COM Professor speaks on U.S. Mass Shootings
On Friday, May 18, Santa Fe High School in Texas had a shooting, which took the lives of 10 people. This brings back the narrative of when College of Marin students oined the national walkout to end gun violence in March. COM Social Sciences Professor Paul Cheney shared his perspective on this movement, in particular the idea that the media often approach complex stories with binary coverage.
Since the Parkland High School shootings in Florida, students across the country have been saying enough is enough and have sparked a movement that has spread from coast to coast.
However, this movement has not been met with open arms by everyone. There are those who argue that guns aren’t the problem, and instead it is people who choose to commit these terrorist attacks.
Cheney gave a broader picture on this issue as it is playing out in the media.
“A source that is very pro gun, they thought the whole thing was blown out of proportion, and if teachers had been armed or police had gotten in there quickly, none of this would have happened,” Cheney said. But, “most sources, I think, are saying this is really about somebody who’s got psychological problems, who has gone into a school and killed people with a rapid firing gun -- this is a young man (who is 19 years old).”
Cheney also argued that looking at the laws of other countries may influence the US to make new gun laws and not focus so much on our country's history.
"These incidents are getting more and more common--with people having access to more and more guns we are starting to realize that people are not the problem, the problem are the guns. We start to look at other countries who have different laws getting different outcomes, you have Australia had some massacres in the 1990's and the reaction from the government there was that everyone to give up their guns, rapid firing guns, farmers can keep their shotguns--and later you see the instance of death by guns decline dramatically (in Australia). "
Cheney did talks about some of his own relatives who are proud gun owners. They argue that they feel safe having a gun, because they are worried about an animal attack, especially since they live in northern Michigan. Cheney can sympathize, but he says, " It doesn't seem that you need a rapid firing gun, just a shotgun."
In the interview, I asked him about the importance of the Second Amendment in today's society, and he said "The Second Amendment was created initially to organize militias stop slave rebellions." However, today many see the Second Amendment as a way to protect themselves from the Government or for personal safety.
Among the many arguments, one things remains true, "These shootings have become deadlier," Cheney said, as he compared the today's shooting reactions to Columbine, which happened in 1999.
The above graph shows that we are seeing a decline in shootings overall, but that shootings themselves have become deadlier. The hope of presenting this information is to start a dialogue about where we stand in this issue and come up with solutions, not more problems.
This movement and coverage of it calls for complex thinking and nuanced solutions, but Cheney said the media's current approach can stymie important discourse that may help us solve the problems we face. So we have to keep the conversation going.
references:
Australia's weapon's ban-
U.S. weapons ban -
Mass shooting deadlines rate -
