Gun Is The Problem Not Mental Health

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Australia, you know the (far, far away) country which is also a continent surrounded by the Indian and the Pacific oceans, has been mass-shouting free following the April 1996 killing spree which left 35 people dead and a number of others injured. Why can’t we implement similar legislations here in America?

Aren’t you tired of hearing, reading about mass shooting? Aren’t you tired of nothing being done about it? Or, are you part of the problem? Are you standing in the way of tougher gun restriction law? What exactly would it take to eradicate this disease in America? Are you waiting for you and your family to become victims before telling your Representative in Washington to do something about it? Are you so naïve to believe the claim that gun restriction law would deprive you of your constitutional rights? Or are you so scared that a gun is your only hope to defend yourself and your family? Well, let me re-assure you that your belief is misplaced and your fear is misguided.

The debates, the discussions, the arguments, the calls to do nothing about gun problem ring once again. It’s really a waste of time to try to explain why. Donald Trump put it best -Mental Health, Not Gun Problem – as to why that disease has plagued the country for so long with no solution in sight. Here in the United States, it has become truly ridiculous to hear arguments pros & cons regarding gun restriction law. It seems as if most pro-gun activists (and/or owners) have no common sense whatsoever. Mass shootings in America have become so prevalent that we are desensitized by their frequent occurrences. As of this writing, there have been close to 250 mass shootings this year (2015) resulting in over 300 people killed and 1000 injured, the most recent was on August 26 in Monetta, VA where a lone gunman shot two people, injured another one – all captured on camera – before turning the gun on himself later in the day.

According to an August 26, 2015 article by Matthew Speiser of Business Insider, US is averaging more than one mass shooting per day this year; grim stats such as those would give pause to any civilized society – except the US – but it’s much, much worst. According to LA Times, US is No. 1 in mass shootings in the world (31% of mass shooters are in US according to a study which started in 1966) – We always take pride in being No. 1 – and yet accounts for just five percent (5%) of the world population.

According to an August 26, 2015 research report by German Lopez of Vox Media, there are 29.7 gun (and gun related) homicides per million in the US compared to just 5.1 in Canada and 1.4 in Australia. If those stats are not enough incentives for you to demand your Representative to quickly pass toughest gun restriction laws, consider this: In April 1996, after a 28-year-old named Martin Bryant shot 35 people dead with a semi-automatic rifle during a horrific killing spree in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur in Australia, people across Australia were horrified but they did something about it; legislations for stricter gun-control laws in many areas of Australia were passed. Then-Prime Minister John Howard issued ban against automatic, semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns.

Guess what? It works. Since then – after legislations for gun-control laws and bans on automatic weapons – there has not been a single incident of mass shouting in Australia, none. From 1996 to 2015 (almost two decades), people in Australia have lived without any fear of being gunned down by a deranged lunatic in possession of an automatic weapon. Wouldn’t you want such peace of mind here in the United States? Why is it so darn difficult to do the same here in the country? Is it perhaps because we do not value human lives? Could it be because we value money more so than human lives? Or is it just because we are so darn stupid we cannot figure out we are being played by those who enrich themselves at the expense of our lives and those of our children?

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