In 1972, the number of people killed annually in car accidents in the United States peaked at 54,589. It has trended downward ever since and, in 2016, only 17,775 traffic fatalities were recorded.
How did the dramatic reduction in fatal accidents occur, even while the number of miles we drive per year has nearly tripled in that same time period?
In 1972, nobody asked anybody to give up their car. We implemented common-sense safety measures. Seat belts, child restraints, tightened teen-driver regulations and tough drunk-driving laws are just a few of the things the NHTSA found to contributes to the dramatic decrease in highway deaths.
It would be absurd to ask people to stop driving. In the U.S., it would be equally absurd to ask people to give up their guns. The Second Amendment clearly guarantees our right to bear arms, as much as the Declaration of Independence posits our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
Owning a gun is a founding principle of being an American, and we have 350 million citizen guns to prove it, by far the most of any other country.
But, much like motor vehicles, guns, in the wrong hands, are dangerous. In 2016, 38,658 people died from gun violence. That’s over twice as many deaths as car accidents. But we can implement simple, common-sense measures to make this inalienable right safer.
About two-thirds of gun deaths in America are from suicide. It would be safer for those diagnosed with mental illness not to own a gun, for their own safety as well as others.
An estimated 4.5 million women report that they have been threatened with a gun by an intimate partner. Over half the the mass shootings in America from 2009-2016, are related to family violence. It would be safer to take guns away from domestic violence perpetrators.
Of course, we cannot know anyone’s state-of-mind, or their criminal, or even terrorist, record without doing background checks on whoever is buying a gun, wherever they buy a gun.
My sister teaches grade-schoolers and pre-teens about personal safety. In addition to telling them to be careful who they get in a car with, she tells them, “You need to assume that every person you interact with, in the grocery store, walking the dog, at the park, has a gun. And for this reason, you have to choose your words and actions carefully.”
Thinking about the recent anniversary of the car accident that killed my mother, I will most certainly choose my words and my actions carefully. Not because I am afraid you have a gun, but because today might be the day I die. And I want my last words to be remembered as kind and respectful.
I choose not to own a gun, you are free to make another choice. I believe it enhances both of our personal freedoms to put common-sense limits on who can legally get behind the trigger of a gun.
| Courtesy Regina Pistilli, op-ed mug.
Regina Pistilli moved to Salt Lake City from Maine in 2016. For 10 years she served as vice president of information technology for MP Associates, in Boulder, Colo., and now devotes her time to writing and being fruitful.
