The deaths of small children do not move us beyond tears and platitudes to policy action. What will? We are lost if we don’t demand a significant change in gun access policy after reading how a two-year-old wandered lost and frightened after both parents were shot and killed. After people going food shopping in Buffalo were slain. After people going to relax at a club in Colorado Springs were brutally murdered. How about the deaths at Walmart in Chesapeake, Virginia? Empathy drained. Courageous political action is tossed aside for preferred partisan politics.

Past policies passed in the bi-partisan Senate move are weak compromises.  They are face-saving actions for both major parties, not life-sparing policy moves that will reduce the death toll from gun violence. We need to make a move that will save lives, requiring a complete ban on automatic weapons. The Senate’s bipartisan gun deal includes additional mental health funding, increased school safety, more crisis intervention programs, and incentives for states to align juvenile records in the National Instant Criminal Background Check System. But automatic, high-powered velocity weapons – weapons of war – continue to be accessible.

High-Powered Weapon Purchases Are Climbing

In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed an assault-weapons ban, which resulted in the reduction of the AR-15 and similar semiautomatic rifles sales. The Ban only covered a 10-year window, in which mass shootings were down dramatically. When the assault-weapons ban expired 10 years later, gun manufacturers filled the production pipeline and sales rose. Recently – and tragically – the AR-15 has been at the scene of almost every mass shooting to hit the headlines in recent years. It’s design – the spin of the bullet – and firepower make killing as easy as pressing the trigger again and again until its 30-bullet magazine is spent.

The United States is witnessing a record year of gun violence – more than 600 mass shootings in 2022. The pressure is on lawmakers to enact meaningful reforms. But, little action is expected to curb this continued slaughter of the innocent.

Weapons of War are Designed for One Purpose – to Kill

For six years as a military paratrooper and combat medic, I carried an M-4, the preferred weapon of war for infantry entering combat.  The M-4 is a smaller, more convenient version of the M-16.  These are the weapons of war used in past mass shootings.  Some express misguided comfort that the A-15 is semi-auto only, and the M16 is fully automatic. But in combat situations, soldiers rarely fire on automatic. Few do, for every bullet counts.  Let’s stop calling these rifles “automatic.”  They are weapons created for war – weapons of war to wound and kill others.

Civilians are the Victims of this Gun-Epidemic War

We must heed the words of the onsite physician first responder in Highland Park, Dr. David Baum: 

“The people who were (killed) were blown up by that gunfire … blown up. The horrific scene of some bodies is unspeakable for the average person. I’ve never served, but those are wartime injuries. Those are what are seen in victims of war, not victims at a parade.”

Dr. Roy Guerrero, a healer of children who rushed to Uvalde Memorial Hospital after the massacre of 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Texas, testified during a congressional hearing on gun violence:

“I chose to be a pediatrician. I chose to take care of children. “Keeping them safe from preventable diseases I can do. Keeping them safe from bacteria and brittle bones, I can do. But making sure our children are safe from guns, that’s the job of our politicians and leaders.”

The words of Drs Baum and Guerrero echo a simple truth: our politicians are too removed from the steady death toll and its horror to fulfill their responsibilities in protecting the nation. America is at war within itself. Our political leaders decline to call for a ceasefire despite rising body count.  Let’s call these weapons what they are – weapons of war. 

The AR-15-styled weapon was used in the Sandy Hook massacre, the Aurora theater massacre, the San Bernardino massacre, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, FL, mass murder in Buffalo, NY, Uvalde, Texas, Highland Park, IL and the most recent shootings. What’s the difference between the AR-15 and its military counterpart, the M16?  They are assault weapons that hold a 30-bullet magazine and offer users the same firepower. Their killing capacity, like their power, is equal.

Congress must hold some responsibility for the murders around the nation. If its members cannot agree to protect the nation’s youngest citizens who sit in classrooms eager to learn to read, count, and play team sports, then they can either sharpen their empathy skills and feel people’s pain or consider their time in public office as a failure.

Congress Must See the Wounds of the Dead and Suffering

How can Congress show a higher degree of responsibility – a heightened connection to people’s enduring pain – physical and psychological?  Look and remember!  Each day, they should begin their sessions looking at the actual photos of those shot – the wounded and killed.  They should learn about their injuries, urgent care, and rehabilitation.  Also, each purchase of an AR-15 should require liability insurance.  Where there is no economic impact, death becomes cheap. For almost certain, once insurance companies are paying out claims, something is likely to change.

With less than 5 percent of the world’s population, the US has almost 50 percent of the world’s civilian-owned guns. The US ranks number one in firearms per capita. Our nation also has the highest homicide-by-firearm rate among the world’s most developed nations. Forget the reasons used to explain-away mass shootings; at the scene of each of these horrific acts are often weapons of war.

Americans need patriotic public service advocates in Washington, DC, who place the survival of its citizens at the forefront of their efforts.  Weapons of war, such as AR-15s, have no place in people’s home arsenals. Its bullet’s caliber rips its target apart – going in small and exiting the size of a fist. Members of Congress and their staff must be required – regardless of their political party affiliation– to see the destructive path of an AR-15 caliber bullet after every mass shooting – see the faces and hear the screams of the families impacted until those cries echo in their heads.  They must identify with the continued horror the first responders will likely experience for years.

Years after my military service, I remember the faces of the wounded and dead. I remember stemming blood from their gunshot wounds.  I hear their voices calling for distant mothers or asking if they will die. What was training and instinct – the ability to separate from the swirl around me and perform under fire – now is a movie reel that plays in my head. 

I cherish life, my role as a healer, and now, my responsibilities as a health communicator. But each moment in harm’s way was never about policy; it was about survival. Now, we are all in harm’s way wherever we go. Congress, you must transcend your political differences and imagine the cries of children murdered, calling hopelessly beforehand for their parents unable to reach out. Ban assault weapons. Ban weapons of war.

[This post was originally published on July 22nd and has now been updated to reflect the recent shootings the continued lack of Federal government action to guard its citizens’ safety.]

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Many people point to mental illness as the cause of mass murder. According to research, sixty percent of mass shooters had a diagnosed mental condition, with depression and personality disorders being the most common. While it’s true that some people with mental illness are violent, the vast majority are not, and only a tiny fraction of mass killers have diagnoses of severe mental diseases like schizophrenia.

The perpetrator’s history of violence is another aspect suspected in mass murders. One study found that almost two-thirds of mass shooters had a history of violence, either in the form of past crimes or domestic abuse. According to these findings, a history of violence may be a major risk factor for mass murder. Bullying and abuse have also been noted in studies. What about guns?

The availability of firearms has also been linked to violence. A study found that mass shootings happen more often in the United States than in other industrialized countries because guns are so easy to get. I recall one professor telling us that if there’s a gun in the home, chances are it will be used against someone. But mass murders have other commingling factors contributing to their violence.

Mass murder is a tragically complicated phenomenon for which no simple answer exists. As noted, studies have found that some things, like mental illness, a history of violence, and access to guns, may make someone want to kill a lot of people. Even though these things may make mass murder more likely, they may not cause it.

More research is needed to figure out what causes mass murder and come up with effective ways to stop it. Gun availability is only one factor of many in this tragic equation.

Tragically, mass shootings have long been a problem in our society. It’s sad to see innocent people die in these senseless acts of violence, and it’s important to find out why these horrible things happen. Although the exact reason why some people turn into mass murderers and shooters is unknown, research points to a number of intricate and interconnected factors that may be at play.

Mental illness, as previously mentioned, is one element that has been linked to numerous mass shootings. Still, it’s important to keep in mind that most people with mental illness don’t act violently. It’s critical to understand that most violent crimes, such as mass shootings, are committed by people who haven’t been diagnosed with a mental illness.

But a history of mental illness, especially if it is not treated, might make it more likely that someone will act violently. There is a higher likelihood of aggressive behavior in people with some mental diseases, such as schizophrenia.

A history of trauma or abuse is another element that has been linked to mass shootings. Losing a loved one, physical or sexual abuse, neglect, or other traumatic experiences, are common among mass shooters. The gunman may occasionally seek retribution against people who they feel have mistreated them.

Social and cultural factors influence mass shootings. According to studies, societies with a high level of inequality and a culture of violence have a higher risk of mass shootings. That guns are everywhere in society is another factor that has been pointed out as a cause.

Gun violence, especially mass shootings, happens more often in places where more people own guns. Another factor may be the way the media reports on mass shootings since they often make the gunman and the act of violence seem like big news could also cause a “contagion” effect, in which potential shooters are influenced by what has happened before. How many “shooters” have a manifesto that they want to be published or read on TV?

Mass shootings also heavily depend on the shooter’s psyche. Research has found that many mass shooters have similar psychological traits, such as a need for attention, a sense of entitlement, and a lack of empathy for others. These people may also feel helpless or disenfranchised, which motivates them to use violence to gain control.

Some specialists have identified the “copycat effect” as a phenomenon. This means that people tend to act like the people they think are successful or powerful. In the case of mass shootings, this can look like people trying to act like previous shooters to get attention or feel powerful and in charge.

The more shootings that take place, the more the stress level will rise, but we must keep one thing in mind; more guns don’t equal safety.

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