At Peaceful Living Wellness we normally do not stride into the political realm. However, because we are a company headquartered in the United States, and because we value peace as the foundation for living a healthy, happy life, I believe it is my moral obligation as editor-in-chief to speak-out in response to the rampant gun-violence and cultural vitriol plaguing the U.S.
GUNS DON’T KILL PEOPLE, PEOPLE KILL PEOPLE?
The truth is that people with guns kill people. So do people with knives. But, the percentage of people killed with guns FAR outweighs the percentage of people killed with knives or other sharp objects.
People with guns are killing more people in a given episode than in any other type of violent episode. Moreover, the number of mass shootings has increased exponentially in the past decade in the United States. Here are the numbers according to Time Magazine:
- 1980s: 75 Dead
- 1990s: 144 Dead
- 2000 – 2010: 160 Dead
- 2011 – 2019: 497 Dead
There are some gun-ownership advocates who believe that the American public should look at the number of people killed in mass shootings in comparison to the number of people killed in other types of homicide and come to the conclusion that guns are not a problem. I ask, “how exactly does one come to that conclusion when guns are the problem in 73% of ALL HOMICIDES in the U.S?”
THEY’RE RIGHT, WE SHOULD NOT ONLY LOOK AT THE MASS SHOOTINGS
Mass shootings are rightfully only one element of the gun problem in the United States. So, “yes,” the gun-rights advocates are correct, we should not focus solely on mass shootings.
Here are other areas of gun violence that we need to consider: Domestic Violence: The risk of homicide in a domestic violence situation is increase by 500% when a gun is present.
Homicide Overall: In The U.S. the rate of murder or manslaughter by gun is the highest in the developed world. In 2016 there were 11,138 deaths by firearm and in 2017 there were 10,982. The FBI has not released their full 2018 data as of the date of this publication.
Suicide: According to a comprehensive study by researchers at the University of Washington published in the Journal of the American Medical Association there were 23,800 suicides by gun in 2016. According to the American Foundation for Suicide prevention In 2017 50.57% of suicides were firearm related.
Children: According to BradyUnited.org Every day in the United States 21 children ages 1 – 17 are shot. That’s an average of 7,665 children harmed by guns every year in the U.S. 8 of the 21 children shot were shot by family fire: An improperly stored or misused gun.
These are not just numbers. These are people! They are human beings who are now dead or injured because of firearms. Could these deaths, injuries and resulting emotional trauma to all those affected have been prevented by restrictive gun-laws? Absolutely!
I will let the good people at assassination attempt survivor Gabby Giffords’ Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence give you everything you need to know about the “hows,” “whys” and necessity of responsible gun laws. I want to talk about some of the other, and equally important aspects, of this complicated empidemic: STRESS; KINDNESS; COMPASSION; and MENTAL HEALTH.
THE STRESS, KINDNESS & COMPASSION
In his book The Second Mountain: The Quest for a Moral Life conservative journalist David Brooks illustrates the reasons that American culture is struggling under an epidemic of stress-related negative societal phenomena:
“We’ve seen a shocking rise of mental illness, suicide and distrust.”
David Brooks, pg. xxii
Thus it is with the murderers who perpetrate mass-shootings. So it is with the people who violently harm their domestic partners. So it is with the people who perpetuate violent street crime. Violence increases in times of social unrest, as does mental illness, suicide and distrust.
In the so-called manifestos of several of the mass shooting murderers there are not only undertones of distrust and social alienation, but direct language of hatred. These are the signs of a terribly disturbed person who is functioning under heavy stress and most likely mental illness.
- “I still feel like I had to do it. Anyone who hates anything in their mind has a good reason for it.” – Dylan Roof, Murderer of 9 people in Mother Emanuel AME church, Charleston, SC
Most importantly, these young men are functioning under hate. They murder because of their hate of others on the basis of race. They take people’s lives because they hear other people around them, AND our country’s current leader, talk about how there are people who are less-deserving on the basis of their race and/ or immigration status – That is bigotry, hatred and fascism mixed. Mixing hatred-fueled bigotry and fascism is very, very dangerous.
Harkening back to David Brooks, if we respond to his call to be other-oriented instead of self-absorbed, we can start to chip away at the hatred, bigotry and fascism. We can start to see others as equal and deserving and non-threatening. Dylan Roof, and more recently, Patrick Crusius who shot and killed 22 people and injured 24 in El Paso, Texas were filled with self-absorption and felt threatened by people they did not even know.
Patrick Crusius’ “manifesto” echoed race-infused language espoused by President Trump and other anti-immigrant political leaders. Crusius stated that he held his racist beliefs long before Trump took office. But, at the age of 21, how many years did he really put into developing his ideas? Anti-immigrant rhetoric has been rampant in our political atmosphere for over a century. He may have developed his ideas prior to Trump taking office, but he did not develop his hatred in a vacuum. He learned this from other hate-filled people.
At Peaceful Living Wellness we strive to give people information that will help them live happier, healthier lives. And much of the research-based information that we share about living happier, healthier lives underscores that if we live with a mindset that is community and other-oriented we will thrive!
If we teach our children kindness and compassion, if we give them a sense of humanity-based community, if we lead by example and through support, we can have a less-violent society.
I see so much meanness in our society. From the comments so many of us in the internet world receive to the nastiness of people on our community Facebook page, meanness is rampant. We can use the internet for kindness. We can use social media to be positive. We can reach out to our neighbors with mindfulness in both our communication and actions.
It will be through the efforts of individuals that our society can become one that values other humans. It will be through individual actions that our society will become one that values community over self-absorption. It will be through individual effort that we will see a rise in happiness and a decline in violence.
WE MUST ADDRESS MENTAL ILLNESS
While Dylan Roof argues that he is not mentally ill, and he withdrew his mental illness mitigation defense in his trial, I think it’s fair to say that murder – especially mass-murder – is never a rational act!
According to research by the Los Angeles Times, “59% of the 185 public mass shootings that took place in the United States between 1900 and 2017 were carried out by people who had either been diagnosed with a mental disorder or demonstrated signs of serious mental illness prior to the attack.
I AM NOT IN ANY WAY SAYING THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE MENTALLY ILL ARE GOING TO PERPETUATE A VIOLENT ACT OR ANY OTHER CRIME!
My point of addressing mental illness here is to call for our society to destigmatize mental illness! If we can be brave enough to take the stigma out of mental illness, people who are suffering will be more likely to seek and receive help!
Think about this in terms of the heart-wrenching number of people who commit suicide each day. If even a portion of those people were willing/ able/ knew how to get the mental health support they needed, they would still be alive today!
Suicide by gun is the most lethal form of suicidal attempt. In other words, a person is far less likely to succeed when attempting suicide when they don’t use a gun. Thus, the combination of common-sense gun control and the destigmatization, and availability of affordable mental health care, would save lives every day.
The American Psychological Association qualifies gun violence in America as an, “urgent, complex and multifaceted problem.” Their recommendations for addressing this problem include, “prediction, prevention and policy:”
- First, they recommend prevention through research-based methodology that aims at early-intervention in developmentally-based risks. In other words, it is important to educate, support and intervene with children as they grow-up.
- Second, they recommend psychologist-developed programs be implemented in core societal infrastructure such as schools, churches and even prisons. They posit that these programs need to address issues of class and gender.
- Third, the APA urges that policies and programs providing mental health support for all individuals need to be a national priority.
- Fourth, they advocate for community-based coalitions of police, mental health and first-aid workers to address preventative measures for gun violence.
- Finally, they recommend urgent action be taken to legally implement firearm prohibitions for high-risk groups such as domestic violence offenders, other previously convicted violent crime offenders, or those individuals with a diagnosed mental illness who have been legally found to be a threat to themselves or others.
IT’S NOT THAT COMPLICATED
We see terms such as, “multifaceted” and “complex” bandied about in the conversations about gun violence in the U.S. But, honestly, it’s not that complicated! If we proactively take only THREE steps we can see a reduction in gun violence in this country.
- Foster happiness, compassion and kindness instead of self-absorption, meanness and an us-them mentality.
- Make the destigmatization of, and accessability to, mental health support a national priority.
- Implement common-sense, restrictive gun laws!
I have taken it up as a personal mantel to promote all three of these steps.
What will you do?
As always, your comments are welcome!
Jennifer Robinson
Editor-In-Chief
JEN ROBINSON
Jen Robinson is the creative force behind the wellness brand Peaceful Living Wellness which is dedicated to providing a wide-variety of high-quality wellness information. Jen is also the creator of the Peaceful Living Wellness life coaching division, and offers workshops, individual and group coaching as well as retreats where she guides women in using Mindfulness and Mindset to build their inner strength on a foundation of inner peace. Jen also is the co-creator of the business coaching brand CEO Mindset that guides entrepreneurs in building their businesses without burning out.
The latest addition to her repertoire is that she recently signed-on as the Wellness Director for the business development company Wealthy Women Entrepreneurs . She is very excited to be leading this group of dynamic women entrepreneurs into success in their businesses and lives!
The most important part of Jen’s life are her two very active teenagers, AJ & Layna!
Jen’s Mindfulness and Mindset techniques inform her business, her parenting and her life!
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