The U.S. has a profound inability to change. Social issues, economic plights and political dithering are like tar to the U.S., making for slow and stuttered movement forward. To ask someone to change is to burden them, and no one has time to add one more task to their busy schedule. People feel excused from promoting change, and they lie stagnant in tradition.
Earlier this week, a study on guns and gun-related deaths was released, catalyzed by the recent Naval Yard shooting in Washington, D.C. The study showed that countries with more guns had more deaths by firearms. The U.S. topped the list, with 88 guns per 100 people, as the nation with not only the most guns but the most firearm-related deaths — 10.2 per 100,000 people.
This study is not necessarily presenting anything substantially shocking: If there are more guns, there are likely to be more incidents with guns. But if that’s so easy to see, it seems that it should be as equally simple to change it.
However, our nation has a tradition built in firearms, and traditions by their very definition are not meant to change.
Arizona, in particular, is a sternly pro-gun bastion, where lax gun laws and easy access to firearms have put our state among the most gun-friendly in that nation. Arizona’s guns and gun laws are celebrated. We have an official state gun, and it is the Colt Single Action Army revolver.
A new gun law in Arizona, which went into effect Friday, now prohibits cities from destroying confiscated firearms. They must instead be auctioned off, putting guns back into the hands of those who would use them for whatever means.
Laws like these do not support nor promote helpful change. If anything, these laws are a step backward.
Over the past year, the U.S. has seen some of the worst and most grisly mass shootings in its history, from Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn., to the Aurora, Colo., theater shooting.
There is an obvious problem with firearms in this country, but people do not want to change their lifestyle, so guns remain available and become more available to anyone and everyone.
There are many calling for action in Congress to alter gun laws. A Rutgers-Eagleton poll out of New Jersey showed that state residents are in support of gun control measures — despite this, Gov. Chris Christie, R-N.J., vetoed a recent gun control bill. The poll showed that 63 percent favor gun control more than gun owners’ rights.
People around the nation, including survivors of recent gun violence, are looking for an alteration in gun control measures.
On Sept. 19, survivors and family members of shooting victims held a rally meant as a call to reduce gun violence in Washington, D.C. Nine thousand names of victims of gun violence from across the country were read as a plea to government officials to take action.
But in a nation whose past and contemporary lifestyle is filled with guns and gun owners, any action is slow.
Changing is difficult. It means expending personal happiness and energy to re-adapt to something new, something you won’t necessarily welcome. Change is also necessary for progress.
Reach the columnist at kwrenick@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @kwrenick
