Joanna Cabry, the chairwoman of the Progressive Democrats of Sussex County had a Delavoice column in the News Journal the other day, talking about our never ending problem of gun violence.
Here we go again. A mass shooting is followed by our elected leaders posting pictures of the victims on Facebook and telling us to reflect, pray and have a serious conversation. If we are to have another serious conversation, I’d like to suggest a few guidelines to our elected representatives. Let’s not talk about background checks or better mental health care or lifting the ban on gun violence research. Let’s not debate whether it was domestic terrorism or international terrorism or workplace violence. And let’s not blame the National Rifle Association.
Citing how many sales were stopped by background checks ignores the fact that 75 percent of guns used in mass shootings were obtained legally. Let’s face reality and accept that the NRA is the front for the weapons manufacturers who can stay in the background selling guns while the NRA is out there doing what lobbyists are paid to do.
Before focusing on improved mental health care as a solution, consider the research of Dr. Jeffrey Swanson, professor of psychiatry at Duke University School of Medicine. “If you were to back out all the risk associated with mental illness that’s contributing to the 300,000 people killed by gunshot wounds in the last ten years, you could probably reduce deaths by about 100,000 people. 95 percent of the reduction would be from suicide. Only 5 percent would be from reducing homicide. Mental illness is a strong risk factor for suicide. It’s not a strong risk factor for homicide.”
In the column, Joanne talks about assault weapon bans that were enacted in Australia after a mass shooting there. The first step we need to take is to tackle banning large capacity magazines. Because it is a solution that could at least alleviate the problem. If we can’t get the guns banned, maybe we can control the ammunition.
Senator Karen Peterson was the sponsor of the last bill to ban large capacity magazines (HB 58), and she is ready to do it again. But she needs our help. She needs us to counter the hate mail and calls legislators receive from the gun nuts. So please go to the Delaware General Assembly website and find your Senator and Representative and tell them you expect them to support House Bill 58. If you want your to be heard by your legislator, the first step is to contact your legislator and use your voice (or your fingers in an email).
And when you do contact them you can ask the legislator why any responsible gun owner needs to have a magazine holding over 100 bullets if he or she just wanted to have a gun for self defense or for hunting. The only reason for possessing a magazine holding over a 100 bullets to kill as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time possible. James Holmes, the shooter who killed 12 and injured 58 in Aurora last summer came to the movie theater prepared to harm. Using an assault weapon and a large capacity ammunition magazine that held 100 bullets, Holmes was intent upon killing as many people as possible in the shortest amount of time. Fortunately, Holmes’ magazine jammed and he wasn’t able to continue shooting — using only a fraction of his firepower. Even without the full 100 rounds, Holmes was able to commit the second largest mass shooting in American history. The seconds required to reload bullets into a gun provides the time for law enforcement to intervene and victims to escape a dangerous situation. When large capacity magazines are used, a gunman can shoot at a group of people for a longer time before someone can diffuse the situation, often resulting in more injuries and deaths.