The most recent mass shooting in Virginia Beach and the heavy toll in lives lost and people injured by gun violence in Chicago this past Memorial Day made me think again about the Second Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
First, it occurred to me that the Second Amendment is the only part of the U.S. Constitution that directly results in people losing their lives. And we are not talking about a few people.
Annually more than 39,000 are killed by gun shots and more than 107,000 injured (CDC 2017 data). Politifact (www.politifact.com) has calculated that since 1968, 1,516,863 gun-related deaths have occurred in the U.S., which is more than the 1,396,733 U.S. deaths in all military conflicts going back to the Revolutionary War.
School shootings which rightfully get a lot of attention, account for a small portion of these deaths, 202 since 1970 with 454 people injured (New York Times, May 11, 2019). Nonetheless, we average more than one school shooting incident per week (94 in 2018 according to the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School) and perhaps as many as one mass shooting (more than three deaths, not including the shooter) per day, although statistics vary widely (Rand Corporation, www.rand.org, March 2, 2018).
The majority of gun-related deaths are suicides, accounting for close to two-thirds of these fatalities (CDC). Though mass shootings account for just 1 percent, according to the Rand Corporation, there have been 1,600 incidents since the Sandy Hook School mass killing (Mother Jones, Nov. 8, 2018).
In fact, the U.S. has a far higher firearm-related suicide (and homicide) rate than other developed nations (Politifact) and most developing nations. The Second Amendment of the Constitution leads to people dying and in large numbers.
Second, the costs associated with gun violence and gun-related deaths and injuries are enormous and much of these costs are paid for by U.S. taxpayers! Mother Jones (April 15, 2015) did a very thorough, in-depth study and estimated these costs amount to $229 billion annually, an average of $700 per American per year. Wyoming had the highest estimated per person costs ($1,397) and Hawaii the lowest ($234). These estimates included medical care and transport, police, court and prison costs, and mental health treatment for traumatized people. Homicides were responsible for the majority of costs, but suicides are also costly. Think of the police and EMS response, the medical examiner and autopsies, and the mental trauma of family and friends as well as first responders. Just recently two survivors of the Parkland school shooting and one father of the Sandy Hook school shooting died by suicide and their mental trauma may have had much to do with that. Many of these costs are not paid for by any type of insurance and therefore are paid for by … all of us from our tax dollars.
Many Oak Park residents clearly understand at least some of these issues, as a sizable majority (64%) voted in favor of repealing the Second Amendment in a non-binding referendum in 2016. Even more voters favored universal background checks (93%) and local safe gun storage regulation (91.5%) in similar referenda in 2014 and 2018, respectively. The votes in favor of these Oak Park referenda give me comfort and at least some hope for change that will reduce the enormity of gun-related deaths and injuries in America.