I remember reading information more than 20 years ago that most constitutional scholars did not think that the Second Amendment guaranteed a right for individuals to own guns. It was not until a right-leaning U.S. Supreme Court (those minority scholars) made such a judgment that the mess we see in the U.S. began to accelerate.
So, let’s get rid of the fig leaf Second Amendment and look at the reality of guns in America.
In 2005 I wrote a letter to the editor to The Salt Lake Tribune pointing to data that showed that if a gun is ever involved in a robbery, it was an 80% chance that it was stolen. Also, that if a gun is ever used in the home there was a 95% chance it will be used on the owner, family or friend. (Keep in mind that about 60% of suicides involve a gun.)
Research also shows that the mere presence of a gun, rifle, etc., increases hostility. Some research locally back in the 1980s involved a pickup truck and a stop sign out in the west Salt Lake Valley. (This was when there was almost no one out there.) In one part of the experiment, the truck had a rifle in the gun rack and in the other part the gun rack was empty. The truck would stop in front of another vehicle at the stop sign and not move. When the rifle was in the gun rack the drivers behind the truck exhibited more hostility than when the gun rack was empty.
You might think that the opposite would be true but, as with open carry, people get angrier when they feel that others are trying to intimidate them. In other similar research it was shown that in a situation where people knew there was a gun, rifle, etc., present, hidden or in the open, any argument was more likely to escalate. Guns add to the adrenaline of those involved, increasing the chances of the situation leading to violence.
When I was teaching physics, one of the approaches that I taught to figuring out a physics problem was to think of the problem in extremes to help clarify the situation. So, let’s do that with guns. Let’s compare a society where there are no guns to one where everyone has one.
Sit in that for a while. Where do you feel safer, calmer, etc.? If a conflict erupts, which society would you rather be in? Realistically that will not happen in the U.S. but any honest assessment of where we are today would lead to the clear conclusion that guns make us less safe and the more guns the even less safe.
Australia, New Zealand and Canada have all recently enacted more strict gun laws with the effect of fewer gun deaths and mass killings. I have lost track of how many children in school have been sacrificed to the Second Amendment god. With mass killings happening at a clip of almost one a week, does anyone think that this will slow down or reverse?
There has been some movement around those edges of gun control but there is only one common element in every case: a gun. Any action that does not decrease the access to guns, and especially military-style weapons, will have little effect on this carnage.
It may take decades for a balanced Supreme Court to rule that the Second Amendment does not guarantee a right for individuals to own guns. But, in the meantime, we can support politicians that see the present situation as untenable and want to find ways to make us all safer. Vote!
David Hart
David Hart is a former physics teacher at Skyline High School and has degrees in physics, sociology and psychology and masters degrees in education and social work. He is now retired and lives near Capital Reef National Park.
