What's Important: Dealing with Gun Violence.

Abstract

As orthopaedic surgeons, we have been deeply saddened, horrified, and angered by the recent shootings of 2 physicians, an employee, and a patient at a Tulsa health-care clinic. This closely followed the shootings at a Buffalo supermarket and the Uvalde elementary school. While we are not going to list all of the tragic shootings in these past months, we do want to reiterate some of the facts of gun violence. There were 12,393 deaths from guns in the United States in 2021; over half of them were suicides1. There are 434 million firearms in the United States (of which 19.8 million are AR-15s), and 150 million have a “large-capacity” magazine capable of holding at least 10 rounds2. It has been estimated that 40% of households in the United States possess at least 1 firearm3. It is no secret that this country is deeply polarized about how we should respond to the tragedies of gun deaths and injuries. In this essay, we want to present our own views of how we can address problems that urgently need our attention and can actually be fixed. Some of these steps can be taken immediately and some require enormous societal changes. First, we believe that eliminating all guns in the United States or abolishing the 2nd Amendment is impossible. Also, we do not think that our country should outlaw large-capacity magazines as that would make semiautomatic handguns and rifles, which don’t accept smaller magazines, nonfunctional and could turn tens of millions of Americans who own these weapons into criminals. What we can do is increase the age for any firearm purchase from 18 to 21 years, a proposal for which there is widespread agreement. The argument has been raised that 18-year-olds can serve in the military, where they use handguns and assault weapons, but soldiers are highly vetted for service and trained in the proper use of weapons—unlike ordinary 18 to 21-year-olds. Exceptions might be made for young people hunting on their own family’s properties and ranches. This entire issue can also be revisited after data have been collected. There are other measures that merit serious discussion. These include “red flag” regulations that would allow law enforcement to take away firearms from those who have displayed serious mental illness and prior disturbing behaviors. (In fact, this issue was included in the gun safety legislation recently passed by Congress, which provided funding to incentivize states to enact such measures.) In addition, perhaps a 3-day waiting period from the purchase to the pick-up of a weapon should be considered? Could more effort be made to “harden” soft targets (schools, houses of worship, medical facilities, and shopping malls) with properly trained onsite staff members? Could there be more police officers on the streets? We ourselves believe in the importance of the family in stemming gun violence. Parents need to take responsibility for guiding the decisions and actions of their children and teenagers. They must instill, through education and example, a sense of individual responsibility, personal awareness, and pride in community. Those who include religion in their children’s upbringing should stress the tenets that forbid the taking of life (“Thou shalt not kill” according to the 5th commandment of the Judeo-Christian faith traditions). All children and teenagers who show signs suggesting current or future violent behavior toward others or themselves should be referred to health professionals for counseling and treatment as soon as possible. In the long term, perhaps we can focus more on the person pulling the trigger. The news outlets, social media, and we ourselves need to stress the importance of the family (especially fathers for boys and young men), morality, and religious beliefs (the 5th Commandment, “Thou shalt not kill”) to hopefully restore individual responsibility and personal awareness. Parents should be held responsible for the moral actions of their children and teenagers. Pride and responsibility in country and community could be restored through education and example. Children and teenagers with disturbing behavior and “mental illness” should be referred to health professionals for counseling and treatment at an earlier stage. Maybe the time is now to come together and take some incremental steps to decrease gun violence. No one denies that addressing gun violence in the United States is difficult. We are a nation in which life and freedom are both revered. However, the time is now to come together and take incremental steps.