Gun Violence
What are the root causes?
I’ve thought about this topic for a long time, and the recent tragic Minneapolis shooting made me decide it’s time to write about it. Despite having only about 5% of the world’s population, America features somewhere around 30% of global mass shootings, even managing to eclipse notoriously dangerous countries like Colombia and Uganda. For transparency, this statistic only includes lone-wolf single actors and does not count terrorism or gang warfare.
A common theme of left-leaning organizing is gun control, though recently, more leftists have taken pro-Second Amendment positions during the Trump administration. However, I don’t think gun control will solve the issue.
To be clear, I believe gun control would be beneficial. I am an absolute advocate for common-sense measures like mental health checks and keeping firearms away from people with a history of violence. Following the Port Arthur massacre, Australia placed heavy restrictions on gun ownership. Gun violence in Australia is now a rarity, while it remains depressingly familiar in America.
The problem is that American culture heavily features firearms. Any meaningful—or even toothless—attempt to ban firearms is met with immediate backlash and is practically a political death sentence. Even if one were to ban firearms, there is no shortage of ways for people to hurt others. Acid, stabbings, and vehicle ramming attacks still exist. To actually solve this problem, we need to uncover the reasons people commit such atrocities.
There is no single profile of a mass shooter. However, there is a collection of common characteristics. Mass shooters are often outcasts, have mental health problems, and are the victims of abuse. Some of these problems can be alleviated through policy. Mental health resources are stretched extremely thin, and I can tell you from experience that it can be challenging to get the treatment you need, even with a support network.
Some other parts of this problem are cultural, though. Our education system puts a frankly insane amount of pressure on our young people. College is often seen as the only realistic ticket towards financial stability, but that isn’t enough anymore. Good jobs are tough even to find, and competition is fierce for them. I’m currently struggling to find employment after graduation, despite maintaining a 4.0 GPA and being heavily involved in extracurricular activities. It’s easy to see how someone could realize they can never achieve the life they want—simply because of bad grades—and lash out.
The recent Minneapolis shooter was transgender, a fact that MAGA will not forget. Immediately following the shooting, MAGA began a concerted effort to paint all transgender people as deranged lunatics and future mass shooters. This is categorically false disinformation. As of writing, transgender people make up about 0.5% of the population and are responsible for approximately 0.1% of mass shootings. As depressing as it is to talk about thousands of mass shootings, if anything, transgender individuals are underrepresented. It’s important to ask why the identity of mass shooters only seems to matter when they’re not straight, white men.
Unfortunately, I suspect this statistic is likely to change. A common theme among mass shooters is abuse, and MAGA is doing its best to dehumanize trans people. When you hurt and abuse people, it is only a matter of time before one of them pushes back. As we’ve seen with ICE protests and Trump deploying the National Guard, MAGA uses that response to justify further violence against already marginalized individuals. It is the deliberate creation of a cycle of violence to further political goals.
The first thing we need to do is to improve funding for mental health care. On paper, it may seem expensive, but it will ultimately pay for itself. Americans are slowly realizing that $2,000 in taxes for universal healthcare is cheaper than an $8,000 medical bill.
Second, we need to remember how to treat people we disagree with like humans again. This doesn’t mean you have to agree with every opinion they have. It simply means we need to extend everyone the same level of basic human respect and recognize that they have a right to exist. It’s not that difficult.
Hate is a powerful motivator, and the ultimate downfall of fascist regimes is that they eventually run out of other people to hate. Eventually, fascism becomes the snake that eats its own tail. It will crumble eventually, but how many innocent people will get hurt first?
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This article was originally published to James' Substack, Sarcastrophe. Consider taking a look at other published works.