Again the Blame Game

We need to stop blaming mass shootings on things like "evil" and guns. When you say it was "evil," you are traditionally passing along the responsibility to a third person entity. When you blame guns, you are passing the blame on to an inanimate object.

Call it what it is-- mental illness. People commit crime for one of two reasons: need, and mental illness. Both can be fixed, but not as long as we keep attributing the cause to media buzzwords like "evil" and "gun control."

We need "mental illness control." But first we need to actively work to remove the stigma that comes with it. It's no coincidence America leads the word in mass shootings-- we are also the largest population that still stigmatizes illnesses of the mind.

It starts with our vocabulary. We need to stop using words like "crazy," "nuts," "loony," etc. It will be hard-- it was hard when we effectively eliminated the word "retard," but it was doable, and it helped. When the words go, the stigma starts to loosen up, making it more acceptable for people to talk about their issues, and ultimately making things like mass shootings effectively go away.

Take away the guns, but you won't eliminate the problem. Chicago is one of the toughest gun control cities, yet still has one of the highest shooting rates in the nation-- year after year. During the weekend of August 2-4, 2019 in Chicago, there were seven killed and another fifty-three injured, which is essentially a typical weekend in Chicago. According to the Chicago Tribune (https://www.chicagotribune.com), there have been over 300 homicides through the end of July 2019, which is actually less than last year, at which point there were 326. Remember, the state of Illinois has some of the tightest gun control laws in the country, and yet they prove every year that gun control doesn't work-- all of the "good owners" are affected, while for all of the thugs it's business as usual. Here are the stats for the same time period (January through the end of July) for the last five years in Chicago:

2014- 230

2015- 270

2016- 394

2017- 413

2018- 326

Here's another statistic: of the roughly 36,000 Americans killed with guns annually, 22,000 of those deaths-- 61%, roughly two-thirds-- are gun suicides. Another 1.5% are law enforcement shootings, while a final 1.4% are unintentional shootings.  That means that 12,800 shootings-- roughly 26%-- are actual homicides (https://lawcenter.giffords.org).

Clearly the answer is not more gun control. The guns/criminals who have guns are a symptom of a much deeper issue that neither side of the political spectrum chooses to deal with... remember... two reasons for crime: need and (mental) illness.

That will come when we stop trying to treat the symptoms and actually work on the (mental) illnesses.

Let me be even more obnoxious: sending your "thoughts and prayers" does absolutely nothing except allow you to absolve yourself from actually doing something that would help. The logic goes like this: "I sent my thoughts and prayers, I'm covered." No, in fact you are not. You've done no more to help than someone who simply ignores the problem. You've fed your own ego is what you have done.

I'm not saying to stop doing it, if that's what you believe can help. But help in more substantial ways as well: donate blood, time, or money.

Talk to someone who might have mental health issues; let them know it's ok to express their issues, and point them in the direction of real help. Stop using stigmatizing words when speaking of mental illness.

© Ray Cattie