Guns

Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

- Martin Luther King, Jr.

My youngest daughter, Emilie, will be 16 in December. With that momentous birthday comes the pure ecstasy of driving a car.  I remember counting down the days until I could get my permit.  And I will NEVER forget the first time my parents let me take the car out alone without any supervision.  Pure freedom!

The State of Pennsylvania puts new drivers through some pretty strict requirements before they can get their license.  In fact, after witnessing the rise in fatal motor vehicle accidents amongst 16-18 year olds, the State has even more requirements now then when my oldest daughter got her license.  New drivers must now log 65 hours of documented supervised driving - up from the previous 50 hours.  Ten of those hours must include night driving, and five must include driving during bad weather. Drivers and passengers under 18 must wear seat belts and can be stopped by police if they are not.  During the first six months, a newly licensed driver may only have one passenger under the age of 18 in their vehicle unless there is another adult in the vehicle as well.  And after the first six months, if the driver has proven to be a good driver (no accidents or violations), he or she may have up to three passengers under the age of 18 in the vehicle.

In addition to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation requirements, the high school’s semester long driver’s education course goes into great detail explaining various driving laws, meanings of road signs and lane markings, emotional and physical factors that go into driving, handling road rage in yourself and in other drivers, dealing with distractions, and a host of other topics that all ensure that the new driver has every possible assurance of being a success behind the wheel.

Why do we take so much time and effort to assure that our young drivers are fully able to drive a car?  Because in the hands of an inexperienced driver, a vehicle can become a weapon.  A quick on line search revealed an average of thirty to forty-thousand people die in car accidents each year in the United States - that number including pedestrians struck by vehicles as well as drivers and passengers.  

So, here is the crux of my issue.  We spend all this time to assure our drivers are able to handle the massive weapon that an automobile could become, yet we do not demand the same requirements for someone that buys a gun.  I understand the dictum that if we do not allow civilians to own guns, then only the criminals will have guns.  Yet the latest massive shooting sprees are the result of otherwise "ordinary" citizens, without a criminal record, who buy a gun and go berserk.  How many times, after a horrific shooting, have we heard such comments:  “He seemed like such a nice guy.  He was very quiet and unassuming.  He was a like-able guy.  I never expected this from someone like him.  I am so shocked that it was him.”  And when the newscaster states “police have yet to discover a motive,” my gut response is -- “MOTIVE!  Let’s focus less on MOTIVE and figure out how the heck did a crazy like that get a gun in the first place?” 

I think of our law enforcement officials who have the heavy burden of carrying a weapon.  If a shooting occurs while they are on the job, the officer must relinquish his weapon for a time while the incident is reviewed.  When it is assured that the officer was in the right, his or her gun is returned.  

What if the civilian requirements for buying and owning a gun were the same as the training and handling requirements that law enforcement officials endure?  What if, like driving, a person must acquire a learner’s permit and log hours of both physical handling and classroom training.  The gun would be kept in the training center where the prospective owner must log so many hours of physical usage such as safe handling, target practice, cleaning and maintenance.  Along with the physical handling, he must also log hours of class time where physical and psychological matters are discussed such as anger management, personal protection, and most importantly, conflict resolution options other than firing a gun.

My husband will never forget an incident that occurred early in his medical career.  He was working in an emergency room when a psychotic patient grabbed a scalpel and threatened the medical workers in the unit.  A police officer (and a friend of ours) happened to be in the unit at the same time.  He drew his gun on the patient, but with extreme control, he directed the man to put the weapon down.  “You don’t want me to use this,” he assured the patient.  But most importantly, the officer himself did not want to use the gun, either.  Steve was so impressed by our friend’s restraint in a time of extreme chaos.  I know Paul would have used his gun if it meant protecting the ER staff, but I also know, with his amount of training, he could effectively disable the weapon wielding patient without killing him.  Steve witnessed the proper and respectful use of a gun in the hands of a trained professional, and the impact made on him was huge.

Emilie must complete 65 hours of supervised training plus a driver’s education course, and she still cannot get her driver’s license until she has been driving under a learner’s permit for six months.  The State of Pennsylvania hopes that these strict requirements will cut down the amount of teenage motor vehicle deaths within the state.

Perhaps a similar approach to gun ownership would cut down the amount of deaths by homicide as well...