Opinion | Why, after so many mass shootings, are we still asking the same questions?
Washington PostMay 26, 2022
A gunman on Monday opened fire at Michigan State University, killing three people and critically wounding five others. He fatally shot himself hours later as police confronted him following a manhunt.
Police announced the death of the shooter as 43-year-old Anthony Dwayne McRae. Investigators are still determining the motive.
Yet another tragic and preventable mass shooting has taken place on US soil and Congress is still failing to act. The American legislature has not seriously debated the problem of gun control for a decade because Republicans are continuing to stall the desperately needed legislation. While new laws cannot prevent all mass shootings, they would stop some of them. Any change, even if it isn't perfect, is worthwhile to protect innocent lives.
Bluntly imposing restrictions on legal ownership would do nothing to tackle the root causes of mass shootings, but it would threaten the second amendment rights of law abiding Americans. Mass shooters either obtain their weapons illegally, or legally before having a criminal record, so further restrictions on gun ownership serve no practical use in terms of prevention. Democrats may want to be seen to be doing something in response to these massacres, but autocratic and unconstitutional gun bans are not a solution.
If lawmakers truly want to act to prevent these heinous attacks plaguing America, they must bridge partisan dichotomies to understand the political and social convictions about guns and gun violence behind each other's ideological stances. Though to liberals more guns equate to more deaths, conservatives equate gun rights with fundamental American freedom. Despite conflicting priorities, both sides believe in a right to safety and liberty in US society. Through clearer dialogue, a route towards imposing more practical solutions to gun violence, that also respects the right to responsible gun ownership, is within reach.
There is a 50% chance that the murder rate in the US will be at least 5.65 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2030, according to the Metaculus Prediction Community.