Fighting Back Vs. Gun Violence

In the wake of mass shootings that left 10 dead in Buffalo and 21 dead in Uvalde, March for Our Lives is mobilizing more than 300 marches nationwide on June 11, with more than a dozen within 50 miles of San Pedro. The nearest, in Long Beach, starts at noon in Harvey Milk Park.

Vast majorities of Americans — including NRA members — have long supported common-sense measures like mental health restrictions, universal background checks, and strict concealed carry laws. Gun-owners in general even support major gun-safety measures like banning assault rifles, by a 56-40% margin, according to a recent Morning Consult poll, along with banning high-capacity magazines (60-33%) and creating a national database of all gun sales (72-24%). In short, a small minority of Americans are blocking gun-safety laws that could save thousands of lives.

Favorite arguments floated by gun-safety opponents after the Uvalde massacre were ludicrously false. Mental illness is no more prevalent in the US than in other, much safer countries, while Florida flooded its schools with police officers after the Parkland shooting in 2018, with no increase in safety, but a sharp rise in student arrests—including 345 elementary school kids in one year—even as community crime rates were falling. Equally false was finger-pointing at lack of religion. As a sociologist of religion, Sam Perry noted on Twitter (along with supporting charts), “gun deaths RISE w/the % of state who attends weekly & they FALL as the % of a state who seldom/never attends increases. Strong correlations.” What’s more, “gun deaths also rise with the percent of a state’s adult population who is Evangelical Protestant,” while “gun deaths FALL as the % of a state who is atheist increases.”

The NRA-promoted idea that more guns make us safer is flatly wrong. There’s a linear relationship between gun-ownership and gun deaths, both at the state level within the US and among nations worldwide. America has four times the gun-related death rate than number two Switzerland, and three times the number of guns per capita. What’s worse, American gun deaths are skewed toward children. It’s now the number one cause of death for children, eclipsing auto accidents. America’s firearm homicide rate for children under 15 is 5.18 per million, almost 10 times higher than France, in second place with a rate of 0.66 per million, and more than 50 times higher than Britain with 0.1 per million.

America’s broken political system keeps this carnage going. Ending the gun violence epidemic and saving American democracy are the same fight.

In the wake of mass shootings that left 10 dead in Buffalo and 21 dead in Uvalde, March for Our Lives is mobilizing more than 300 marches nationwide on June 11, with more than a dozen within 50 miles of San Pedro. The nearest, in Long Beach, starts at noon in Harvey Milk Park.

Vast majorities of Americans — including NRA members — have long supported common-sense measures like mental health restrictions, universal background checks, and strict concealed carry laws. Gun-owners in general even support major gun-safety measures like banning assault rifles, by a 56-40% margin, according to a recent Morning Consult poll, along with banning high-capacity magazines (60-33%) and creating a national database of all gun sales (72-24%). In short, a small minority of Americans are blocking gun-safety laws that could save thousands of lives.

Favorite arguments floated by gun-safety opponents after the Uvalde massacre were ludicrously false. Mental illness is no more prevalent in the US than in other, much safer countries, while Florida flooded its schools with police officers after the Parkland shooting in 2018, with no increase in safety, but a sharp rise in student arrests—including 345 elementary school kids in one year—even as community crime rates were falling. Equally false was finger-pointing at lack of religion. As a sociologist of religion, Sam Perry noted on Twitter (along with supporting charts), “gun deaths RISE w/the % of state who attends weekly & they FALL as the % of a state who seldom/never attends increases. Strong correlations.” What’s more, “gun deaths also rise with the percent of a state’s adult population who is Evangelical Protestant,” while “gun deaths FALL as the % of a state who is atheist increases.”

The NRA-promoted idea that more guns make us safer is flatly wrong. There’s a linear relationship between gun ownership and gun deaths, both at the state level within the US and among nations worldwide. America has four times the gun-related death rate than number two Switzerland, and three times the number of guns per capita. What’s worse, American gun deaths are skewed toward children. It’s now the number one cause of death for children, eclipsing auto accidents. America’s firearm homicide rate for children under 15 is 5.18 per million, almost 10 times higher than France, in second place with a rate of 0.66 per million, and more than 50 times higher than Britain with 0.1 per million.

America’s broken political system keeps this carnage going. Ending the gun violence epidemic and saving American democracy are the same fight. See Community Alerts for how to take a stand.

March For Our Lives

In response to the mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde, March for Our Lives is mobilizing marches nationwide on June 11 to demand action–such as the package of laws just passed in New York State. The nearest, in Long Beach, starts at noon in Harvey Milk Park.

Marchers will meet at Harvey Milk Park at noon, then walk a mile loop down 3rd street to the George Deukmejian Courthouse, then up W. Broadway to Promenade, and return to Harvey Milk Park. Free 2-hour parking is available at the parking structure next to the park.

Time: Noon-2pm, June 11
Location: Harvey Milk Park, 185 E 3rd St, Long Beach, CA 90802
Details: https://marchforourlives.com/