When I visited Germany, Greece, and Hungary, I met people from across Europe. Lunch with a group of law enforcement officers from Sweeden and Norway, dinner with a group from Holland, another day sailing with people from Italy, France, and Great Britain all had one common denominator. Someone always asked why we need so many guns in America and why we think that owning guns is more important than the loss of innocent lives. I had no answers, but since that time I've spent a lot of time reading and researching facts about guns in America.
Disclaimer: as a person who spent over 35-years in law-enforcement, I was part of a gun culture. However, that experience also resulted in seeing the aftermath of shootings and suicides and witnessing what officers feel after taking a life. I spent a night in the hospital when my partner was shot and expected to die. With less than a year on the job, I went to my first police funeral when a 24-year old member of my squad was gunned down. So, my opinions were not formed in a vacuum.
The fact is that every other industrialized nation survives without the open gun ownership allowed in America. Some people point to the Mexican murders and say that this is what happens when the average citizen cannot own guns. I reject that premise. Almost all cartel murders involve people in the drug trade of those combating the drug trade. Also, I note that shootings of school children are almost unheard of in Mexico. Furthermore, I do not see citizens who are licensed to carry firearms doing a damn thing about deterring the drug trade. Imagine the impact if a dozen armed citizens began standing on every drug-corner in the inner-city with cameras to intimidate dealers and buyers. But the truth is that our gun owners flee to the suburbs.
The bottom line is simple. We have guns because we love owning guns. Gun possession is a fetish that gives the illusion of power. We want those who are mentally ill and those with criminal records to buy all of the guns that they can carry at our gun shows, where private sales (not requiring any background check) flourish. I know that we want it because we sure do not protest and demand that a law is enacted to prevent such sales.
Our answer to gun deaths is 'more guns,' and we blame victims for not being armed! We provide rocks for school children to use against an armed killer. We talk of arming teachers and pretend that in the confusion and chaos of the murder of children by a gunman, more gunfire will not cause additional innocent deaths and that the police will magically be able to distinguish between an armed teacher and an armed assailant.
There is no answer to the question, "Why do we value gun ownership over the lives of innocent people?"
