I have a question. (OK, several) Why are we as a Nation, why is our President and Congress, why is much of our press so concerned with mass shootings?
By any measure, it is a small problem. Compare mass shooting deaths (dozens) to total murders (tens of thousands). The numbers are staggering. Mass shootings are horrific, but aren't all murders?
Are we numb to inner city death, but not movie theater and college campus death?
Are mass shootings viewed as "easy to fix"? Consider the latest mass shooting was with legal guns by a shooter who passed a background check.
One thing that stands out to me is the number of gang related deaths. Baltimore’s City Police Commissioner Anthony Batts says that 80 percent [of murders] are (gang) drug-related.
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Another stand out is in 2013, 10,076 people were killed in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (31%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.
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Prohibition was repealed because 1) black market alcohol related crime became rampant, 2) The government lost significant tax revenue, 3) The majority of the populace shifted from their support to objection. Not only did we experiment with making alcohol illegal, we changed our minds and made it legal again. It remains legal at the price of 10,000 drunk driving deaths per year, plus some large number of other alcohol related deaths: other vehicles, machinery, alcohol poisoning, etc.
If you take out gang related gun deaths, (massively drug related) firearm murder rates will likely drop to less than a quarter of alcohol related deaths.
Should the outrage and concern be focused on the greater damage occurs?
Why is there a call for trigger locks or gun biometrics, but not for alcohol interlocks in all cars?
Are there lessons from prohibition that apply to illegal drugs?
Are there lessons from prohibition that apply to gun control?
Why is the freedom to drink alcohol viewed as a more universal right than bearing arms when alcohol (and drugs) cause greater death?
The larger question: Is the fervor on mass shooting and gun control media driven vs effective solution to murder rate driven? And why?