Guns in America
A simple solution?
We live in an age where news is global.
If I want to know what’s going on in the world as I get outside my bowl of porridge in the morning, I have multiple sources. As a Brit, there are the TV channels like the BBC, Sky and Al-Jazeera – but increasingly now, I find myself glued to the smaller screen. The social platforms are an excellent source of interesting news, because they learn – or I tell them – what interests me. The ‘For You’ stream on TikTok, for example, has fine-tuned itself to become an invaluable source of information on subjects close to my heart – like anti-democratic Christo-fascism, the advancement of atheism and (for my day job) the world of historical fiction / book publishing. Also Substack, the very platform that you’re reading this on, gives me the chance to choose precisely the opinion pieces and viewpoints I want to hear.
This means the news I get is interest-based rather than geographical – which is why I find myself increasingly being drawn into the world of US politics, almost on a domestic level. I am fascinated to know more about the 2024 presidential election, and especially how the Republican party is being hamstrung into endorsing the wannabe fascist dictator Trump.
Trump. Here in the UK, we generally see him as a figure of ridicule. Our TV stations seem to think it is best to play into this, showing footage of yee-haw MAGA rednecks who believe that all the bad press, lawsuits and criminal charges are nothing more than a ‘socialist’ conspiracy to discredit him. All this gives us a bit of a one-sided view of what Americans think of Trump. One British man even phoned in to a talk show the other day shouting ‘Trump 2024!’ and ‘four more years! But thankfully, I am now seeing the other side of this, courtesy of my social algorithms.
Through them I am getting a refreshing perspective on how rational, sane Americans are responding to Trump and the Republican Christo-fascists – and it is heartening to see that they are making their voices heard. A trans kid stood up before a State legislature (I forget which), and told them how their campaign of hate and marginalisation is affecting innocent lives. A powerful lady called Pamela Stevenson makes impassioned and compelling speeches in Kentucky – sadly to Republican law-makers who seem to have their fingers in their ears (or their hearing aids switched off). An ex-astronaut told a Republican in a candidate debate that he had no right forcing his ill-informed views on experts in their fields, and this person looked down his nose at the astronaut – one of the most supremely competent people on, or off, this planet – as if he was a piece of dirt.
So I am pleased that I am getting to understand American politics from more of a balanced domestic viewpoint.
But I did not grow up in America, so there is still one topic that I find very hard to understand.
And that is – guns.
I recall when I worked for an international ad agency, meeting a colleague in Kansas City – an ex-pat Brit. She told me she had a gun – because if there was a break-in by an armed burglar, she could protect herself. “Everyone has to have them,” she said, “because everyone else does.” I was gobsmacked to learn how easy it was for people to get them, and how ‘normalised’ gun ownership was. Something that would have one arrested in the UK was no more unusual to them than having a toaster.
I remember thinking at the time that this was an inevitable spiral into a level of gun ownership that could only lead to one thing – an excess of gun deaths. And boy, isn’t that the truth? There are 43,000 deaths from gun violence each year. Or to put it another way, 119 gun deaths per 1m population. The UK has 2.
The US now has more guns than people – 393m guns to 334m people. So it’s not surprising that the gun violence is that high – easy access to lethal weapons is going to lead to more deaths, whatever crap excuses are rolled out by the Republicans.
Another sickening statistic is that guns are the leading cause of death for children under 18. Frankly I do not have the words to express my sadness and disgust at that.
But that’s not all - here’s another statistic. The highest type of gun death is suicide. I suppose again, it’s inevitable that when you have such a powerful and accessible weapon in every home, those with suicidal thoughts are going to use it. Given how many suicides are attempted but fail elsewhere in the world, the availability of guns must push up the successful suicide rate no end in the US. How many potentially fulfilled lives have been cut short because temporary suicidal thoughts led to such a heartbreakingly permanent outcome?
What is very clear from my news consumption is that there is no short term solution. The obscene NRA is too well funded, and passes on those funds to too many Republicans law makers, to be stopped. And like any form of disarmament, it’s difficult to make the first move without becoming vulnerable.
So I have come up with the perfect solution. One that is beautiful in its simplicity.
If I could, I would implement a total ban on civilian gun ownership, like most civilized countries. All guns – no exceptions.
Then I would make a full amnesty for all guns handed in over a set period, and draconian sanctions for anyone subsequently found not to have complied.
Once all the guns in America are safely gathered up, I would then have them shipped to the Ukraine. All of them. The USA is a country that is not at war and shouldn’t need guns, while the Ukraine is at war and does. Desperately. So Americans can give up their guns knowing they’re going to a good cause.
I only wish there was the political and social will to implement this solution.
Because everybody wins.
Except (hopefully) Putin.
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All gun stats from https://giffords.org/
When I am not coming up with simplistic, and sadly unworkable solutions to intractable problems on Substack, I write action adventure novels set in Tudor England. The first novel in my trilogy features a time-traveller going back to the 16th century - and not surprisingly, being accused of being a witch.
It’s out as an audiobook, performed by the unique and amazing Caroline Holmes.
For more info, see Audible UK here or Audible US here.