Solving the Problem of Mass Shootings

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California Governor Gavin Newsom stated that male gender must be an instrumental part of addressing gun violence.

"These shootings overwhelmingly are males…I think that is missing in the national conversation. If there was anything more obvious, I don't know what (it) is.” He added: "I think that goes deep to the issue of how we raise our boys to be men, goes deeply to values that we tend to hold dear: power, dominance, aggression, over empathy, care and collaboration."

Here’s a suggestion: he and his Democratic colleagues should practice what they preach.

Maybe they should revisit the Left’s oft-condemnation of America’s boys and men as “white toxic masculinity” and  “white male gun culture.” Stripping away the natural qualities imbued in a male’s makeup (strength, compassion, boldness, protector) is an assault on their character and dignity, and leads to a significant, and sometimes violent, backlash. Instead of trying to socially-engineer men into something they’re not, they should embrace that which makes the American man unique.

And it’s impossible to have “empathy, care and collaboration” when their Party shows intolerance. Democratic leaders in El Paso and Dayton slammed President Trump’s decision to visit those cities, calling him “unhelpful,” and stating he was unwelcome.

Their arrogance is staggering.

How can they have “collaboration” when they turned their back on Republicans, and, in particular, the most powerful man in the world?

And how can they show empathy when they politicize the massacre, and presume that all of their constituents automatically agree with them? Yes, it’s their congressional or mayoral district, but it’s the president’s district, too. The people of El Paso and Dayton aren’t just their constituents, but also Donald Trump’s. And the president won both states.

Shame on them for failing their people on the values of tolerance, open-mindedness, and class. With that attitude, good luck getting your “solutions” enacted.

This column has covered assault-weapons, and the reasons why mass killings are occurring now, when they didn’t just a generation ago. But other aspects need addressing.

The gun-control faction needs to understand that its credibility is severely compromised because of misinformation.

A few examples:

“Mass shootings don’t happen in other countries.”

Wrong. They do, and America ranks well down the list. The Crime Prevention Research Center analyzed the frequency of mass shootings, comparing the U.S. to European nations and Canada. America ranked twelfth. The CPRC also determined that of the 86 countries where mass shootings were identified, the U.S. ranked 56^th in per capita rate of attacks, and 61^st in mass public shooting rate.

“Assault weapons like the AR-15 and AK-47 are used in almost all mass shootings.”

Not even close. The handgun is preferred by more than 2-to-1. And rifles, as a percentage of all homicides, are three percent.

“The majority of mass shooters are manifesto-wielding white nationalists.”

Not even in the ballpark. In fact, “white nationalists,” whatever that term means, as it’s the Left’s new mantra to attack the president, account for few mass shooters. Numerous massacres occurred where the perpetrator wasn’t white; therefore, if not white, then not a white nationalist. And for the white shooters, few committed atrocities for a “white nationalist” agenda: Vegas, Parkland, the attack against the congressional Republican baseball team, and the Dayton shooter, who advocated a Left-wing agenda and supported Senators Warren and Sanders.

Enough with the disingenuous blame-game. Solve the problem.

We are safe. The overwhelming odds are that we won’t be involved in a mass shooting, much less get shot, so let’s stop the sky-is-falling fear. Doing so leads to poor decisions, destroys quality of life, and harms the economy. Worrying that you will be in a mass shooting is like fretting about how to spend Powerball winnings.

We must remember that we are living in the safest time in human history, crime in America is near historic lows, and we are nowhere close to living in “unprecedented hate.”

People are offering stats showing “mental health” as a reason for mass shootings, is relatively low. Wrong. It’s 100 percent. Anyone who decides to kill as many as possible, including children, is mentally ill. The big question is why that “kill-em-all” illness exploded over the last twenty years.

Most gun-control advocates are well-intentioned. But taking actions that won’t work exacerbates the problem.

Examples:

Thirty day waiting period; one gun purchase every six months; background and mental health check; fingerprint trigger sensor so only the owner can shoot.

Rebuttal: Not a single one of those would have stopped the recent mass shooters.

People need to stop parroting buzz words, put down their lattes, stop binge-watching, and get to work. If not, it’s no shot in the dark to say we’ll be having this same conversation soon enough. 

Chris Freind is an independent columnist, television commentator, and investigative reporter who operates his own news bureau, Freindly Fire Zone Media. Read more reports from Chris Freind — Click Here Now.