Steps To End Our Gun Violence

STEPS TO END OUR GUN VIOLENCE

By Thomas Coffin

Gun violence has reached such epidemic levels in our country that it has become the leading cause of accidental death of children in our nation, outstripping traffic fatalities and other diseases (yes, gun violence is now classified as a “disease” to emphasize the necessity of “treating” it.) As with any disease, there are causes, and hopefully science and research can discover cures to ameliorate the symptoms and even cure the source of the disease.
  

The source is obvious—guns. Of course, guns can serve a legitimate purpose, such as hunting and self-defense. But they also can be used for wholly illegal purposes, such as murders, mass shootings, inhibiting protected rights like assembling, going to theaters, attending religious services, attending school, engaging in free speech, or exercising the liberties democracy bestows on the people it serves.

There used to be a somewhat fuzzy line between legal and illegal purposes. But that changed suddenly, when the gun industry and its advocates, primarily the NRA, lobbied to alter the historical view of the Second Amendment, which had previously been amenable to state regulation of firearms. The novel construction was that gun possession was itself an individual right, not subject to state regulation. This new version even posited the remarkably erroneous premise that the purpose of the “right” was to enable armed rebellion against the government— the very constitutional government that described taking up arms against itself as treason. (And yet this government nonetheless passed the Second Amendment to facilitate treason?)

Thus, even the fuzzy line was obliterated, as would-be tyrants cite the Constitution to war against the Constitution. Adding to this dynamic is the reality that successfully making war against our own government requires all the same weaponry as our military possesses, such as fighter planes, missiles, tanks, and nuclear bombs.

This nonsense has resulted in America already being saturated with military weaponry, much to the profit of the gun industry, and much to the detriment of the people themselves and the children whose lives have been forfeited — which are the true costs  of those enhanced  profits, along with the costs of denying the people their precious rights to assemble, be safe at schools, be or have a different gender, color, political persuasion, opinion, or whatever without being shot dead by an armed bigot.

What is the cure?  First, we must draw a firm line between military and civilian firearms. Weapons designed and produced for the military have the specific purpose of killing or wounding the greatest numbers of the enemy in combat as possible in the shortest period of time. Marketing these weapons to the private sector has nothing to do with legitimate uses (who but a murderer needs a firearm to kill as many people as possible in the shortest period of time?)

Second, it is necessary to crackdown on the promotional strategy utilized in selling these weapons to the general public. Those tactics have included touting increased lethality, “super-urban sniper” rifles that hit their targets from a great distance, semi-automatic firearms specifically for use by children (Wee 1 Tactical JR-15), and bumper stocks which hold more of the enhanced lethality ammunition and are easily converted to be fully automatic with off market devices (the “lightning link”) that transition them into machine guns, which a teen recently brought to an Arizona school.

Third, we cannot be naive.  During a Congressional hearing on gun violence, a gun industry spokesman was asked if his corporate manufacturer of semi-automatic firearms kept statistics of mass shootings in which their firearms were utilized by the perpetrator. His flippant answer was “No, why should we?” This is a classic ploy of deliberate ignorance. Would General Motors not want to know how many of their cars had defective air bags that killed passengers? This is simply not a defense—rather it is strong evidence that gun manufacturers know full well that their AR-15s or similar weaponry are being used in horrific murder sprees, yet they continue to sell them and even promote them for their lethality to boost profits. Sadly, the gun industry has no interest in knowing the gruesome details after their weapons are sold.

The Department of Justice has a long-standing policy authorizing criminal prosecution of corporations themselves for illegal conduct. If a corporation crosses the line in its marketing of deadly military firearms, the DOJ should hold it accountable. What legitimate need is there for civilians to have super-urban snipers (to pick off pedestrians from the roof of a tall building?) There is even a website featuring the “15 Best Long Range Rifles in 2023 Ranked by a Marine Sniper” which in its commentary emphasizes the importance of “precision shooting” by describing that these rifles “have been used to assassinate political figures, high ranking military leaders, and have started and ended many major wars and battles.” There is no subtlety in this messaging nor any plausible linkage to some sort of self-defense necessity. It is frankly nothing short of an advertisement for the best implements available for murdering your targets. 

Military weaponry will only get more lethal and destructive over the years. Such weaponry should be secured in guarded arsenals, not sold indiscriminately to street gangs, paramilitary private armies, cartels, or mass murderers. 

Our Department of Justice must not yield to the rhetoric of the industry which reaps profits from this terrible disease. Instead, it must confront the disease head on and aggressively enforce its policy through our criminal justice system. The only remedy for the gun violence disease is to eradicate the cancer which is its primary cause—the trafficking in ever more lethal military weapons outside the military’s control and into unknown and unregulated hands.

If the people want to change the policies of our Constitutional government, remember that the Founders bestowed us already with that power—the right to vote.  We are not empowered to murder each other.

Thomas Coffin was the keynote speaker at the Blackberry Pie Society’s Political Party in February, 2020 and at Politics and Pie in October, 2022.  He is a retired federal magistrate judge for the U.S. District Court for the District of Oregon and a former professor at the UO Law School. Thomas retired in 2016 after 24 years on the bench, prior to which he had a career as a federal prosecutor spanning 21 years. He is married with 7 children.  

The Blackberry Pie Society is pleased to include a collection of his essays on our website.  We will post them as they become available.

posted 9.1.2023