To curb gun violence, find common ground
Good faith people on all sides of the gun debate want to reduce violence. Let's be conscientious objectors to the culture war, and find ways to work together for peace.
Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul asked a state appellate court Monday to throw out a temporary restraining order on Illinois’ new ban on semiautomatic weapons. Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the law two weeks ago after the state legislature passed it in response to a mass shooting at the July 4 parade in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park.
The nation is reeling from multiple such mass shootings just in recent weeks. In fact, we’re coming up on the end of our fourth week of 2023, and we’ve had 39 mass shootings.
That’s not even taking into account all the other gun-related deaths so far this year.
When those of us involved in journalism write an op-ed, it always helps to add something recent up top. It’s called a news peg. It’s especially helpful if the news is local. Sometimes, it’s hard to find a local news peg. At times, it’s tough to find any news peg.
The grim and heartbreaking reality is that it’s rarely difficult to find a recent story about gun violence. It’s often not even a struggle to find one with a local connection.
According to the not-for-profit group Gun Violence Archive, gun violence has claimed the lives of 3,036 people so far this year, among them 1,716 suicides.
So, what do we do about it?
Coming from a more liberal upbringing, I was consistently in favor of gun control, up to and including the Australian model.
I have since been introduced to leftist gun rights arguments that I feel better address the gun control debate, and could be a good fit for the American context, given that they bridge the gap between two sides that often argue past each other, and aren’t even internally consistent in their arguments.
Essentially, we want to reduce gun violence, but we want to do it in a way that does not infringe on the rights of law-abiding gun owners. This requires a holistic approach, and a change in our unhealthy culture around guns, but does not require that we needlessly curtail gun rights.
A few common sense gun control measures, coupled with more holistic approaches to violence prevention, will do much more to help curb this epidemic than a continued culture war on this issue.
At the most basic level, we should support the Second Amendment and the right of citizens to use firearms for hunting and protection. Establishing this baseline freedom as apolitical and cross-partisan would go a long way toward reducing the “us vs. them” mentality that has characterized this debate.
We should support common sense reforms like universal background checks. But we need to ensure these checks are free and open to the public, and protect privacy even as they protect us from gun violence.
Right now, the only way to run a background check is to go to a licensed dealer or to local law enforcement.
The FBI needs to open the National Instant Criminal Background Check System to the public so that even private gun sellers can easily run a check on people to whom they sell those guns.
To protect privacy, a person could even obtain a clean NICS report on themselves within a certain window of their gun purchase, which would alleviate fears that a universal background check system could become a backdoor to a national gun registry.
We should promote gun safety by offering free classes in safe gun storage and usage, and ensuring those classes are available at times when working class people can attend.
We should incentivize safe storage by offering tax incentives for the purchase of gun safes and trigger locks.
Many other gun control policies, while often well-meaning, do little to prevent gun violence.
The best way to address gun violence is by dealing with the root causes, not by curtailing the rights of law-abiding gun owners.
Firearms don’t cause violence. Social pressures cause violence. These include alienation, social dislocation, and a lack of human connection and solidarity.
Economic desperation and changing demographics, leading to anger, hopelessness, and loss of power, coupled with reactionary politics that try to explain all of the above by turning people against each other, have also contributed to gun violence.
All too often, racial and geographic divides and suspicions have fueled violence. We need to do everything possible to bridge these gaps through integrated education and intentional collaboration on acts of community service among people from different walks of life.
A lack of universal healthcare, making support and mental health care inaccessible for anyone who cannot afford it, also contributes to gun violence. Even as we acknowledge this, it’s also important to note that the vast majority of mentally ill people do not commit violent acts, but are instead at an increased risk of being victimized by violence or of taking their own lives.
Suicide prevention is a key component of violence reduction. We should invest not only in mental health services but also give people safe ways to temporarily surrender firearms without fear of permanently losing their firearm rights.
Reducing violence in our culture starts with teaching our children not just to respect gun safety, but to respect each other. We should make every effort to foster a cooperative, rather than competitive, school environment. We must teach our kids how to de-escalate conflicts and address the growing problem of in-person and cyber bullying in schools.
We should foster this cooperative attitude well into adulthood. We already have right wing organizations like the National Rifle Association and the Gun Owners of America, and left wing groups like the Socialist Rifle Association and Redneck Revolt. These groups take antagonistic, tribally political positions, which, when coupled with gun rights imagery and activism, could lead to the very kinds of confrontations that we want to avoid. We need a group that brings together gun rights advocates from both sides to foster better understanding and to de-escalate tensions.
We have good faith actors on all sides of the gun rights and gun control debate. Let’s ditch the culture warrior mentality and work together to solve our very real problems. All-or-nothing rhetoric won’t get us there. We have to find common ground.
The Round Up
Here are the stories that caught our eyes this week and what they mean for the weeks ahead.
What will the next Chicago City Council look like?
Every election cycle, the Chicago City Council sees turnover. But this time, a generational shift seems likely. A full 14 of its 50 members are either departing, running for mayor or not seeking re-election, among them several long-serving members who will leave a void of experience when they go.
Given the high stakes, business leaders have created a big-money PAC to stop the council from a hard left turn. Meanwhile, United Working Families, a progressive group with close ties to the Chicago Teachers Union, has backed 18 candidates.
Will the council be more independent and progressive? Check out the full analysis from the Chicago Sun-Times’ Fran Spielman by clicking the headline above.
Lightfoot reportedly in favor of banning natural gas stoves in new construction
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s office is reportedly helping draft an ordinance to ban natural-gas stoves in new construction in the city after federal officials cited studies linking the use of natural-gas stoves with childhood asthma.
According to reports, Lightfoot supports the measure, which would shift away from gas and move toward electric appliances.
In addition to health concerns, scientists have also linked the fuels used in gas stoves to climate change.
A large number of candidates for Chicago’s new police district councils want police funding redirected to violence prevention and restorative justice programs.
Among other proposals, candidates also want care workers to join law enforcement agents when responding to mental health crises. They also want churches, block clubs, and community organizations to be a part of the public safety infrastructure.
Only a small number want to defund completely or to abolish CPD.
Check out the full story on the police boards by following the link in the headline above.
Newsclips
City leaders should promote public transit, more shared streets
Judge slaps ex-Chicago college student who spied for China with 8 years in federal prison
West Side Ald. Jason Ervin unopposed for fourth term after all three challengers kicked off ballot
Locals ask for safer streets, more bathrooms at first meeting on Grant Park updates
Controversy surrounds new $170M public safety training center on West Side
Tour of restored Blodgett House offers insights into Underground Railroad
Mayoral race highlights
War of words: Lightfoot, Garcia exchange unpleasantries in Chicago mayoral race
Lightfoot campaign contacted at least 73 CPS teachers for student volunteers, records show
Downtown Ald. Brendan Reilly, who fought the casino, wants Lightfoot out as he eyes fifth term
Chicago mayoral candidate says he'll fire city's top cop if he's elected
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Another good issue! A caveat regarding conscientious objection in the culture wars. One can be a CO AND a nonviolent resister. Some aspects of our current fractured culture call for resistance!