It’s an unpopular opinion but it’s at the root of gun violence in the United States

Photo by Simon Infanger on Unsplash

Usually, as the seasons change into spring and summer, the promise of sunshine, long days, and numerous fun outdoor activities such as cookouts and street fairs put people in a joyous mood. However, it’s marred this year by a never-ending barrage of violence.

Gun Violence Ails The Country’s Psyche

In just the last couple of months, there has been a mass shooting on the subway in my hometown of Brooklyn, New York (where thankfully, no one died), a mass shooting in a supermarket that killed 10 people in Buffalo, New York, which has since been labeled a hate crime, and a mass shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde Texas that left 19 children and 2 adults dead. And those are just the stories that made the news cycle. There are other mass shootings every day in the United States that don’t make headlines.

The United States leads the planet in gun-related homicides. Pledges for gun reform by our legislators fall flat because too many of them are beholden to the National Rifle Association, which is the leading gun rights advocacy group in the world and is among the most powerful special interest lobby groups in the US. Until the group declared bankruptcy earlier this year amid claims of mismanagement and fraud by its senior leadership, it spent $3 million per year opposing gun control legislation.

Pundits spend a judicious amount of time hand-wringing and theorizing over this country’s obsession with guns. Certainly, toxic masculinity plays a role as most mass shooters are men. In a society where men aren’t given the latitude to express any emotion besides anger and they feel immense pressure to dominate those they consider weaker than them, it’s not surprising that one of the few outlets they have to express themselves is through violence.

The lack of mental health resources as well as the stigma against mental illness is another reason that is often stated as the cause of gun violence. It is true that mental health treatment can be prohibitively expensive for those who lack insurance or don’t have sufficient medical coverage to cover treatment. And it is true that the stigma against mental illness often hinders people from seeking treatment, especially BIPOC, who don’t have enough practitioners that look like them to meet the need.

However, patriarchy isn’t just limited to the US but is worldwide. Men in many parts of the world are reared similarly to men in the US and yet, they don’t resort to using guns the way that men do here. Also, many parts of the world have even fewer mental health resources than the United States. This means that there is something that is uniquely toxic and American about gun violence.

I purport that the toxic thing that is at the root of gun violence is embedded in our Constitution: the Second Amendment.

Roots of Gun Violence in the United States

The Second Amendment states in short, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” Many people interpret the wording as the right of the state to form a militia as well as to keep a militia under civilian control. Other people focus on the clause that states that the people have a right to bear arms. However, the roots of the amendment are more egregious and sinister than people think.

You must remember that at the time the US Constitution was drafted, the only people deemed worthy of rights were wealthy white men. Black people, indigenous people, women, and the poor were regarded as feeble-minded, lazy, or inherently dangerous. In essence, the Second Amendment didn’t really apply to Black or indigenous people. It was intended to subjugate them.

The wording about militias in the Second Amendment isn’t really about the right of the state to form and fund an army to defend against tyranny from outside forces. Militias were needed precisely to thwart revolts from enslaved Africans as well as to suppress the anger of indigenous people, who were understandably upset about colonizers seizing their land and displacing them. The wording in the first clause of the amendment assured some wary forefathers that militias would not be controlled by the federal government, but that they would be controlled by the states and at the beck and call of the states to be able to put down any slave revolts or uprisings from indigenous people.

In reference to the clause about the people having the right to bear arms, well, for centuries after the Constitution was ratified, only white people were assured of that right. Numerous laws throughout the country were enacted to prohibit Black people from owning firearms. The thought of Black people doing to their oppressors what their oppressors have done and continue to do to them was and is too frightening for the dominant society to contemplate.

In short, the Second Amendment is rooted in white supremacy and the oppression of Black and indigenous people.

The Second Amendment Needs To Go

Ultimately, in a country founded by violence and wields white supremacy as a sword to terrorize BIPOC, no gun control measure or restriction will ever be enough to cure what ails this country’s psyche. Banning assault rifles, tightening background checks, or raising the legal age where people can purchase firearms only address the symptoms, not the root cause. To address the root cause, white supremacy needs to be dismantled. Consequently, it means repealing the Second Amendment and sending it to the dustbin of history.

It’s not a popular opinion but it’s one that is true to my heart. Because I can’t ever feel truly safe in a land where I could be one out of 12,000 or so people who can be killed by a gun in a given year, whether by someone who claims to love me or by a racist cop. I shouldn’t have to fear getting shot in my workplace, school, or shopping center. I’m tired of sending thoughts and prayers to victims of gun violence because I doubt that any deity hears. I’m tired of living in a society that values instruments of death more than people’s lives.

Gun violence is a cancer that has destroyed American lives long enough. Dismantling white supremacy will go a long way toward treating it.

©Vena Moore 2022