Eighteen Killed in California Shootings, 37 Dead in Chicago
– By Howard Sierer –
Mass shootings are shocking and attract nationwide attention. They also bring out predictable media calls for more restrictive gun laws that would do little to stem the murderous tide while ignoring another problem where many more lives are at stake.
Two tragic mass shootings in California in the past ten days left 18 people dead and the rest of us shaking our heads at the senseless killing. Even more tragic but little reported is the steady drumbeat of killings in Chicago: 37 had been shot and killed through January 26th, an average of over one per day. (Two more were stabbed to death.) As of January 22nd, 23 people had been murdered in New York City.
Sadly, I see no cure-all solution for gun violence. Restricting gun purchases by requiring a waiting period to do background checks before purchasers can take possession of weapons seems reasonable. But both California shooters had no police records and showed no prior evidence of mental derangement that would have prevented them from purchasing or owning guns.
Experience shows that restrictive gun laws do not reduce gun violence. Case in point: California has the most restrictive gun laws in the country, yet 18 people were killed.
Banning assault weapons has little effect. All 18 California victims were killed with handguns as were almost all of those in Chicago and New York, not with assault weapons. A total of 18,597 homicides were committed in the U.S. during 2022. In cases where the weapon used was identified, only about 7% were committed with rifles of any kind, including assault weapons.
Expanding mental health services might do some good for those living marginally well. Still, it wouldn’t have reached the two California shooters and are unlikely to reach gang members in Chicago and New York responsible for most shootings.
Recognizing all these difficulties, the New York Times has a useful article entitled “Why America Can’t Fix Its Gun Violence Crisis.” The article’s bottom line: the country has 390 million guns of all types, three to four times as many per capita as any other first-world country.
The Times blames all the usual suspects for inaction: the Second Amendment, the NRA, the Senate dominated by gun-loving states, and Republicans in general.
There is a much larger and more preventable crisis where political roles are reversed.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimated that 108,000 Americans died of opioid overdoses in the year ending in February 2022, over six times the number of homicides.
The primary culprit is fentanyl, an easy-to-make synthetic drug produced primarily by two large Mexican drug cartels with raw materials supplied from China. Fentanyl is mixed into fake pills made to look like OxyContin, Percocet, and Xanax. Since fentanyl is 50 times stronger than heroin or morphine, it is easily overdosed by unwitting opioid abusers. The CDC estimates that fentanyl causes 70% of all overdose deaths.
Since almost all fentanyl enters the country through our southern border, we could save tens of thousands of American lives each year by securing that border. But Pres. Biden abandoned any effective control of our southern border in the first hours of his presidency, resulting in over two million would-be immigrants appearing in each of the last two years compared with only about 548,000 in 2020.
The federal Drug Enforcement Administration seized 379 million doses of fentanyl in 2022, almost all in border states California and Texas. Nonetheless, overdose deaths rose again.
Blame for failing to address this far greater threat lies with Democrats, who instead prioritize illegal immigrant asylum claims over border security.
I’d willingly support stricter gun control laws in exchange for real security at our southern border that would save many more lives than would more gun control laws.
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Like Ed’s article the other week, your piece is well written and presents all the angles. There is no denial by either of you that the problem appears unsolvable. Ed concludes out of frustration he would melt all the guns into a pile of metal scrap while you on the other hand would make trade offs for border security. The problem does have a solution but neither of you truly provide one. What is the root cause ? Why, (long pause)… going back to the 70s and early 80s mass shootings were very very rare? Remember Thec Boomtown Rats first, greatest, and only musical hit song from the 70s… ? Alas – no doubt a little Jungian psychology would go a long way to help see the problem. On that note I prefer the old 70s Wizard of Id cartoons over Freud if that helps. Peace out – (add to list shooting near Beverly Hills yesterday)
There was a third mass shooting in California in the last couple of weeks. Six people, including a 16-year-old girl and her 10-month-old baby, were gunned down cartel style in Goshen. These killings, and the ongoing Chicago massacres, seem to be due to criminal activity. The others you mention in California might be due to mental illness. The NIMH estimates that 21% of the population of the US has some form of mental illness (AMI). 5.6% of the population has some form of severe mental illness (SMI). That’s 52.9 million (AMI) and 14.2 million people (SMI) respectively. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/mental-illness
Which gun control laws address criminality and mental illness? Anyone can figure out that gun control laws do nothing to stop criminals who choose to use a firearm. Nor will they stop a mentally ill person who subscribes to some type of victim ideology and has no capacity for critical thought and self-control. In reality, gun control laws infringe on our 2A and are meant to control the percentage of the population who are gun owners and who are neither criminals, nor mentally ill; the hundreds of millions you will never hear about because they are trained, law abiding, based Americans living their best lives. ‘Gun Violence’ is an obvious misnomer. Guns aren’t violent. They are inanimate objects.
“The Constitution is not a list of rights the government gives you. The Constitution is a list of rights the government cannot take away from you.”. That includes 2A which uses the actual words “shall not infringe”.
America is being invaded through our southern border and Americans are under attack every day. Around 4.5 million illegal aliens have been released into the US in the last two years.
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/immigration/migrant-border-crossings-fiscal-year-2022-topped-276-million-breaking-rcna53517
The current count pouring through our open southern border is around 250,000+ per month. For perspective, 4.5 million souls would more than double the population of San Diego. 4.5 million souls would increase the population of Los Angeles by 36%. The cartels are making a fortune, they are well funded and well-armed, and they are criminal. Let’s enact more gun control laws.
The horror of child sex trafficking hasn’t even been mentioned. You think all that’s coming across the border are illegal aliens looking for a better life (yeah, right) and illegal drugs? So many seem to have no idea what is going on. Wake up people. You were hoodwinked by Black Lives Matter and you’re being hoodwinked now.
Classic rhetoric – AND of course no solution – Root cause not addressed ? Symptoms – yes – WHAT IS CAUSING MASS PSYCHOSIS – aka mental illness, depression, etc… across America? Sorry… same ole same ole. But give you credit – you represent the Far Right contingent and no doubt valid points and arguments herein could have been copied and pasted from many similar websites. I agree with rule of law – so we have common ground on that – i.e. fix the border if not for National Security reasons alone – cough cough.. Now I nicely suggest go read Ed Kociela’s piece on the same topic from a week + ago. He is the other side of the spectrum. As far as immigration blame game please look up Peter Zeihan – (Zeihan on Geopolitics YT channel) in regards to the trajectory of global demographics in coming years – maybe you are missing a big piece of the puzzle… all due respect – we can agree to disagree – but nothing new here, just one piece of a complicated puzzle that hopefully all Americans can explore together with dignity and respect. Peace out and up to you to do the homework if you want.
Footnote to reply – See Millennium Plot/Ahmed Ressam
On December 14, 1999, Canadian border …. Learned about this as part of my CTPAT certification and training back in the day. . Amazing story especially the fact of how and who caught this terrorist. 2 sides of the coin.
First we should ask the question.
Why would a person leave their home country?
South American countries have a long history of foreign aid not benefiting the people.
The regulatory distribution of said money benefits the corrupt greed of small minorities.
Let’s look at where the bucks go. Americans have no idea.
Maybe public interest rather than private interest should rule.
In the first decade of the 20th Century the notorious Aleister Crowley (aka The Beast) created his own religion and published The Book of the Law. The famous motto attributed to this religion was “Do what thou wilt”… Nowadays you could translate that construct as entitlement. But to go further, (one example) did we not open a pandoras box starting in the 70s and 80s with movies glorifying criminal gangs and ultra violent slasher films. At what point did we open up another pandoras box when the web expanded and hardcore pornography became the norm along with videos of REAL violence available to all. What about the evolution of video games. Crowley would have lioved Grand Theft Auto, let alone Diablo III… Take that level and now multiply it even more. See recent example about a month ago – 8 young girls ages 13 -16 in Toronto Canada met online and decided to exercise a SWARM and viciously stabbed a 49 year old innocent man who died shortly thereafter. Now – put on your thinking caps – what is the root of mass murder and non stop violence in our society? How far can we lower the bar? So is the problem guns? Is the problem an open border? Rep Stewart the other day – town hall meeting – legislation for age restricted access to social media. A step in the right direction – not censorship… We really need to rethink the idea all technology is a good thing no matter what. We have let the Id out and the real question, how can we pull it back? Food for thought. Peace out.