the tangled mess of bodies lying in pools of real blood. Sandyhook pictures and video as well, prime time all networks so no one can look away. "I can only imagine" no you cannot, this needs to be put out there so everyone knows what it is like to live in America at this time when cowardly politician bow down to gun manufactures lobbyist and the NRA. Schools should not need metal detectors and armed guards or worse yet, armed teachers. We only show horrific war scenes after the bodies are cleared. We warn viewers during news casts of the wars past and present. Why? Respect to the victims? Give me a break, I am sure they would approve of showing what the nutjob with an assault weapon or suicide bomb did to them. We need to wake up as a nation. American exceptionalism, give me a break.
9
@John Martin
Plaster the images on billboards. And deploy large screen displays with the images in front of Republican homes
3
Sounds like something could really happen this time! But, no.
2
@Dave
It'll be gone from our minds next week. Take another toke of complacent immorality and recede into the soft pillowy-ness of denial.
3
This was preventable and any gun would have been used. I guess this isn't a problem ... From the NYT "Jeremiah Munoz was a senior at the high school four years ago when he bonded with Mr. Ramos, then a freshman, over their shared love of video games, particularly Fortnite and Call of Duty. Mr. Munoz, 22, said that even back then, he recalled students picking on Mr. Ramos, deriding his clothes or making crude references to his mother or sister.
Charlie Marsh, a 17-year-old in the same grade as Mr. Ramos, said that she had heard people call him names, including a homophobic slur, but that she thought he was provoking people rather than being bullied.
Over the weekend, Mr. Ramos had sent a photograph of two black rifles to Mr. Munoz, similar to one he had posted on his Instagram account."
This was preventable and any gun would have been used.
1
To me the answer is simple. Ban the manufacturing and sale of all assault rifles and automatic guns to the public in the US. Keep one for the military only. We keep talking about 'guns' in general. If a lunatic had token reloading his six shooter, one bullet at time, I doubt he would be able to take out many people. This one fix would reduce the amount of these killings by hundreds. Forget taxes and mental health help and all that nonsense. Eliminate the source period. We are a disgrace.I had to jump through more hoops to get a crossing guard job that we do for gun purchase. this is just unconscionable.
11
How ironic that Texas, in the name of "the sanctity of life", has the country'd toughest anti-abortion laws; but also, in the name of the NRA and citizens' "rights", have some of the loosest laws regarding ownership and carrying of firearms, and are clamoring for even looser laws.
16
@Chuck
I hope the irony of Texas’s “save a forming fetus” but “allow assault weapons” laws is extinguished in the 2022 governor’s election!
Texans can help return some reasonableness to American life with a vote for Beto O’Rourke for Governor!
7
@Chuck
It is sick
3
Nothing will happen. The gun manufacturer's lobby and their front organizations connected to the Republican Party have sufficient control of enough of Congress to frustrate even the slightest reforms. And we all know that. We've known it for many years. Mass murder; no action; rinse and repeat. This time will be no different.
Our system is totally broken and dysfunctional. This type of mass murder, repeated over and over and over, with no serious attempts to curb it, is the most dramatic display of that fact.
But there are many other displays. A criminal ex-President, with multiple publically known felonies (and who knows how many felonies yet to be disclosed?), including trying to overthrow the government, sitll walks free, shoots his mouth off, and is the likely Republican Party nominee for 2024. A Supreme Court justice whose wife participated in that attempt to overthrow the government. And on and on.
These things are not unrelated.
It used to be a joke that we had the best politicians that money can buy. Now it's not funny and it's not even true any more. Rather, we have the worst and most evil politicians that money can buy.
10
We have school shootings and a violent attempt to overthrow our recent Presidential election.
And thoughts and prayers is all you got? Texas Senators Cruz and Cornyn should be ashamed of themselves. They've done nothing since Sandy Hook and I cannot imagine they'll react any different going forward.
Cowards. They are not the solution. They are part of the problem.
10
@Silence Dogood
Honestly nobody should ever put a microphone in Ted Cruz's face in these situations. I will not be able to keep my lunch down.
5
Fragment
This time the hold up man didn’t know a video-sound camera hidden
up in a corner
was recording what was before it or more likely he didn’t care, opening
up with his pistol,
not saying a word, on the clerk you see blurredly falling and you hear
-I keep hearing-
crying, “God! God!” in that voice I was always afraid existed in us,
the voice that knows
beyond illusion the irrevocability of death, beyond any dream of being
not mortally injured –
“You’re just going to sleep, someone will save you, you’ll wake again,
loved ones beside you…”
Nothing of that: even torn by the flaws in the tape it was a voice that
knew it was dying,
knew it was being, horrible, slaughtered, all that it knew and aspired
to instantly voided;
no indignation, no passion for justice, only woe, woe, woe, as he felt
himself falling,
even falling knowing already he was dead, and how much I pray to
to myself I want not, ever,
to know this, how much I want to ask why I must, with suh perfect
detailed precision,
know this, this anguish, this agony for a self departing wishing only to
stay, endure,
knowing all the while that, having known, I always will know this torn,
singular voice
of a soul calling “God!” as it sink back through the darkness it came
from, cancelled, annulled.
C.K.Williams.
2
I wish Mr. Kristof could have addressed the overplay of mass shootings in the media and the fact that many shootings appear in bunches. This is not just a 2nd amendment, gun control issue but also a 1st amendment, freedom of speech and press issue. Dialing back the media coverage of mass shootings, particularly of the shooter, could help a lot.
1
@William Hoke Assigning the media culpability in mass shootings seems very problematic to me. Ignoring problems never makes them go away, even if it might make you feel better.
6
@Sam I am not blaming the media, but I would support a law preventing publishing details, particularly of the shooter. That is not ignoring the problem.
@William Hoke While I agree that the luridness of these tragedies has 'inspired' some to copycat, I believe that our 'stand by the Constitution' by our legislators is to blame as well.
But, perhaps, the fact that Remington was sued $73 million dollars by some of the families of the Sandy Hook tragedy in which the families won,(The Daily, May 25 edition) will deter some of the politicians from thinking that they will get campaign funding from these gun manufacturers. Alex Jones, InfoWars, also lost in a suit where he was claiming that Sandy Hook parents were actors---(reminds me of what Putin is saying about the Ukrainian soldiers who were murdered?)
Legislation to keep all citizens safe appears to depend on who gets campaign funding and it is so slow and yet weapons can do more harm in a few minutes but this report was written in 2017.
Enough with thoughts and prayers. I'd like to see someone explain how an all-knowing merciful god would allow this to happen.
People need to realize this is the only country on the planet with this plague, caused by greed of money and power and a dysfunctional and corrupted political system that allows minority rule.
Education or lack thereof also plays a role. The only hope is with future generations. Nothing happened after Sandy Hook. Nothing will happen now either. A new generation of politicians is needed to establish the will of the majority into law.
10
@JG Thoughts and prayers never seem to work do they?
3
the only thing missing in this very helpful article is the amount of money( blood money) each Senator receives from the gun lobby.
Follow the money and we will find the gun votes.
17
Great point about the lack of research. It would be interesting to get independent research on the effects of first person shooter video games and the amount of gun violence portrayed in movies/TV, etc.. on todays children. In addition to gun control, maybe its time to look at the messages kids are given at a very young age through these mediums. ...Or is there to much money to be made by the entertainment industry???
6
These are all very good suggestions but the reality is that this article was written in 2017 and none of these common sense solutions have been adapted nationally. America has become toxic and the only true solutions will be at the state level.
One suggestion that I have not heard is to make all gun owners pay for insurance for owning a gun like car drivers. If you do not have insurance first then you cannot buy a gun. More then likely an insurance underwriter would have turned down the two eighteen year old's that were able to buy assault weapons in the most recent shootings.
16
@WG +1000 to the insurance idea, and I think Arizona or California may have already discussed such an idea. It needs to become a federal law.
3
Take away the tax-exempt non-profit status of the NRA, since it is now far more about political lobbying in its own self-interest, than it ever was about education.
Tax it heavily, and require it to provide full open disclosure of ALL political donations. Pour sunshine on the organization AND its lackeys in Congress.
Pie in the sky, to be sure, but at least they'd have to pay heavily for their stranglehold on the Republican Party.
16
No matter what it's always the fault of liberals. You're right Nick. When have you EVER found it the fault of those engaging in the behavior? Or those who are passing laws that outlaw and defund agencies such as the CDC from effectively studying and making recommendations on how to make gun use "safer."
The mayhem and the murder is the feature and not a bug.
When you look at the numbers it's clear that more guns aren't making us more safe.
It is the white men who roar about their rights continually. Who are, as usual, voting against treating guns in any rational way. There is zero evidence that Nick's proposal will work and much evidence that any such conversation will be treated as equivalent to an outright 100% ban. There is a long history of the laws inposed by conservatives/The GOP to avoid having the "gun safety" / most people killed by guns are killed by someone who knows them conversation. That being around more guns makes one less safe.
That's the problem. Until you go directly to the problem it doesn't matter. It's the same as saying that democrats don't care about blue color white men. No. Too many blue color white men vote in a way that says that they don't care about anyone at all and only want to rub our noses in their power.
3
You also have to obtain a driver's license to drive a vehicle, showing knowledge of the rules of the road and safe driving. Not so with guns.
16
There is one, and only one, entity to blame here: the American people. These things happen because the American people tolerate them. I have just read that 84% of Americans support more stringent gun control measures. Probably true. However, when the time comes to voting, Americans keep voting into office individuals for whom this is a low priority goal.
The bottom line is, Americans would like more gun control, but there are other things that they'd rather have first. If the price to get such things is schoolchildren being murdered once in a while then so be it.
This is America. Learn to live with it.
11
@JS this is EXACTLY right. We’re seeing this with other areas too lately. Even though the majority is concerned about guns, women’s rights, civil rights, the votes aren’t high enough to make change or protect our rights. Face it everyone. If you continue to vote for Republicans, this is the country you’re going to have. It’s time to look in the mirror and take responsibility. Anyone who continues to vote these greedy, uncaring fools into office has blood on THEIR hands. Politicians only have power if they are enabled through voters.
3
Inherent tension exists in the 2nd Amendment prohibition on infringement and whether individual rights are limited by the "well regulated militia" language. The synthesis of jurisprudence is that the individuals rights exist to protect from tyrannical government or invaders of the state (nation state?) What constitutes "infringement.?" In 1st Amendment jurisprudence the S.Ct has applied, at least until recently, levels of scrutiny to laws affecting the freedoms of speech, religion, press and assembly, but have found proper time/place/manner restrictions not to be infringement. Similarly such analysis is needed of the 2d amendment. Guns are not violent but we can reduce the capacity for people, unstable or otherwise, from bringing violence and death to the innocent using guns and certainly the artillery these people are obtaining- at least legally. Slippery slope arguments aside, Mr. Kristof suggest items to examine and act upon. Surely such weapons as used in the latest tragedy should not be available beyond the military. If there is a need to protect from a tyrannical government or protect the state from invaders, surely such will be available. These weapons do not need to be legally available with shotguns and hunting rifles. Mental health checks , criminal background checks and training on gun use must be mandatory and properly trained armed security be available wherever they are needed. We can keep our rights, and keep our children and all of us safe.
3
Kristof’s recommendations are thoughtful and reasonable but even if implemented they won’t do more than make a minor impact on the number of gun deaths. If his iphone is stolen, it can be unlocked. Likewise, there is or will be a go around to each block for anyone determined to obtain a gun, and that goes double for anyone who has determined to kill.
Appreciate your common sense approach, but this essay will become like the closely related, perennial 'Onion' headline "‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens".
Your solutions are as valid now as they were in 2017, and the implementation of -any- these solutions now is as far away as it was in 2017, too. You allude to our "polarized political system", but that is unfairly 'both-sided'.
Only one political party stands in the way of implementing at least some of these possible reductions. Only one political party stands in the way of reducing the carnage by some amount, any amount, no matter how small. Only one political party. Only one political party's politicians march in lockstep with the NRA and gun lobby, killing every attempt at gun control. Only one political party.
This is -not- a 'both sides' issue. The blood of these kids, the blood of those grocery shoppers, the blood of those churchgoers, the blood of the one hundred people a day dying from gun violence is on the hands of one political party, only one.
If Republicans were truly "pro-life" they would be for gun control laws... instead they expose their hypocrisy for the world to see, once again.
31
Well researched, and as others have stated, the logic is difficult to argue with. Here's another idea, significantly raise the price of ammunition via taxes etc. Ammo is way too cheap, and purchases are not limited. The 2nd amendment isn't going away any time soon, so we need to think different about this issue.
5
@whitenoise Ammunition in my state (PA) is VERY expensive, but IMO, not nearly expensive enough.
3
@whitenoise Flat taxes are inherently regressive. Just as more expensive gasoline effects more those at the bottom of the socioeconomic ladder, so would a standard/sales tax on ammunition. Ammunition in fact is quite expensive right now from a historical perspective (COVID social and supply chain effects). If you also want people to get more training, making the barrier to training higher/more expensive is not a great idea.
Safe storage laws and more focused education on the real benefits of safe storage, along with suicide prevention initiatives would save many lives. Perhaps a nationwide shall-issue license for both carry and purchase firearms would be a way to implement universal background checks.
2
Consistent with what I anticipated as regards reporting, the NYC mass transit assailant wasn't of interest to certain media outlets once the identity was confirmed. And also, gangs aren't terrorists.
I'm with Biden. Enough, and more than enough. We must act.
8
Ok you text mongers:
"A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. "
Where is the word "own"? It's not there. You have no right to own a gun. You can keep one and bear one, but the context is a "well regulated militia". Only a government can regulate, and the context is aimed at a "security of a free state". The amendment says nothing at all about your personal safety, gives no credence to the right to hunt or arm yourself in public, etc etc.
It's simply not there in the plain words of the amendment that any of the Right's bleating about the sacredness of the 2nd Amendment is actually true.
A far more defensible reading would be that citizens can be issued "arms" by the government at its discretion to "keep" in a safe place and "bear" only in those times they are called to train into being a well regulated militia or to use when called to defend the "security of a free state".
It does not guarantee you can own a gun or buy a gun or use a gun to hunt, kill yourself or terrorize your neighbors or mow down 12 year olds. Truly, I would love to hear what Benjamin Franklin would say about that perspective.
22
@Carl Biden should put you on the Supreme Court. Well reasoned. Join the debate.
1
@Carl Agree, also keep in mind when this amendment was written: our country was wild; dangerous animals roamed everywhere; hunting for food was a common responsibility, and bullets had yet to be invented. One could fire off one musket ball at a time, then reload. Firearms were a survival necessity back then. Ben Franklin likely could not have imagined an AR-15 in the hands of an unstable teenager. Thus, slavish "allegiance" to the "original intent" of the framers is a dangerous anachronism. Times have drastically changed.
4
@Carl Sorry, I don't buy your argument.
It was nice to hear from Mr. Kristof even if on such a gruesome topic as guns. His approach to gun control seems to be both balanced and reasonable but we re living in a country that has lost its balance and reason. As long as we have Republicans AKA conservatives in control and now also in the SCOTUS we are doomed.
13
I like the fact that you try to be optimistic that the United States will deal with gun violence, but I can not agree.
With the extreme Republicans in control of the Supreme court and gerrymandering our elections things will only get worse.
13
Forbid all government officials, in office or aspiring to one, from accepting gun lobby money for their campaigns.
23
@michael h Public funding for all elections. No private money allowed. Candidates should run on their ideas. Once in office no influencing money should be allowed.
4
@Don Raney I agree completely. Public funding has the potential to be even-handed and transparent.
1
I wonder what kind of developed country USA is? Is a country considered developed where kids have to fear for their lives in school? If a nation depends on guns and drugs for its growth then what kind of growth is it?
With such a growth in technology, why are life threatening device like guns don't have any restrictions to trigger or enhancements to make them safe. If the right intention for having a gun is your protection, why should you kill other person to be safe? You can just use any thing that can disable the threat. Why in the first place guns in the hands of public have bullets that can kill other, why are they not replaced with something that can just make the threat unconscious or just disable them - just like the darts that animal control use to disable an animal and move it to safer place.
3
There is no way will gun control ever be a thing in the USA. The glorification of gun violence is a far stronger current in US society than the temporary hand-wringing over a bunch of children shot to death in a classroom. Ain't no pictures of that. In the USA, children only matter before they are born. After that, they are cannon fodder.
14
Why are we so afraid of offending gun enthusiasts? Liberals are wrong to want gun control and fewer guns? How crazy is that? No one but law enforcement needs a gun, and it's arguable that they do. Some countries do well with unarmed police. The 2nd Amendment has been twisted to mean every person should be able to have a gun everywhere. That is insane. If only our politicians had the courage of Australia's - one mass shooting and they enacted strict laws. Got voted out of office, but the law stayed.
12
Embarrassed and ashamed to be American today.
With all the emphasis on individualism, 'freedom' and profit, America has lost its way. There is no concern anymore for the greater good, for the community or for protecting the vulnerable. There are just a lot of people exploiting others, including the people in charge in Congress. They are a poor excuse for a democratic legislature. They are only accountable to their paymasters.
13
I agree wholeheartedly with this article's content, but unfortunately the gun lobby and its minions are too strong, and the Democrats are too timid too stop them, even after these terrible atrocities.
I note that both the Buffalo and Texas shooters had on bulletproof vests. In Texas, that actually prevented the cops from taking the gunman out.
Why not make these vests illegal for civilians to own? There's no 2nd Amendment right to own one. The government could even immediately confiscate already purchased ones.
Of course, as a grandfather of six, I do favor all the gun control proposals suggested, including repealing the enslavers' Second Amendment. But we need action now!
8
@fryman You wrote "In Texas, that actually prevented the cops from taking the gunman out." I think this is a key point and needs to be an important part of the investigation. The police could have stopped him from entering the school. It needs to be determined why that didn't happen. Thank you.
Lazily handwaving "The left" as focusing on "Gun Control" is exactly the message that the pro-gun lobby uses to stoke their base.
Look at what "The left" is actually asking for and it's exactly the same public health policies you pescribe - better background checks and all the rest.
You fell into their trap.
This is a shame, and listening everyone words after these things happen is even more. Americans we are sick of guns and small actions wont help. This has to be put down to vote and we should do like amendment XVIII did with alcohol, and when better times come, we should vote again repealed it like amendment XXI did. During this time we should use all these money not spent on guns to fund a better police for a better personal security. Everyone agree the constitution is a living document, we should use it to our benefits if the majority is in agreement.
1
Assertion in the article: "This is the blunt, damning truth: The latest shooting was 100 percent predictable." But there is zero correlation between the facts so far known about the shooter and the assertion, not even a cursory examination of the facts in stories about the gunman and his history as told by his friends compared to the facts assembled in the article. That is shoddy and gratuitous. Everything else in the article is valid. The Texas shooter was bullied over an extended period. None of Kristof's points addresses that problem. The disconnect is stark. Don't use inapplicable situations to try to further an otherwise valid argument. Instead, write an article which addresses how bullied children become not just school shooters but also other kinds of threats, or not. Social services have been defunded in far too many states and schools. In this case, the stories are revealing that many other students in his school(s) were participants or bystanders in the bullying. I wonder if they now realize how they might have been creating his sense of isolation and resentment, when kindness and understanding could have created a far different result? Pres. Biden was a stutterer who should understand the history.
1
Alright, I want my own personal tactical nuclear weapon. It is an "arm," I can "bear" it, and if I feel my life is in danger, I can set it off because that's the cost to others around me of living in a free country. Nuclear bombs don't kill people. People do. Oh, and we should improve mental health services for our nuclear bomb owners.
5
Boy, talk about broken records. We hear the same thing over and over. Of course, regulating gun ownership and the kinds of guns that are legal is constitutional. But there is no escaping the underlying factors that pollute the US more than most other societies. Toxic masculinity, reinforced by racism and twisted evangelical religion. Look where resistance to gun regulation is strongest: The states of the former Confederacy, the same states with the poorest educational, health, and mental health statistics, where women do their best to support violence-embracing male egos.
5
States should raise the age to 21 to buy a gun. Folks must complete a training course during a 4 week waiting period. Smart guns must be the future of guns. We have the technology so let's use it. I don't care if it adds $100 to the cost of each gun, smart guns would prevent a lot of deaths and preclude the gun from being used by others in crimes. Ban assault rifles immediately. They are just for killing. Take action.
7
Sadly, too many Republicans, particularly those in Texas, seem quite ready willing and able to protect unborn fetuses. But all their care and protection apparently expires at the moment of birth.
7
Kristof is right, but as they say the proof is in the pudding, the GOP will allow none of this. The GOP wants an unlimited flow of guns and as big a market as possible..which is not surprising, given that the gun industry is a favorite of the hedge fund and private equity business who of course want unlimited purchases of the 'sexy' AR15s and the like.
So when a shooting happens, what does the GOP scream? Mental health issues. Yet the GOP routinely slashes spending on public health, especially mental health, and also has forbidden any kind of study of the real causes of gun violence, including mental health issues.
It also seems ironic to me that here we have 21 living people dead, 18 of them young children, and what do you hear from religious leaders, especially the gasbags in the Catholic Church? *crickets* or "we pray for the families". Gee, a fetus is a living being, heck a fertilized embryo is, but a living child is only worth platitudes? Got a suggestion, Dolan and Burke and the rest , how about telling Catholic politicians that refuse to support reasonable gun regulation like Kristof proposes should be denied communion for promoting the culture of death.
If Kristof's polls are legitimate, then there is grounds for discussion. The problem is that it has zero to do with the will of the people. The GOP politicians only listen to the NRA and the gun industry, not gun owners.
One suggestion? Require the NRA lose its non profit status and register what it is,a lobby
6
Mr. Kristoff, don't discard this essay.
It will be needed again and again...
5
My son lives in Israel. When encouraged by his father to move back to the US, he responded, "No - America scares me."
I do not have the words to express my fury.
7
The Republican party is responsible for the murder of American children, grocery shoppers, churchgoers, concert attendees and so many others. The Party accepts millions of dollars from gun manufacturers in political "donations" and in turn refuses to enact responsible gun legislation. The murders are on their hands.
This situation will never change. Because they value politcal power and their own positions of exclusivity more than lives of their voters.
The situation will never change. So let's stop with all the "reasonable" discussions on guns and laws and the Constitution. What a joke.
Mitch McConnell was once quoted as saying "government can't do anything about guns."
After each shooting they confer with their colleagues on what their "response" should be.
This country is truly sick and the sickness starts at the top and trickles down.
And yes, they sleep well at night; in their world.
The situation will never change.
5
Gut punch when I heard the news of this shooting.
How can a kid on his 18th birthday purchase an AR-15 and over 300 rounds of ammunition? I have two old hunting rifles from my childhood on a cattle ranch. Locked up and never used.
America has always been a violent country and I guess it always will be.
4
Just heard Alan Rodgers of the BBC ask Texas Democratic congressman Joachim Castro the question that few in the US are willing to pose. To paraphrase, he asked what is it about our country's devotion to an 18th century constitution that tolerates the mass slaughter of innocents in the name of a right to bear arms?
8
@Lee slota
Well, to hear the gun runners tell it, we have to be ready to defend ourselves against a "tyrannical" government, cries that seem to get louder anytime a Democrat is in office. And of course, the old canard about how long it takes police to respond to a 911 call. And the classic "I'm a law-abiding gun owner, you can take my guns over my dead body." No mention about the other dead bodies.
4
If it were up to me, we would take away your guns. I’m more afraid of my neighbors guns than I am of terrorists.
6
"Well regulated" is the path forward.
1
Five years after the premiere of this essay, and it is needed more than even. Sad.
3
I believe part of the problem is parenting, along with the desensitization of the conscious of people. Video games and violence on TV have not helped the situation at all. When I was in school, there were consequences for bad behavior. You could get flipped out of your chair and land on your back side. I saw it happen, heck I was whipped three times for the same thing, on the bus, at school and then at home. Authority had a united front. This do nothing approach is not working obviously and I am sick to death over these shootings as a father of four myself.
1
A reasoned analysis by Kristof but the GOP and the right wing absolutists will not have it.
America is very sick, awash in a culture of what I call, gundamentalism and ammosexuality.
It is a religion to this cult.
Our "leaders" are feckless bureaucrats worshipping at the alter of the NRA, weapons and ammunition manufacturers and most importantly, their erroneous interpretation of the 2nd amendment.
This carnage will continue and NO, prayers are NOT the answer.
NOR is buying more weapons.
Let's be honest about this, America in its current iteration, deserves this carnage.
1
PART 2: It also seems 90% of these gunmen show up wearing body armor. Why not have the FBI work with these stores that are selling body armor to start checking those civilian buyers that are suddenly buying up body armor and tactical gear, are men 18-35 yrs old (I think roughly the age range of so many of these shooters) and surveill their movements? Why not strictly monitor body armor sales and why aren't body armor stores doing it themselves, if they have any conscience? It seems buying body armor is one of the last steps shooters take before going on a rampage, so start seriously looking at these customers and what their motivations are for buying such items in the first place. Ideally it would be great if it could be prohibited for anyone other than law enforcement to buy body armor/tactical gear but then (just like with guns) you Americans would be up in arms about restricted freedoms, etc. When do freedoms end and actual preservation of life begins?
2
I don't get upset or angry when 1) people commit suicide by gun, 2) gang members shoot each other to death, and 3) criminals are killed when trying to do wrong. I so get upset and angry after innocents, including law-abiding citizens and school children, get shot. The focus should be on protecting the innocents (since guns are not going away), and the deaths of those in groups 1 - 3 should be considered a net benefit to society. Protecting those who deserve it, no matter the cost, has to be the priority!!!
1
@Andrew Seems sort of backwards Andrew. You're saying lock up the innocents to save/protect them, and let the gunbearers roam free.
You completely misunderstood, Nance. Protecting innocents, by, for example, having metal detectors at all schools, office buildings, shopping malls and movie theaters, would be a decent start. Anywhere where groups gather.
Senator Burr,
Since you are about to retire and may be replaced with a shooting gallery owner, we're wondering if we might prick your conscience the least little bit following back to back mass shootings -- one a hate crime targeting neighborhood servant leaders and the unspeakable tragedy of targeting schoolchildren in Texas. We have three grandchildren from 5 to 8 years old. Surely, as you look towards retirement from the Senate, protecting children and elders from deranged young men from being gunned down would be among your highest priorities. Sending prayers doesn't cut it -- it never did.
Certainly, you can have some appreciation that our grandchildren need not go to school with the fear that they'll be locked in their rooms while a madman prowls the hallway stepping over dead bodies. Why don't we have a more stringent background check law? Why, when assault weapons were banned and gun violence and deaths declined, did you and your colleagues lift that ban? Why would you not reinstate it immediately? -- break the filibuster and pass what the vast majority of Americans want to have happen. You don't have to worry anymore about NRA contributions. You can simply leave a legacy of doing what's right for our country and for our children and grandchildren's future.
2
I suspect that prayers from people who enable mass killings of children don't count for much with whoever's supposed to hear them.
6
Well, we know one thing - the "thoughts and prayers" approach is silly, ridiculous, but provides lots of cover for right wing politicians. I don't think pandemics, climate change or guns give two cents about thoughts and prayers. It does make our country appear utterly ludicrous.
6
A picture is worth a thousand words. Publish the uncensored photos of what these kids look like after being shot so the magnitude of the tragedy can be fully understood. Its not the photos of the grieving parents, or the cops standing around or the selfie pics of the shooter that matter. It's not the prayers for the victims and thier families that will change anything. Rather, see what an AR-15 round or a 9mm round does to the body of a 10 year old kid - and then explain to me why we can't legislate better gun controls laws in this country.
5
Just wanted to point out that "Liberals" are criticized here for not "marketing" correctly. "Conservative" and "Republican" does not appear in the text.
3
The Second Amendment is an 18th century anachronism.
6
@Dr--Bob It has also been interpreted incorrectly by the Supreme Court. Another perfect reason for Biden to "pack" the court.
1
The one thing we know doesn't work to reduce gun violence: prayer.
10
@John It seems "thoughts" don't have much bearing either.
2
‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens
(Headline too often used by “The Onion”)
4
I will try again; since my first angry response was obviously too insensitive for approval. The frustrations for those who have been screaming for decades now about the insanity of gun violence in America is beyond a boiling point. Since nothing seems to penetrate the wall of silence and acceptance of the inevitable and needless endless carnage of gun violence in the good old U.S.A. has still failed to reach the "critical mass" that is needed to destroy the evil that is the N.R.A. and it`s ilk is so sickening words fail me. The words and images of Steve Kerr; coach of the Golden State Warriors should burn into the psyche of every American. But sadly and pathetically it won`t.; because you really can`t fix stupid. How many more America? What is it going to take? Just how bad does it have to be? The answer is apparently in the words of Bob Dylan, "Blowing In the Wind!"
7
@Greg Hodges A lot of us here are on your side, Greg. Thanks for re-wording and getting your thoughts posted :)
2
Living in Florida, I see a daily display of gun worship in the form of window decals of assault weapons on trucks.
Almost always on big, menacing, jacked-up trucks.
Perhaps the phenomenon of the insecure American male contributes to the gun proliferation problem.
4
@Robert FL
"Insecure" is too polite a word. "Cowardly" fits this particular citizen group much better.
2
@JDStebley I like "fearful".
1
What ‘ere the right to bear arms is
We cannot bear the cost
To see the children on the ground,
To count, again, lives lost
3
America, what do you expect when you keep voting for the politicians that you do?
6
@Woody We're not necessarily voting for the politicians we get (some people are, of course). A lot of things make our vote not count, or count properly, like extreme gerrymandering, closing poll locations early, not allowing people who are supposed to be allowed to vote to do so, not voting directly for certain political offices, etc. It's easy to think "America you're doing this dumb thing so what do you expect?" but that's really not the whole story.
2
The GOP and the forced birth Supreme Court believe freedom is the right to mass killings.
Biden should sign an executive order banning automatic weapons. He should sign it today.
4
I’d like to say I’m shocked but I’m not…..my wife is American and we have travelled many times to visit family and friends. I have seen one gun in Australia (discounting law enforcement) and that was a police officer friend….in one trip to America I saw 4 guns in 2 weeks, including police intervention in one case.
It has come to the point where I am no longer willing to travel to the USA…it is barbaric and sickening!
The moment I step foot in the USA, I am 22 times more likely to be murdered (this stat discounts suicide)….there are plenty of beautiful countries in the world to travel to where life is respected and laws enacted to represent that.
I would happily invite my American friends to visit me here but I’m afraid the USA is more or a war zone than a democracy.
5
Arrest Abbott and the members of Congress who refuse to eliminate the selling of guns in the US and charge them all with murder.
3
this is the society republicans have built for us.
7
We have the right to bear arms that take lives, but not the right to health care. Right to life???? We Americans are trying hard to go extinct.
3
America is not ready to end Gun Violence...not as long as 'Everyone' is weaponized.
The hold of the NRA, the Republican political party, and other such 'interested' groups on the 2nd Amendment, in which they 'scream' their 'Right' (whatever the H that is) to own and use weapons for 'Self Defense' (why-ever that is--yet, another diatribe), and their hold on 'governance' of current-day America will continue to blame the problem on 'Mentally ill' and 'Irresponsible' 'Individuals,' rather than tackling the problem At The Core: Take Away Their Weapons.
No Weapons = No Mass Murder.
I know I'll receive a lot of 'flack' for that statement, that is expected; but 'People' cannot be expected to behave and be sensible: It's not en-cultured, and perhaps cannot be so.
Then, you will have those who say: "Look at Ukraine. What if another country invaded the USA, how are we to response (viz: the 2nd Amendment right to bear arms and protect). Well, we do have an Army, we do have a Police force, National Guard, etc, etc, etc.
The BASE problem, is Culture, and that's nigh impossible to change. But, that's where change is sorely needed; but Culture is an historical seed that 'Evolves.'
2
Time for a Cheney-style phrase: "We will have more school shootings because Republicans don't care". Keep repeating it every chance you get.
4
It's not the guns that kill, it's the AMMUNITION! Limit ammunition and you stop this madness.
"America has been shaken"
America barely notices.
1
Let's extend the definition of abortion to the killing of any child under 18. Problem solved.
All these infographics are nice, but sadly Kristof has to keep them always readily available, you know, for the next time.
1
The racism, anger, ignorance, conspiracy theories, misogyny, homophobia, and most of all victimhood promoted by the Republican party and metastasized by social media killed those little children in Texas. That’s the sad truth here—a major political party is sinking our democracy by appealing to, even celebrating, our lowest thoughts and behaviors, all the while encouraging ownership of high-powered weaponry. They keep the rich richer while distracting everyone else with bogus culture wars and an arsenal of lies.
3
One immediate solution: NEVER, EVER VOTE FOR A REPUBLICAN OR LIBERTARIAN.
There's your immediate resource--get rid of them.
6
The fact that this article, written five years ago, is relevant today is proof that our country cares more about guns than children. Don't tell me Texas is a prolife state. They're pro-unborn-life. Once out of the womb, every child is a target in this gun-obsessed state.
4
Glad to see our nation's sympathy and outrage. The next mass shooting will probably happen within a couple of weeks.
1
To Amend: to change the words of a text, especially a law or a legal document.
To those who love the 2nd amendment, if you love the concept of amendment so much, you should be open to change. A responsible response to regular mass shootings would be to recognize that this clause is clearly not working. Proof? Though violence exists everywhere in the world, only in America does it exist on this scale and with this frequency. It happens here because we’re literally rolling in guns.
So, before you and your family don your Santa hats, best smiles and your ARs for the annual Christmas card, remember that you’re not celebrating the enshrinement of a right to bear arms. You are celebrating the right to offer thoughts and prayers for the very damage you cause.
3
The 2nd Amendment calls for a "well regulated militia." Frankly, I have never seen a more poorly regulated militia than the one that is massacring our children.
3
Well written. I think it is important to stop lumping "gun violence" as a single category. This pits gun owners against disarmers and accomplishes little.
We need to separate out, for individual approaches, hot-head homicides; gang violence; mass shootings; and so on.
Why are so many of our young people killing others? What is wrong with the hearts and minds of America's youth that turns them into mass killers?
2
@Lee Bukai Lack of education.
Assault weapons should be banned except in the army.
2
Texans are a failure at gun control and law enforcement. Kristof is on target and hits the bullseye.
2
If there were as much focus by pro-lifers on formulating firearm regulations as there is on denying abortion rights we might actually get somewhere.
SCOTUS??? What say you?
1
Good luck with protection of the unborn more important than protection for the born. Sick politics and shamed country.
3
I have decided it is our own citizens who are to blame. The US has become an indifferent evil society riddled with inconsistencies and waning intelligence. The internet has made idiots artificially "smart." We had Sandy Hill and nothing was done. We now have to fear children don't die of diseases that are preventable and fear for their safety at school?! Same thing. We wonder about how a racist could shoot up a grocery store when a raging racist was president. I doubt anything will change. It is media outlets/Facebook who also bear some of the blame. I really don't want opinions I want facts. I used to know a handful of peoples opinions now I have access to millions. This adds to the indifference because the facts aren't apparent. We need 3 choices: like, dislike and think about it!
1
I know it's a reprise, but dare I hope for Nick Kristof's return to The Times?
3
Here is what Ted Cruz said yesterday:
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Senator Ted Cruz, Republican of Texas, blamed Democrats “and a whole lot of folks in the media” for rushing to “try to restrict the constitutional rights of law-abiding citizens.”
And that's all you need to know about why nothing will EVER get done when it comes to gun legislation. He and his fellow Republicans are nothing but a bunch of cowards.
8
@Ben Right ... and don't forget to tune in to the NRA convention this weekend, when Mr. Cruz will get a 2nd chance.
The GOP does not care about children after they are born. Nothing will come of this, there is no hope or solace that any laws will be passed or improved. If nothing was done when 20 white children were killed, the GOP surely will do nothing when 18 brown children are killed. According to the GOP..."this is a people problem not a gun problem"
1
"In the nearly decade-long stretch between Sandy Hook and Buffalo and Uvalde, congressional efforts to change gun policies in any significant way have repeatedly failed...
" Greg Abbott on twitter a couple of years ago: I'm EMBARRASSED: Texas #2 in nation for new gun purchases, behind CALIFORNIA. Let's pick up the Texans. @NRA
No words. Just a scariest country with AR-15?
There were more guns in this country than people, and cars.
Michael Moore just said: "We have to repeal the 2nd amendment"
He also said that founders would never pass it, if they could imagine what would happen in this country as far as military weapons are sold and promoted by the NRA.
Moore:
"We love our guns more than we love our children"
Gov. Abbott made it easy for everyone to get a gun.
19 children and 2 teachers were killed.
90% of American citizens support universal background checks.
"America's Hands are Full of Blood" https://www.theatlantic.com › ideas › archive › 2022/05 12 hours ago — America's Hands Are Full of Blood.
Amid our pain and grief, we must face a bitter truth. By David Frum.
If we want our children and grandchildren alive, vote accordingly!
trump is going to address NRA members at the 2022 NRA annual meetings and Exhibits in Houston, Texas https://www.nraila.org/articles/20220512/president-trump-to-speak-at-2022-nra-annual-meeting
Yes the biggest NRA fan. More death, more pain, more chaos. It doesn't happen in any civilized country.
3
Outlaw all automatic and semi-automatic firearms. No one needs them either for "protection" or for hunting. Allow only legitimate hunting rifles (yes, gun lovers, you know very well what legitimate hunting rifles are) and guns that can fire only six rounds without reloading. If you tell me you need an AR15 for "protection," my question to you is "just how many people want to kill you?'
4
This silly "right to bear arms" has made the States one of the most violent countries in the developed world. There are too many unhinged people that can't be detected in time, so the best thing is to remove the guns. As long as the Republicans hold sway, there will continue to be shootings.
2
Eighty percent of Americans support sensible gun legislation. Who does Congress represent, the public or the NRA? When George Floyd was killed by the police there was national protest and outrage, I suggest we do the same now, march on our streets to Washington D.C. to demand something be done. The Senate is full of old men and women that were allowed to grow old while 10 yr olds have lost their life in an act of senseless carnage!!! How can they sleep at night while young kids are going to the cemetery
2
"In the nearly decade-long stretch between Sandy Hook and Buffalo and Uvalde, congressional efforts to change gun policies in any
significant way have repeatedly failed..."
Greg Abbott on twitter a couple of years ago:
I'm EMBARRASSED: Texas #2 in nation for new gun purchases, behind CALIFORNIA.
Let's pick up the Texans. @NRA
No words.
Just a scariest country
There were more guns in this country than people, and cars.
Michael Moore just said:
"We have to repeal the 2nd amendment"
He also said that founders would never pass it, if they could imagine what would happen in this country as far as military weapons are sold and promoted by the NRA.
Moore:
"We love our guns more than we love our children"
Gov. Abbott made it easy for everyone to get a gun.
19 children and 2 teachers were killed.
90% of American citizens support universal background checks.
"America's Hands are Full of Blood"
https://www.theatlantic.com › ideas › archive › 2022/05
12 hours ago — America's Hands Are Full of Blood. Amid our pain and grief, we must face a bitter truth.
By David Frum.
If we want our children and grandchildren alive, vote accordingly!
Trump is going to address NRA members at the 2022 NRA annual meetings and Exhibits in Houston, Texas
https://www.nraila.org/articles/20220512/president-trump-to-speak-at-2022-nra-annual-meeting
Yes the biggest NRA fan.
More death, more pain, more chaos.
It doesn't happen in any civilized country.
2
Why doesn't Texas go after gun violence with the same zeal it displays over abortion? Apparently a fetus is more important than a living human being.
3
Hollywood liberals who make movies glorifying violence are the most hypocritical people on the planet. Although, they pretend to be humanitarians, their movies encourage everyone in the country to own a gun. Just look at all the movies offered on your favorite streaming channel - dozens of movie posters with men and women holding or aiming their guns. It's ridiculous and it's sick. Entertainment? People mowing down other people with firearms? Society needs to change but it needs to start with Hollywood.
2
@Dean
ok, so its Hollywood's fault. You can sit this one out.
2
I agree that we need to control who can own a gun, as well as removing access to military type weapons. However, except for moving the age requirement to 21 none of the gun control proposals I have seen would have stopped the Uvalde shooter. Access to guns is too easy but the bigger question is where has our humanity gone. These young people that have done these types of things are getting their guidance from social media and certain music genres. Gun regulations will not change that. We need a return to strong family units that teach values and respect. We need to stop having children we do not intend to invest every day in nurturing and teaching them right from wrong.
This is a spectacular piece, and the logic is hard to argue with. I particularly like the automobile analogy which emphasizes it's not about banning, it's about increasing safety.
I would also make it a criminal offence to furnish a gun to a minor or to someone otherwise prohibited from carrying a weapon.
8
There should be an increased tax on guns and ammo. The money should be used to give schools the same level of protection given to the President. Until the adults can work this problem out, the children deserve safe schools.
4
We live in a stupid country gun manufacturers profits are more important than lives
6
Repel the 2nd Amendment !
1
I wonder how the gun lobby would react if masses of blacks and Muslims entered gun shows and started buying up all the weaponry.
7
@Smarmy
That's not a bad idea, if we could organize it ... I mean it's not as if their hypocrisy weren't already evident, but still.
1
@Smarmy Well, news in the cities tell pretty much this narrative in one regard.
1
And so "the more people that have guns, the fewer that will get shot!", cries an insane GOP. We are at the mercy of lunatics.
7
Nothing going to change. It’s America, it’s about money.
Fines, licenses, training. Or like most sensible people, you don’t need a gun.
And come on, be real, guns in America are to protect you from the brown and black citizens and for the brown and black citizens to protect them from the white ‘citizens’.
It’s basic racism. Until you expunge this acid from the body politic, guns are the answer for low information voters, Republicans.
The never ending civil war in America only to loose priority to American foreign civil wars to profit from.
A nation of lawyers twisting the world to the wishes of the Mercers and true Murdocks and the Thiels and Fox.
Love your child from conception to birth, free for all after that!
What a sick country!
5
Americans love their guns more than they love their children.
5
Honestly, I think the straw has broken this camel's back. I'm speechless. America is a sick, sick country.
5
@BSD I wish that were true but we said that at Sandy Hook and we said it at Columbine and we said it in Florida.
1
@MarniMarin “This camel’s back,” as in, me. My back, my spirit. The rest of it, Sandy Hook, Parkland, Columbine, Buffalo, etc etc, well, it’s all horrible, and it keeps happening. That’s our sickness, isn’t it?
1
AR15 and AK semi-automatics, clones of the fully automatic military versions, have no place on our streets and never did. Their only purpose is to kill lots of people very fast in a horrible manner.
You may like them, think they're cool, like to shoot them, hang them on your wall, collect them, trade them with other enthusiasts. You think they're fun...they're your recreation. They're not your right.
5
Maybe it is time for the public to see the true horror of these events. Pictures of the carnage, the shot-up kids, and blood would be upsetting beyond words. This is a slow-motion holocaust, and like the one in WWII, the photos had a huge impact in convincing people of the true depth of the evil. Kind of hard to defend assault weapons for 18-year olds amid pictures of dead kids.
3
So 2% of shootings involved AR-15 types? Totally misleading! What was the body count in that 2%?! The point about these military type weapons is that they are designed to kill a lot of people in a couple of seconds. Only the military should have access to these weapons. Don't use the stupid argument about using these for sport hunting. Ridiculous! If you want your meat all chopped up in the field take a grinder with you. I am for a law that sport hunters be limited to single shot weapons. That would be "sporting".
6
No other country on earth tolerates the slaughter of children in the defense of freedom. It is insanity - America, you are sick.
5
Just copy Australia. https://injuryprevention.bmj.com/content/12/6/365
1
Put down your guns and never pick them up again
2
Why don't we start take seriously the "well-regulated militia" aspect of the 2nd amendment rather than treating that phrase like a suggestion or after thought that doesn't need to apply to anyone's "right" to own a gun? Does anyone rally think our most current mass shooter would have been, at the time he bought his weapons/ammunition, "equipped" otherwise to be part of a well-regulated militia?
4
@LF
It's funny how conservatives are very opposed to "well regulating" ANYTHING ... except this mythical well-regulated militia, apparently.
Oh, and women's uteruses. They'll regulate the heck out of women's uteruses.
3
A surtax on ammunition might help. At least it could help fund the security measures schools, churches, and businesses are adding to protect their students and clients.
2
Every Republican has blood on his or her hands for the terrors, trauma, and anger that gun deaths cause.
1
Interesting article. I am a gun owner and a proponent of stricter regulation on the sale of guns. One glaring detail in this article is that in the public polling of suggested gun regulations the overwhelming of both gun owners and non-owners is not reflected in how these people eventually vote. The majority of them still vote for the politician beholden to the gun lobby and so no progress on gun regulation is made. Either the polling is faulty or people will say one thing and then vote against their best interest.
1
Masterful summary, thank you Mr. Kristof. There is little research on gun violence because gun rights organizations have systematically prevented money being spent on this essential public health emergency. That needs to change.
3
The depraved indifference by Republicans to the gun massacres they facilitate of children and citizens, while they vindictively defending clumps of cells in women's bodies is so absurdly typically of Republican ideology.
Instruments of mass murder have no business being on the streets of America. Weapons of war should only be available and restricted to gun ranges - where others have a chance to shoot back when misused.
Retrumplicans have taken the rights provided by our Constitution to perverse reckless extremes. A right taken to the absurd is not a right - it is stupid and dangerous.
5
The question I always want to ask politicians is: If you knew your child would be killed in a shooting would you still oppose gun control?
7
Just repeal the 2nd Amendment already. It's killing us.
2
Fat chance.
Every fetus is sacred. Yet any actual, breathing child is completely disposable. A sacrifice to the great God of the Second Amendment. God Bless America.
VOTE. For Democrats ONLY. Stop this slaughter.
6
@Phyliss Dalmatian
Also remember "in God we trust".
When an 18 year old goes into a gun store wants to buy two semi- automatic rifles and body armor ya think maybe the salesperson might want to call the local sheriff. Huh? Or if the same individual orders a rife and body armor on line maybe that company that has the shipping address might want to inform the local authorities. Huh? C’mon how stupid can those store owners or online companies be?
10
@jwgibbs Sadly, it's all about the money. Not the perceived consequences. Aargh.
See you in ten years.
1
Automobiles exist to transport people.
Guns exist to kill.
6
Well said.
Every time a horrid senseless shooting like this occurs I'm reminded that the 2nd amendment should have been removed as the 13th was added for it is a slave amendment - one made to prevent or repress a revolt by black slaves and arm settlers busy stealing Indian lands.
It is an anachronism. But huge profits are made from the manufacture of weapons and profits prove to be more important than lives. But after all don't we live in a capitalist society? Get rid of it before it gets rid of us! (www.slp.org)
5
It still baffles me that the 911 terrorists cooked up such an elaborate conspiracy to fly planes into buildings when all they had to do was come to America, buy up as many weapons as possible and simply go on tour massacring citizens. Perhaps they were afraid that Republicans would hail them as heroes for exercising their 2nd Amendment Rights.
1
We are dealing with a level of evil and corruption in politics like I never thought was possible in this country. I'm using the term "evil" deliberately, because these events are not happening by accident. The canned Republican response to this slaughter, and refusal to try ANY solution, is purely a matter of political calculation. What normal humans see as a devastating tragedy, Ted Cruz, Gov. Abbott, and the like see as yet another fundraising opportunity from the gun lobby. They are not idiots, but they have made a cold and calculating decision to excuse themselves from morality so that they can keep taxpayer funded jobs that feed their weak egos and make them feel important and powerful. If that's not evil, I don't know what is.
5
The Conservative GOD = Guns On Demand.
5
Like facts matter?
Let's talk about the NRA and money that is involved in it, the gun industry, and conservative politicians. Here's a historical POV:
https://heathercoxrichardson.substack.com/p/may-24-2022
Sound arguments. But the NRA will offer sound bites.
And we know that sound bites do not a sound mind nor sound policy make.
But you know, to smarten folks up you have to dumb the message down sometimes. Start with, 'Surely Jesus must hate guns.'
Let the NRA deal with hearing that repeated over and over again.
Apparently, new, vastly more lethal guns are coming or already here. The army asked for a more powerful weapon. The AR15 is about to be replaced by this new weapon. The XM5 will be available to the public very soon. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBuFeSz9AnI
One version is already on the market now. The video linked above is very technical. But the devastation of this weapon on a human body is going to take this devastation to an entirely new level.
Things fall apart.
1
Saw Ted Cruz on the news this morning. He said we need "more police at schools." My response to him would be "Hey Ted - how about FEWER guns????"
5
Refusing to make gun safety regulations an utmost priority leads to the late term abortions that occurred in Uvalde, TX yesterday.
2
This country is doomed. We have been consumed by hatred and lies much like pre-war Germany.
5
Here is why I no longer cross the border to go to the USA: way too dangerous country. One must expect another mass shooting in the next few days.
4
As long as Americans want freedom to own guns and kill as they please as a fundamental right, please don't call yourselves as a civilised nation.
6
Reprinting the 2017 opinion piece demonstrates why the situation is hopeless. In the past 5 years none of Kriistoff's suggested measures to reduce gun violence has been adopted. Nothing will change until the Republican party is swept out of government at all levels.Period
5
Excellent article. Not mentioned, but also deserving of more attention, is a greater role for local gun regulation. From a public health standpoint, detailed regulation of firearms needs to differ between a rural setting with low population density, an urban setting with high population density, and everything in between. Communities need to feel empowered to play a major part in improving this aspect of public health.
3
I have zero interest in hearing any more talk about "gun rights" unless it is more than matched by talk - backed up by action - about gun responsibility. With the exception of a very few articles such as this one, there has been a (literally) deathly silence about gun responsibility. This is not really a matter for legislation, either because the law can only hold people to account for a failure of responsibility after the fact. The promotion of responsibility must be proactive. It needs to be talked about, the people doing the talking need to walk the talk, and those who are irresponsible with firearms need to be called out by their family, friends, and community BEFORE the worst happens.
6
There’s no point wringing our hands. Nothing will change in my lifetime. I’ve been saying since November 2016 that this country will be paying for progressives’ decision to elect Donald Trump for the next 50 years. Environment, guns, women’s rights, you name it. Because progressives elected Trump, all we can do is watch the carnage. Oh well.
2
They are asking for DNA samples from relatives of the poor children who were killed. That means that the destruction inflicted was so severe that they are having problems identifying the victims.
I am an ex-military surgeon. The damage done by high velocity ammunition is horrific. It doesn't look anything like the antiseptic images you see in movies when a person is shot.
If I were a parent of one of the victims, I would want unedited pictures of the victims as they lay in the classroom displayed on the front page of every paper in the country. I would then want to have the pictures of all the major politicians supporting gun rights along with their their comments about the shooting just beneath it.
In my opinion, if people saw the utter horror that resulted from their inaction and meaningless platitudes about gun control, they would vote all these pro gun politicians out of office.
Absent such extreme measures this will just keep happening and pro gun politicians will keep escaping any consequences for their complicity in these repeated carnages.
31
Let’s carry the auto analogy one step further. Anyone who owns a gun must carry liability insurance on it. You can’t drive an uninsured car. You shouldn’t be able to shoot an uninsured gun.
17
The annual insurance premiums on firearms should be substantial. Those carrying uninsured weapons should spend some time in the cooler.
19
I wonder if it would help, in the states where ballots are party-specific, for democrats et al, to register as republicans and vote out self-serving senators?
1
Mr. Kristof does an excellent job overall of outlining the need to enact more gun safety laws around the country and including at the federal level. And we all have to demand that such action be taken by our elected officials. I take exception only with his comment about mass shootings not being "the main cause of loss of life." So what? We should demand gun safety laws that address ALL forms of gun violence, not create a competition between which is the worse kind of gun violence. It's all BAD and it is all a CHOICE our country has made to endure. Call your elected leaders and demand this change NOW. The 19 elementary students and 2 teachers mowed down in their classroom yesterday, in addition to all the tragic victims and their families of gun violence in this country, deserve that.
1
@Kudda I live in Texas, it would do no good to call my politician, you can hear them talk on TV: Ted Cruz, our governor, same ole offering of prayers and silence, yet they keep getting elected.
1
Children's rights are not guaranteed in the Constitution, but gun rights are. (Channeling Clarence Thomas)
Until such time as political leaders like Trump come out against these tragedies, and not just with token words of support or prayers, it will continue. Real action not lip service, but being a gun owner himself, don't hold your breath. Remember this is an ex-president who allegedly cheered on the violence on January 6th.
Until the Republican majority decide that enough is enough, it will be the definition of who America is at heart. Defined by the right wing here in the US.
It will most likely take an attack on Mara Lago, or a Home Depot where Mitch McConnell is shopping and his wife unfortunately getting shot (hopefully not to death) to hit close enough to home for action.
Until then, this is us, and there is less than nothing we can do about it while the republicans hold the Senate. The Supreme court is poised to expand gun rights in NY, not allowing the state to continue to curtail them as hey had.
Gun rights seem to be more important than a child's right to grow up in a safe and non-violent atmosphere to the party that controls the senate and the Supreme Court. There in lies the problem.
6
@Trebor Flow
With Msrs. Thomas, Roberts, Alito and the rest in charge, along with that nifty Judge Amy, children will never have rights if any kind, Constitutional or otherwise.
But I bet we could have rights for fetuses by dinner time today.
@Trebor Flow
TX Rep Ronny Jackson (R) says we need God back in schools. Apparently so the 6-7 year olds have somebody to pray to while they're being shot
1
Maybe start thinking outside the box. Instead of Democrats (and other sane humans) beating their heads against the wall trying to enact and enforce stricter gun control laws, leave that aside temporarily and start examining other commonalities in these shootings and mass school shootings.
PART 1: Over and over, it seems social media clues are left in advance by the shooter before he goes on his massacre. This is what's called "a cry for help", let's not kid ourselves otherwise. The FBI need to form a permanent task force that 24/7 monitors sites (and not just the usual Facebook, Tiktok, Twitter, Instagram) and picks up on clues that there may be a potential shooter about to act. It's happened too many times now - and now with alarming frequency (hardly a week goes by...) - to ignore this valuable resource for culling out potential shooters. It still honestly mystifies me when I hear after the fact that friends were aware of the shooter's weird social media activity in the days preceding a massacre (or were aware shooter had an arsenal of weapons stashed) and no law enforcement were notified beforehand. How do these "friends" live with themselves after, knowing they could have alerted police to possible suspicious activity and possibly prevented lives being lost?
2
The correlation between the number of guns, lack of regulations and number of deaths is clear. What is missing is public discussion that breaks through the silence, numbness and lies perpetuated by the NRA and its ownership of Republicans. This article is a good source for discussion! There is a serious disconnect in America among people who say they support gun regulations and their acts of support leaders that perpetuate the demonic problem of gun violence, now the leading cause of death for America's children. We must start with our experience concerning the facts on the ground, all around us. Without public dialogue, and awareness we will be watching the increase of this death in our schools, places of worship, stores, theaters, and places of entertainment. Thank you for shedding some light on our current state of America's insanity over guns and the self inflicting death of our citizens.
4
Mr. Kristof’s “model” of automobile safety regulation is not persuasive. It was not until 1968 that manufacturers were required to equip cars with seat belts. And no state even required their use until 1984, when NY became the first state to do so. Moreover, airbags did not become mandatory until 1998. Despite this, we nevertheless see a more or less continuous decline in deaths from the 1940s. The national speed limit law, in effect from 1974-1995, was enacted as a fuel saving measure and its effect on saving lives has been a matter of debate. Given the continuous fall in auto deaths that began well before enactment of any of these regulations, it seems unlikely that the observed trend is tied to these regulations.
@Hanoch The point being that making cars safer, whether because of a regulatory requirement or not, has worked to decrease deaths involving cars. The only people protesting making cars safer were likely the manufacturers/dealers themselves, because it usually upped the cost of the car itself.
On the other hand, almost no one's been making guns "safer" since 1950. In some cases, they've been made more lethal. In fact, the NRA has fought nearly every attempt to make guns safer. They've lobbied hard against gun safety measures such bump stocks, safe storage, any age limits, and across the board background checks.
4
@Hanoch
And you are wrong. First of all, seatbelts were mandated in cars in the early 1960's. Secondly, deaths didn't steadily decline after the 1940's, they declined in response to changes in car design mandated by regulations. Things like safety glass, padded dashboards, crumple zones, collapsible steering collumns, all decreased deaths. Airbags being mandated caused a huge decline in road deaths. The 3 point harness helped. Then, too, mandatory seat belt laws (fought against by the same nuts that fight against gun regulations).
Want to know a big one? Making DUI a serious penalty. A guy my dad worked with went to a company event, got plastered and killed someone driving drunk. He got like 4 months in jail, had his license suspended for 2 years and had like 5 years probabation and a fine (obviously, his insurance had to pay out big time) back in the late 70's. When they lowered the DUI level and increased penalties the number of deaths plummeted.
Among other things, there needs to be responsibility around guns and what happens to them. Today, in many states, you can own guns, sell them into the black market, and if they get traced back, say "I must of lost them or had them stolen"...they have 0 requrements to report guns stolen or missing. Have liability, a gun you bought is used in a crime and you haven't reported it, you are considered an accomplice (that is done with cars by the way; if your car is stolen&you don't report it&is used in a crime,u are liable)
@Hanoch It's ridiculous to argue that seat belts didn't reduce auto deaths. Look at the graph. Specifically the steep decline in deaths after their required use in 1968. The decline is gradual because safer cars were gradually replacing unsafe ones. The steep decline immediately after the war can be explained by Detroit going back to car production, and the quick replacement of broken down pre-war cars. I'm afraid you are bending over backwards to avoid the obvious conclusion: government mandated safety features have made driving safer.
I hope that critics against a technical solution would acknowledge that guns and their ammunition for mass consumption are currently extremely low technology. As an engineer in the aerospace field, pursuing a technical solution seems a viable path out of the stalemate with the gun culture.
A conceptual solution is an RF disable feature that prevents gun operation (ideally the ammunition is disabled) in public places. In other words, churches, retail stores, schools, malls, concert venues or any other gatherings of people would have a local signal that prevents ammunition operation. The weapon would still work outside of the public venue. Weapons for authorities would be immune to the disabling signal. The underlying assumption is that it would be technically challenging to fabricate your own ammunition or modify ammunition that can evade the disabling signal.
Would it cost the legal gun owner more money to purchase the technically advanced ammunition? Let them whine about that, while we reap the reward of not worrying about death at the supermarket.
7
I support licensing the owner and the firearm, as suggested herein. I have the requisite driver’s license, motorcycle endorsement, a pilot’s license with instrument endorsement, all my cars and airplanes were appropriately licensed and certified repeatedly. One is required to have a license to operate certain radios, your dog has a license to control rabies risk to the overall population. Your doctor and medications are certified. It is the risk to the overall population that drives all the above licensing requirements.
Background checking isn’t painful for those with no issues. As a once-holder of a Top Secret clearance, it was mandatory. I’ve had about 7 fairly extensive background checks for certain jobs. None of that was painful or intrusive. If you can’t pass, no guns; "Well Regulated"
Training is a key issue with firearms; during my early, rural years, a hunting license required safety training; I’m a fan of training. It had been the case once that parents/community monitored young people as they learned shooting sports. No more, a huge change. As a Staff Sergeant in the Army, I had extensive training in small unit weapons. That was rigorous, but civilian safety training need not be.
Individual licensing of the owner and the weapon should be a requirement. As to assault weapons, I just don’t see how it and competent marksmanship, once our ideal, are similar. I don’t have one. If this madness goes on though, I might need one apparently. I’d prefer that not be the case
6
These are all very nice ideas, Mr. Kristof. But with or without the precautions suggested, good people are not at all likely to walk into a supermarket or church or school and kill people. For too many politicians, on the other hand, 19 dead children is just the price for keeping the campaign funds for re-election flowing into their coffers. (Same etymology as "coffin" by the way -- a box for keeping something valuable, whether it is NRA money to support re-election, or the body of your beloved child). The United States is the only country in the world that, before the bodies of innocent children are even laid to rest, politicians will say the solution to this is more guns. Everyone should have guns and then we can all have a big shoot out and kill each other. -- politicians suggest the "good guys" will always win. The guard at the Tops market in Buffalo did not win. My suggestion is we stop electing these people! I don't even understand why such people got elected in the first place. They are okay with hate-filled madmen buying guns to shoot and kill innocent people at will. Read Matthew 27:24. Pontius Pilate ultimately okays the execution of Jesus, but then conveniently washes his hands of it. Speaking to the crowd Pilate says, "I am innocent of this man's blood. It is your responsibility." Yesterday and today's papers are filled with statements by politicians washing their hands of responsibility. Our responsibility? Don't re-lect them!
6
Parents of shooting killers should be imprisoned. These killers are terrorists and their families that raised them should be held accountable as they are in other countries. Potential killers might be thwarted if they realized the consequences for their own kind. We might enact all kinds of gun safety laws, but there are still millions of military weapons where they don't belong..They need to be swept out of public use or somehow rendered inoperable as rapid firing killing machines. Their manufacturers should bear the expense of such a mandated, and if necessary militarily enforced, law.
But I guess I am dreaming.
5
Yes, rerunning this will no doubt finally get everyone on the same page. The definition of insanity...
2
We are a country that is okay with children being murdered because we really never do anything meaningful to prevent it.
We are a country that is okay with children being murdered.
We are a country that is okay with children being murdered.
8
You just need a ‘NOT’ in your Bill of Rights. The right to keep and bear arms in the United States is NOT a fundamental right. That’s it. We in Great Britain amend or abolish old statutes that aren’t useful or are a menace without too much fuss. Try it.
9
@Peter
England has the advantage that its constitution is not written, so judicial precedent becomes law along with statutory law. 26 years ago there was a brutal slaying in the UK, mass shooting, the UK banned AR15's and the like, and have had 0 shootings like this since.
In the US amending the constitution is difficult. It requires 3/5 of both houses of congress to pass the amendment (which in the Senate, would mean 60+ votes; given that majorities are slim in the Senate, unlikely to pass that), then has to go to 3/4's of the states. Due to the way the US is made up, we have a lot more more rural, less populated states that count equally in this equation, and many of them are gun nut central who want absolutely no rules around guns. It took their hero, Saint Reagan, getting shot for even the Brady bill to pass, requiring a federal background check.
Put it this way, if we could vote on gun control as a national referendum based on population based on Kristof's polling we could pass reasonable legislation that way, but the Supreme Court, that is now in the hand of the fascists, will argue that the 2nd amendment forbids any kind of regulation of guns, so that would go down in flames (plus we don't have national referendums).
1
As if the Public health approach isn't the Liberal approach. Otherwise, thank you.
4
@News watcher Yes. Everything he is recommending is what liberals have been arguing for years. He needed to throw in that scolding to sound bipartisan.
Guns and daily murders is an American cultural trait, and we must all get used to the idea that we will be the next victims. Defenders say that this is what keeps the country strong, on its feet, and killings keep people going to churches for fellowship and solace.
So the dems should get over trying to reduce this unique american feature. Instead NY times should be giving awards for the largest mass shootings every year.
America is a violent country and Americans love guns. There is a reason why the NRA is so powerful here. The carnage will never stop. The support in the 21st century of the Second Amendment is so archaic every modern society laughs at us.
8
@salvatore denuccio
With all do respect, that view is a bit out of whack. Yes, the US has 300 million guns, but it isn't uniform. You would think from those numbers that most Americans own guns, but currently it is about 1/3rd the population (same percent that ardently supports Donald Trump, not a coincidence). The kind of gun ownership you are talking about is centered in the more rural areas of the US, the south and midwest, and the mentality there is among other things that they are going to use guns to fight tyranny. Population wise, 2/3rds of America doesn't own guns and most of them favor rational gun control laws.
Unfortunately, thanks to the GOP and the gun industry, the country is being controlled by 1/3rd the popultion and the Supreme Court is a direct arm of the GOP these days, so likely the gun craziness will go on and on. If there is one silver lining, most of the shootings we are talking about are kind of karma, they hit people the hardest in states with lax gun laws/gun nut states. Texas seems to average one mass shooting per year on this scale alone, Florida isn't far behind.
How The People of the USA are handling gun, election, and abortion issues, just to cite three, does not instill much confidence in those who favor Democracy/self rule over authoritarianism.
Maybe Donny and Vlad are onto something.
2
Is there a way to widely publicize this information beyond New York Times readers? All Americans need to read it.
Producers in Hollywood should think carefully about the use of gun violence as entertainment. IMHO it's evidence of a sick society.
2
Everything will be said.
Nothing will be done.
7
Gun proliferation (which is hardly "pro-life") is but one manifestation of the industries which profit by peddling fantasies of violence and death to the American people. Take a look at our entertainments, take a look at our discourse, and you will see the reflection of a depraved heart.
3
To our Senate and House "representatives" and those that pretend to represent us.
On this issue Lead,(fix it), Follow(support those that do fix it), or Get out of the way (resign or be forced out of office and society).
There is no excuse for your hypocracy in this. Are you not shamed by your selfishly motivated inaction? Apparently not..,you appear to have sold out the country long ago on so many matters.
2
ask politicians point-blank what are their position on gun control or if they receive money from the gun lobby. Kick out any democrat who does. this is a winnable issue to avoid MAGA´s return...
Great article! yes let's get started.
Why not simply resolve to amend the anachronistic 2nd Amendment and allow guns only to police and the military?
To say it cannot be done because of the “gun lobby” is simply an unacceptable excuse. America, it’s time to stop acting like a banana republic, get it done to avoid more senseless massacres...a concerned Canadian neighbour...good luck.
2
As usual, a comprehensive, deep , fact-filled, right-on take on a major crisis.
If such outstanding commentary could stop this idiocy, this would be it.
But the internal civil war is heating up, and even the very best writing may not be able to stop it.
2
Photographs of the crime scene should be made public. MAYBE the horror will change some minds.
6
A good man with a gun.? Ask the family in Buffalo who just lost a man who was a security guard in Tops. Ask the teacher who was shielding her class from the shooter. How is she supposed to do both- protect her kids and shoot an intruder. They are both dead
3
Meh, I've seen these stats so many times. Politicians in the US just look the other way. Sad really. The mass shootings will continue to happen until there is REAL change by politicians. In order to get there, ya gotta vote out the gun-loving crazies and appoint common sense rational people all over the country in every state. Like that is happening anytime soon with the current political climate.
Require gun owners to buy insurance, just like car owners need to do.
5
Mr. Kristof I suggest that you and John Lott make a deal and write a joint paper. Find common ground. That would be a useful and informative document.
Here is the truth......out of 50 GOP Senators they can't muster up 10 GOP Senators to say enough is enough.
Somebody needs to obtain and publish the crime scene photos of those children.
This alone will be too much for even the GOP to overcome.
3
@Prometheus Nope, they'd just call it fake news. As we speak they're probably calling the Uvalde massacre a false flag operation. The fact that Americans keep voting these people into office shows they don't want change.
1
I think it time the GOP SCOTUS mullahs go back and re-read the second amendment: "A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed." Our founding fathers chose their words carefully in writing the constitution. If they intended for any and all to have unlimited rights to keep and bear arms, why the introductory language about a well regulated militia? But until SCOTUS recognizes and corrects their misguided interpretation of the second amendment, which continues to cause mayhem, bloodshed, and death, we need congress to act on the Democrats' gun safety legislation and get it signed into law. Hey, GOP, here's an opportunity to show your "pro-life" credentials!
1
I have actually written to Mr. Kristof about using how we regulate access to and improve the safety of automobiles as a model for gun safety. Clearly, after the shooting on May 24, 2022 in Uvalde, TX the time to do something about the number and access to guns has long since passed. We need to act.
1
After years of resisting I just went through training and applying for concealed carry. Not only were the trainers not qualified to teach gun safety but all of my so called class mates couldn’t hit the broad side of a barn. I was alarmed, the person instructing us was mentally deranged and signed off on everyone. I witnessed one woman that couldn’t even hit an 8 inch target with 30 rounds from 7 paces. These are the people carrying in Michigan?
2
One easily obtained goal: body armor should be restricted only to law enforcement. There is no reason the average citizen should have access to the means to protect himself while he goes out to mow down others.
It won't prevent suicides or domestic homicides, but it could have stopped the guys who look to assault crowds of people, large or small.
2
@Curious Onlooker Yes! I have been wondering why this has been overlooked for so long.
All good ideas. I'd add, full liability for gun owners. Once you own a gun and it is in your possession, you are 100% responsible for it's disposition. That goes for parents and children as well. Afraid it might get stolen? You're too irresponsible to own a gun if you are unable to secure it.
Of course, all of this is a fantasy as long as Republicans celebrate every mass shooting as a triumph for "freedom" and their perverse and sick interpretation of the Second Amendment.
7
The way to reduce shootings is to get rid of your guns.
It's up to the American people to decide which is more important: their guns, or their children's lives. America has chosen guns, over and over and over and over and over.
GET. RID. OF. YOUR. GUNS. There is no such thing as a "responsible" gun owner. The only thing you're responsible for is the slaughter of children.
Get rid of your guns.
3
So far, the Supreme Court has only said that there is a Constitutional right - with conditions - to have a handgun at home. And that was in a Constitutionally defective decision in which the Court - shocker! - exempted itself from the deadly effects of its obscene decision in which it actually said that nearly half the words in the amendment were meaningless. At this point Pres. Biden should declare a national safety emergency, nationalize the gun industry, seize the manufacturers and every brick and mortar seller, jam the gun websites, destroy all inventory of non-handgun firearms (but allow a trade-in of non-handgun firearms and any >1 owned firearm), ban outdoor gun shows, put a member of the armed forces in every gun store, scrutinize all gun store records (if any!) for crimes, institute mandatory background checks, put metal detectors at every US public school and public housing unit, search the homes and businesses of any parolees of violent crimes, put the NRA and everyone affiliated with it on trial for fraud, and declare that the Justice Department will treat any gun-related crime effective immediately as a domestic terrorism attack and a capital crime. Any state that refuses to cooperate shall be treated as if it has declared war on the United States. NO EXCEPTIONS. NO PLEA BARGAINS. NO PAROLE. NO PARDONS. Last, ask the Supreme Court to hold its NYS open-carry decision. If it refuses, arrest Alito for denying a Muslim death row inmate access to a spiritual adviser.
2
Sad that I am reading this same article once again. When will our elected officials get their acts together?
3
Oh, I've read this a couple times now, as the paper keeps publishing it when there's a horrific gun massacre. Nothing changes. It's maddening. Our national sores fester, but democratic processes are locked down by the flaws written into the constitution, a kind of fail safe that does not allow it to change with the times or with the will of the people. It's like we are gladiators compelled to keep fighting to the death. No way out.
1
I do think there is a lot of merit in the simple idea of restriction outlined here. But I do continue to wonder what is going on in our psyche that these killing sprees are becoming so repetitive. I am not suggesting for a second that guns don't kill people. But this kind of mass killing has a kind of psychotic extravagance that seems to be so American. It is guns, but it is something else too.
1
Once again, the same ideas are trotted out after this despicable event, and next week, after the next despicable slaughter, the same ideas will be proposed once more.
Increased gun regs haven't gained traction before, and they won't tomorrow. Analogies to cars & expressions of compassion cannot overcome FEAR and that is the backbone of the pro gun community. It is believed that gun regulation of any kind will limit access to guns (so they fear) and those guns are needed for their survival when the mongrel hordes trample their ranch in Dakota or home in backwoods Tennessee. The NRA encourages that fear, just like FOX feeds the racism fear, which is identical to Trump who feeds any fear that leads to power and increased campaign contributions.
Until the sponsors of fear and hatred are brought to justice, the increasing crime, racism, and shootings will not subside. And as long as AG Garland is in office, no crime boss will be brought to justice. In fact, Garland had the reverse effect. BECAUSE of Garland's failure to indict the King Pins of Jan 6th, they become ever more brazen. One of them is extolled by a brutal dictator from Europe.
Crazed men with automatic weapons believe they are doing God's work. If Biden wants to reverse this terrible trend, he will fire Garland and hire a capable AG whose not afraid to go after the crime bosses.
3
After reading about the miserable childhood of the Texas school shooter I think Kristof left out one of the most important recommendations: helping children who are continuously bullied to the point that they ultimately explode into horrible violence, before they crack up. The Texas shooter's tragic childhood had red flags all over it: no father, drug user mother, speech problems leading to bullying by other kids - where was the help he needed?
2
Where are the photos? Photos of the Vietnam war shocked people enough to take to the streets. As horrible as it sounds, media should be running (with parents permission) photos of the murdered children, before and after. Shove the losses in the public's face. Run the photos next to photos of gun company CEOs and the politicians who take their money.
5
The GOP will do anything to protect a clump of cells in a woman's body but not one thing to protect little children in a classroom or people in a church or a supermarket or on a subway or, in fact, anywhere.
6
A reasoned analysis by Kristof but the GOP and the right wing absolutists will not have it.
America is very sick, awash in a culture of what I call, gundamentalism and ammosexuality.
It is a religion to this cult.
Our "leaders" are feckless bureaucrats worshipping at the alter of the NRA, weapons and ammunition manufacturers and most importantly, their erroneous interpretation of the 2nd amendment.
This carnage will continue and NO, prayers are NOT the answer.
NOR is buying more weapons.
Let's be honest about this, America in its current iteration, deserves this carnage.
5
All of this.
But until someone opens fire at an NRA meeting, it doesn't feel like anything will change.
2
@MK Honestly, even that will change nothing.
Another hard truth is this: We are without doubt the most violent country in the world. And these mass murderers are not alone in their heinous deeds. They are abetted by full cooperation and assistance from their co-murderers, who happen to be elected members of our very congress, as well as of state legislatures, together with the NRA organization, the weapon industry and their lobbyists. We can stop these most of these monsters at the ballot box, any time we wish. But make no mistake: These congressional and state co-murderers must be called out for the criminals that they are and have been all along. So ironic that the "lone gunman" killers don't rush into private, elite schools instead of public ones to do their killing. Maybe if they did, the laws could possibly change? Think about that.
4
Require gun owners to have insurance, just like we do for cars.
2
I have even less hope now that these reasonable policies will ever be enacted than I did before the recent killings. After Sandy Hook, it seemed impossible that nothing would change, but it didn't. Children? It's OK to massacre children without doing anything/everything we can to prevent it? I guess so, if you're a republican. The blood of these children is on the hands of all who would rather stick it to the libs than enact reasonable gun safety policies. Our hearts break again and again and I feel helpless to stop the killings.
4
Ban the manufacture and sale of semi -automatic weapons.
3
This is asinine. The comparison of automobile regulation and gun control is over-simplified and inherently false. People need cars, especially in the US where mass transportation, unlike other developed countries, in unavailable. Guns serve one purpose and one purpose only: to put a bullet into something or someone. Assault rifles, which are used in EVERY mass shooting whose scope is as horrific as the most recent one in this Texas school, serve only one purpose: to kill as many people as quickly and efficiently as possible. They're not hunting or sporting firearms. They inherently and superfluously dangerous to be used as self-defense. Their sole reason for existence is slaughter.
He's correct that firearms need to be more strongly regulated but not at the level of automobiles. That doesn't even come close to what is needed. You cannot regulate a device whose sole purpose is to kill to be less deadly. You regulate it so that it is less accessible and so that the most deadly firearms are solely in the hands of trained military personnel and no one else.
1
I was in 8th grade when Columbine happened; in college when Va Tech happened; a third-year teacher when Sandy Hook happened; now a parent of a kindergartner when Uvalde happened yesterday.
All of the facts and figures Kristoff cites should move the United States to enact gun control measures... if we were dealing with a rational, logical, intelligent, and empathetic citizenry.
But we're not in the USA. Nothing will happen, and so these shootings will keep happening. So, this morning I explained to my 6 year-old child what to do if a shooter entered her school building. Run, hide, pretend to be asleep.
What a pathetic country this is.
4
Stricter gun laws are needed. But the real culprit in perpetuating mass shootings is the media. This was identified after the Buffalo racist shootings https://13wham.com/news/local/mass-shooting-expert-naming-vs-not-naming-the-accused-buffalo-gunman
and in the Wall Street Journal's 2017 "How Not to Cover Mass Shootings"
A quote from the WSJ article:
"In 2016, psychologist Peter Langman published an astonishing chart showing the web of influence extending out just from the 1999 Columbine shooting. To follow just one thread: The Columbine shooters were described as “martyrs” by the 2007 Virginia Tech Shooter, who was in turn admired by the 2008 Northern Illinois University shooter, who was in turn closely studied by the 2012 Newtown shooter, who was in turn referred to as “godlike” by the 2015 Umpqua Community College shooter."
The incidents should definitely receive media coverage but should focus on victims and first responders.
According to gun safety advocates Everytown, between 2009 and 2020, 1,363 people in the United States were killed and 947 more were wounded in 240 mass shootings, an average of 20 shootings each year.
Since 1980 the frequency of mass shootings has increased dramatically.
"Studying" the perpetrators in the media gives them the attention they crave. They should portrayed, not identified, as cowards, mentally ill, extremists, etc. All of the 24/7 exposure they have received has obviously done little to help us solve this problem.
I would support every measure proposed but I would add, knowing this malcontent took his own life, that we bring back a swift death penalty, putting an end to murderers soaking the taxpayers for millions of dollars lounging around in prison for 30 years.
Makes sense, the Liberal approach is to try solutions and see which one works.
Thoughtful piece. The CDC tracks gun deaths. Here are the most recent reliable statistics. They are from 2020. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/firearm_mortality/firearm.htm
Which states can claim the top 10 gun death rates? No states with the country's biggest cities - not New York, California or Illinois. Here are the top 10: Mississippi (28.6), Louisiana (26.3), Wyoming (25.9), Missouri (23.9), Alabama (23.6), Alaska (23.5), New Mexico (22.7) (the only bluish state in the top 10), Arkansas (22.6), South Carolina (22) and Tennessee (21.3). See a connection among those states? The next ten with high gun deaths are similarly states with a right wing bent. Folks, please stop quoting Fox News talking points; Chicago, New York and L.A. are not the gun capitols of the U.S. despite the Fox News/NewsMax/OAN desire to have you believe it. Education is a wonderful thing.
3
As long as the NRA is still a force to be reckoned with, and the Republican Party uses it as a primary source of money, nothing will be done.
Ban the NRA and it's lobbyists from paying the GOP to allow gun regulations to lapse or weaken.
Also, don't vote for people like Lauren Boebert, who sent out a Christmas card with her entire family brandishing weapons.
It's a mental illness to fixate on gun ownership as a rite of passage and right.
2
70 million voters in this country prioritize guns over school children.
It does not get any simpler or plainer than that.
The only thing that has a higher priority than guns are fetuses.
3
The rest of the world looks at Americans and understands what kind of people we are.
2
Another idea! We citizens boycott shopping for anything but the essentials, skip going to movies, ball games and other mass public events, etc. I think you get my drift. In other words, hit the pocketbooks of those running the country until they protect us from daily, homegrown violence. Oh whoops! No buying on Amazon, no Facebook,...! Never mind! We just might be doomed.
As long as the NRA and gun manufacturers profit, children will be murdered. As long as gun industry lobbyists have money to bribe politicians, children will be murdered. Blaming the 'lefties' approach to gun control is absurd. We are dealing with sociopathic behavior by both the NRA and the states that have now enacted laws that allow unchallenged gun ownership. THIS IS ABOUT MONEY AND POWER. The children do not matter. The broken families do not matter. The thoughts and prayers do not matter. Shame on you, America. May those babies RIP. My heart is broken.
1
Why not stop making and selling ammunition?
I live in Texas, so I live in the epicenter of the craziest state of a crazy country in a county that has become a magnet for radical extremists. I am treated to a daily feast of gun nut messaging in my town and have had some chilling encounters. Family ties keep me here, or I would be out. It's not healthy living deep in the hate of Texas.
The obligatory hand-wringing over guns and thoughts and prayers that go nowhere after a mass shooting has begun. Always lost in the aftermath is the 800-pound gorilla staring us in the face--a sick society that produces an epidemic of children killing themselves and each other. Our children are the canaries in the coal mine. Our canaries aren't doing so well.
1
Why are white Americans armed to the teeth and hiding behind their radiators ? Fear. Fear of each other .
Race. America has never dealt with it's race problem. It has for the most part ignored it. And Armed up.
Mythology , America believes in it's own greatness, carved out of a brutal and false fantasy that is promoted daily in the culture and the epic myths it has created.
Political divisions and hatred. (self explanatory )
The NRA . An organization that steadfastly believes that all guns are good and there should be minimal restrictions . And they have the money and organization to make it happen.
As long as these conditions exist, get used to these mass killings
Pro life? We'll protect fetuses and force women to have babies, even if it means they'll die in childbirth, live in poverty, or they were raped, but heaven forbid you take away our guns, which now, sadly, kill young children and other innocent people on a regular, too-frequent basis. I've had it with republican hypocrisy. The people of this country need to stand up and demand gun control - outlaw AK 47s and AK15's at the very least.
4
I suggest we stop focusing so much on the NRA, and instead focus on the real source of $$$ that keep this bloodshed running, the gun industry. The NRA uses "freedom" to deflect criticism. The gun industry uses the NRA to hide the simple truth behind a the root cause of much of our conservative politician's hesitancy to enact gun safety, the Gun Industry's Greed.
1
"Nobody believes that people should be able to drive a tank down Main Street, or have an anti-aircraft gun in the backyard."
Just like nobody believes the earth is flat.
Nobody believes vaccines contain nanobots that can track you.
We are so far off the rails your well-reasoned insights will be ignored and attacked.
1
Why does a fetus in Texas deserve more protection than the child in school it grows up to be?
Why do we weaponize citizens to sue their fellows citizens seeking reproductive rights - and not sue corporations who create unnecessary weapons?
How come Americans can't go to school, work, brunch, shopping, houses of worship, concerts, or myriad other everyday places without fear of getting shot?
4
Those who drag out the tired phrase, "when you regulate guns, only the bad guys will have the guns", and who's first reaction to any mass shooting is warning against "knee-jerk" pushes to try to regulate gun possession, are now faced with a reality. Any regulation that they warned was the "slippery slope" has been rejected, so everyone has guns. Good guys have guns. But the good guys with guns have allowed all the bad guys to have guns, by fighting any regulation...which means they need guns because all the bad guys have guns!
It is too late for gun control. Guns are everywhere, and the good guys have guns because they are afraid of the government. The bad guys have guns because all the other bad guys have guns, and the government does not care if they all get shot.
It is too bad that the United States will forever be known as a country with more guns than people, where the massacre of children is simply collateral damage, the price of freedom for those who see guns as power. So many of those gun advocates claim to follow Christ, and find abortion as a sin not mentioned in the Bible, but ignore the words of Jesus condemning "those who live by the sword will die by the sword".
These events are now just news events. The daily gun toll in urban areas are just brown people killing each other, so no big deal. And the NRA knows gun sales will be up this week because regulation is coming!
2
The gun-horse bolted from the barn a long time ago.
Blame the Republicans and the Republican voters for all these deaths.
Who is responsible for 19 kids and 2 adults being gunned down? The parents, the relatives, and the adult survivors are to blame since 60% of these people in this county voted Republican and have done so for years.
If you had a kid that died in this massacre, then blame yourselves. That may sound cruel but the solution to the problem was in their hands and they failed to use it.
Get used to these killings. There is nothing that can be done. Too many guns in this nation and there is no way of getting rid of them.
Sending your kid to school used to be safe but it is now no safer than the kid crossing a busy road all by himself.
The majority of children will survive to adulthood and Mother Nature is satisfied with the survival of the species.
Don't bother with gun control: It will do nothing. There are already more guns out on the streets than people. It's way too late. Even if gun control were attempted, rabid Republicans, who still have too much clout, will stop it. Why? I have no idea.
The only option I can think of would be carrot and stick: A carrot offering, say $500, for each gun turned in to be melted down; and stick making it a federal crime not to do so. Fat chance.
@Bob in NM
Require that every gun be insured and that every gun owner, seller and manufacturer be legally and financially liable for injury caused by the firing of a gun.
1
Great article, now show me dozen Republicans that would vote for it.
1
Abbott apparently believes, along with the N.R.A., that more guns make a society more safe, but statistics dispute that. Abbott should look at those charts. "
Beliefs are often unfounded (looks at religious cults) and looking at charts assumes one knows how to read them? Florida banning of math text content may make the situation worse!
More needs to be done to flag, control and restrict the actions of mostly male 18-21 years olds before they become so despondent killing is an option. But how are you going to have any effective behavior/gun control with the people responsible for enforcement (the Police) are constantly minimized and demonized? It's all about laws and enforcement which demands to proactively getting the police involved with these demented children long before the mass shooting/violence. And once law enforcement is involved the consequences need to be forceful: Place the child in the criminal justice system on a probation with a probation officer until they are 25 years old. Extend red flagging to their drivers license imposing a lifetime ban for firearm and ammunition purchases, and a court ordered mandatory psych evaluation every time the police are called to respond. And laws need to be passed and enforced to criminally charge the parent/guardian as an accessory to any violent behavior/crime by a child under 21. These parents and guardians are the first line of defense for stopping mass shootings and violent acts by children under their care make them accountable and responsible now.
Chris Rock had a comedy routine about taxing bullets being the best way to dampen gun violence. What if we required a permit to buy ammo? For the self losing crowd, require the same permit to buy brass, shells, and powder. The 2nd A doesn't say anything about a right to buy ammo.
1
I do send my thoughts and prayers to the victims and their families. But I send more thoughts and prayers to our GOP lawmakers so they finally "see the light" and do something to address this problem in our country. Even though the data is there in clear sight, they will continue to sit on their hands and do nothing but will get re-elected for their do-nothingness. Shame!
1
A minimum purchase age of 21 and strengthened red flag laws would have likely prevented both the Buffalo and Texas shootings. This shouldn't be a heavy lift, even Trump supported these basic restrictions. The NRA needs to modify their stance. Young, mentally ill citizens should not have a right to buy firearms.
I had a weapon for killing people when I was 18 too.
But mine was issued to me by a "well ordered militia" called the US ARMY.
I learned to use it for combat situations with an enemy, and after my 3 years I never touched such a weapon again.
The idea that you can now go in and buy a weapon that is useless for anything other than killing people is insane.
4
I just commented on another editorial about watching that C-SPAN call in show, Washington Journal and I honestly despair for the US...maybe it's just that a higher percentage of old cranks still call into shows, but most of the callers lived in a reality not based at all in reality...some even took the opportunity to bark about this being all Biden's fault and when the host said to one man that mass shootings have occurred well before Biden took office and how could he account for that, the man was silent then quickly threw it all onto the Democrats...and he called President Biden, "Candidate Biden"...these people vote, but they do not get their information from credible sources, as Mr. Kristof cites...HOW are we supposed to get any sort of plurality of opinion established so that actual laws and REAL solutions can be enacted?...based on the maybe 22-25 callers I heard, the senseless deaths of all these people were drowned out by the loud chorus of "hands off my guns!"...
2
One unfortunate side effect of these horrible, too-frequent events is that ill-informed Americans are increasingly buying weapons to "protect themselves from the Bad Guys", yet they have no context for, or understanding of, the actual risk they're trying to protect themselves from. Rarely, if ever, do elected officials or the media provide that context.
There are roughly 332 millions Americans. 21, 570, or .0006%, of us were the victims of murder and/or negligent manslaughter in 2020 - .0006%! In addition, the FBI informs us that 80% of murder victims knew their killers and that most murders occur in a small number of historically violent zip codes. We are at greater risk of death driving to work than we are of being murdered by a random bad guy.
Arming ourselves because of the fear of the unlikely event of having to defend ourselves is dangerous. There are more murders and suicides in households that contain weapons. More guns beget more gun deaths.
I have not owned a firearm for more than 50 years and support firearm access/control legislation. These mass murders - ALL murders, of course - are heinous and heartbreaking. Why do (R)epublican voters continue to support politicians who are controlled by the gun lobby?