In 2021, there was one person killed by a gun in Japan. The United States averages close to 50,000 gun-related deaths per year with over twice that number being shot but not dying. Over half of gun-related deaths in the United States are suicides.
The statistics for Asheville in the first six months of the year indicate that we have had at least three homicides involving a firearm and 20 additional individuals receiving gunshot wounds of varying levels of severity. There also have been suicides using a firearm, but that information is rarely publicized. The Asheville Police Department has been called over 200 times so far this year regarding shots fired.
There’s a very simple logic here. Japan has low death rates from guns because guns are not allowed. Communities in the United States, including Asheville, have much higher death rates from gun violence because guns are allowed.
Currently, there are 400 million firearms in the hands of the public in the United States. In almost all cases, anybody who shoots somebody else or willfully shoots themselves should not be in possession of a firearm.
In a cost-benefit analysis, the data is quite clear. The costs to support the Second Amendment are far greater than the benefits. Guns don’t save lives; they take lives. That’s why the surgeon general of the United States has declared gun violence to be a public health issue. That public health issue plays itself out daily in Asheville and our surrounding communities. It is an issue that must be addressed.
Unfortunately, commonsense solutions seem to be out of reach. We continue to be very good at responding to gun violence. We are not very good at preventing gun violence. Under current interpretations of the Second Amendment, prevention of gun violence is basically impossible.
That is deeply troubling when the pragmatic solution has been demonstrated over and over by Japan and other countries. Sadly, our politicians and courts seem to have little interest in commonsense solutions. The carnage will continue.
— Richard Boyum
Candler
