When a tragedy occurs involving loss of multiple lives, people often ask, "Why does God allow this to go on?" The answer, while unsatisfying, is apparent. We have unlimited freedom. We ALL have unlimited freedom, even bad guys. That is to say, we are free to do good or do evil, or to live in our own little worlds and try to avoid other people. And since we ALL have unlimited freedom, there will be people who, as a result of pure malice or some mental disorder, choose to harm and/or kill others. If God removed a part of our freedom - the freedom to do evil, then what would be the value of being virtuous? Nothing. What God has done is to give us the "tools" to have a successful life - to be "saved" in BornAgain parlance - so although we are all at risk of being killed or greatly harmed by evil people, we can deal with it.
But what of the massive tolls of homicides, mass shootings, and whatnot? What can "we" do about them?
www.pewresearch.org
Let's look at the scope of the problem. In a country of 331 million souls, we have about two million (six tenths of one percent) "untimely" deaths - deaths due to heart disease, cancer, covid, and accidents. We have almost fifty thousand suicides, a little more than half of which are accomplished with firearms. We have about twenty-five thousand homicides, which includes all deaths by "mass shootings," which in fact are a tiny part of a relatively small number. The FBI reports 38 deaths in "mass shootings" in 2020. That includes school shootings. Not a very big number, is it?
If you "circle back" to the theological question mentioned above, the reason why "we" allow this "carnage" to go on is because we CHOOSE to live in a free society - society where firearms are a part of life, even if some of us believe they are unnecessary and a plague upon us all. But if you look at the numbers, the chances that we, as individuals will be the victim of a homicide, those chances are microscopic, even when compared with the chances that we will suffer an "untimely" death by more-or-less natural causes.
The chances that your kid will be killed by a "mass shooter" in his school are much less than the chances he will be killed in a car accident with you behind the wheel. So we really need to be cautious when discussion drastic actions that can be taken to protect our children in school. Put an armed security guard at the door? Insane. That security guard will likely be over seventy years old, and more likely to have a heart attack when it counts than to thwart an insane mass shooter. Further, based on what I read in the papers, those shooters are basically intending to commit suicide themselves - suicide by cop, if you will - and will not be the least bit intimidated by the septuagenarian at the door.
All we can do is,
These incidents drive legislators crazy (although they won't admit it). When they happen, their constituents go up to them and scream, "DO SOMETHING," when there really is nothing more that can be done to prevent these incidents, consistent with our Constitutional freedoms. So they try to pass laws that make no sense, in the hope that their constituents will be satisfied - but not bright enough to see that the law was probably counterproductive.
But what of the massive tolls of homicides, mass shootings, and whatnot? What can "we" do about them?
What the data says about gun deaths in the U.S.
More Americans died of gun-related injuries in 2021 than in any other year on record, according to the latest available statistics from the CDC.
www.pewresearch.org
Let's look at the scope of the problem. In a country of 331 million souls, we have about two million (six tenths of one percent) "untimely" deaths - deaths due to heart disease, cancer, covid, and accidents. We have almost fifty thousand suicides, a little more than half of which are accomplished with firearms. We have about twenty-five thousand homicides, which includes all deaths by "mass shootings," which in fact are a tiny part of a relatively small number. The FBI reports 38 deaths in "mass shootings" in 2020. That includes school shootings. Not a very big number, is it?
If you "circle back" to the theological question mentioned above, the reason why "we" allow this "carnage" to go on is because we CHOOSE to live in a free society - society where firearms are a part of life, even if some of us believe they are unnecessary and a plague upon us all. But if you look at the numbers, the chances that we, as individuals will be the victim of a homicide, those chances are microscopic, even when compared with the chances that we will suffer an "untimely" death by more-or-less natural causes.
The chances that your kid will be killed by a "mass shooter" in his school are much less than the chances he will be killed in a car accident with you behind the wheel. So we really need to be cautious when discussion drastic actions that can be taken to protect our children in school. Put an armed security guard at the door? Insane. That security guard will likely be over seventy years old, and more likely to have a heart attack when it counts than to thwart an insane mass shooter. Further, based on what I read in the papers, those shooters are basically intending to commit suicide themselves - suicide by cop, if you will - and will not be the least bit intimidated by the septuagenarian at the door.
All we can do is,
- make homicide a crime...check,
- have enhanced punishment for homicide with a firearm...check,
- prohibit unauthorized firearms in schools...check,
- see to it that schools are prepared for "active shooters,"...check
These incidents drive legislators crazy (although they won't admit it). When they happen, their constituents go up to them and scream, "DO SOMETHING," when there really is nothing more that can be done to prevent these incidents, consistent with our Constitutional freedoms. So they try to pass laws that make no sense, in the hope that their constituents will be satisfied - but not bright enough to see that the law was probably counterproductive.
