In Cruz’s world, gun violence happens because of “the elites who dominate our culture,” the media, corporate leaders, Hollywood, homelessness, gangs, “radical” district attorneys, “cultural sickness,” despair, isolation, “sick souls,” broken families, absent fathers, declining church attendance, social medial bullying, violent online content, video games, and drugs.
In other words, guns have nothing to do with it.
I think Cruz touches on some important cultural factors. So if the culture is so bad, wouldn’t we want to keep assault weapons out of the hands of people who have been conditioned by the culture to do horrible things with them? It takes generations for a culture to change. While we are working and waiting for change (however we define it), let’s control gun use. In other words, Cruz’s cultural argument is one of the best arguments for gun control.
Watch:
We do know that when assault rifles were banned, there was a drop in gun related deaths, and when that law was allowed to sunset, deaths increased.
In my lifetime I have observed two mandates that were not accepted with arms wide open. Seat belts and standing back from desks where people shared their private information such as clinics and banks. Most locations are down to one or two discrete reminders and you don’t see much masking tape to mark the spot to stand. It is now normal. Seatbelt gradually became normal plus added features such as air bags; and deaths on streets and roads dropped. Plus seatbelt law seem to be enforced more.
Sen. Cruz’s list of culture issues, besides being hard to correct all at the same time, if ever, I am sure some study of known facts about firearms related deaths can point to one or two specific ways to address this problem; such as suicide and youthful people who enter schools and shoot children and teachers.
And there are some hard questions for police and related responders to shooting events on their response, not to mention clear leadership by an incident commander.
A shooting death or deaths incidents never really go away. Not for the victims, their family, friends, the community. The price is too high. Shooting injury and deaths leave scars on caregivers, first responders. As someone who worked in a psychiatric hospital, I carry scars. Nearly everyone does.
Thanks for sharing your experience, Susan. I think seatbelt law makes for a fair comparison. I agree with some of Cruz’s cultural diagnosis, but, as I noted in the post, cultures take a long time to change. In the meantime, let’s control the guns!