Well Organized Dysfunction

MaryAnne posted on Facebook on May 31, 2022:

Social Media Meme posted in the aftermath of the Uvalde School shooting which killed 19 children and 2 adults. As the media makes money from this incident by inciting the sentiments of well-meaning human beings, the subsequent fears and outrage spawn the current social media spectacle we have become so used to in the last decade or so.

As people went back and forth about the necessity of the NRA, NRA- ILA (the lobby) and took verbal jabs at one another on her thread, I wrote to my friend.

Maryanne, my friend — I did some sociological work here and here’s what I found — (if anyone has updated information please share) —

2020

The number one cause of death by firearm is suicide at a rate of 53% = 25,000+ individuals and this has been the consistent rate year to year.

The number of human beings who lost their lives in a school shooting is 34–2021–10–2020–24 in 2019 and 2018.

Equaling less than 1% of gun violence but 90% of the news coverage about guns.

On a thread like this, it has to be said — this is an academic and not an emotional scope of the issue — NO ONE should be losing their life period.

With that said, these children and their families are being exploited in their trauma and grief. Americans are eating this entire thing up and fanning a political flame that has been happening for so long. The coverage of the issue is skewed. The way that poverty contributes to gun violence is horrendous. The MAJORITY of people who experience gun violence day to day are left out of the media and conversation. It is so high-brow that the issues are not being heard. Everyone is being pushed to take sides. It is an anti-hope fear festival and no REAL solutions will come off the fire tossing on this post.

People really need to focus on their state and local politics on these issues because unless you are someone who has lived and engaged cross regionally the arguments make nonsense out of the context of your own home.

For the number of guns that Texas has in their state, violence per capita is low compared to Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama.

It is insane for me to see people who are not directly dealing with gun violence so loud about the issue whilst NOT adequately looking at the full scope.

People keep wondering why there are no real moves to dismantle the 2nd Amendment because the government knows that the instances are less than 1% of the issues that are being highlighted.

But when a conservative-leaning individual brings up mental health which is a statically stronger argument the push back is that it is a gun manufacturing issue. But mathematics just doesn’t prove that. Suicides do tho. When trying to raise money use emotions when trying to change the law use logic.