- Jon Singer Well said; but my friend Mary went to see Gabby Giffords one day, a few years ago, and was in the hospital for a while after that. She has asked her friends to wear orange today, and I will be honoring her request.
- Adam Athan well put Alan
- Brian Dunlap With ya there Alan I only wear orange while hunting.
I will not be wearing orange today, June 2nd. (Well, I will, but only because I'm required to wear an orange safety vest at work.)
Moms For Gunsense, and a number of other such groups, have designated June 2nd to be "Gun Awareness Day", and have asked people to wear orange to spread awareness of "gun violence". I will not support this for a number of reasons.
First, "gun violence" is a false distinction. The problem is not "gun violence", but violence, period. Around half of the violent crime in the United States is committed with guns. Is the other half somehow less worthy of notice because it is committed with other weapons than guns? No. In addition to that, the violent crime rate, as reported by the Department of Justice Bureau of Justice Statistics, and the FBI, has been declining more or less continuously since 1985, and that trend does not seem to be changing. After peaking in 1985, the violent crime rate has dropped low enough that if you were born after about 1958 then you are less likely to be a victim today than at any previous time in your life.
Second, their figure of "30,000 gun deaths" apparently includes all deaths in which a gun happened to be in the room. If "gun violence" is your issue then the deaths associated with homicide or manslaughter are less than half that figure. The only way you can get there is if you include suicides and accidents in your numbers. Suicide isn't a violence issue, it's a mental health issue. Accidents are, well, accidental, not violence. If your issue is "homicide" then the homicide rate in the US has been declining since 1991, according to figures published by the DOJBJS. After peaking in 1991 the homicide rate has dropped low enough that if you were born after about 1962 then you are safer in America today than at any previous time in your life.
And, again, "gun deaths" is a false distinction. Are the homicides that happened with weapons other than guns somehow less heinous? Is someone killed with a weapon other than a gun somehow less dead? Are the suicides that used methods other than guns somehow less tragic? Are accidental deaths that happened by things other than guns less tragic?
Third, this is nothing but feel-good activism, and will do absolutely nothing to address the actual issue. And yes, lest you think I'm a wingnut, there is an issue. We've come a long way from where we were even 20 years ago, and we're better off now than we have been in a long time, but we still have work to do in further reducing our violent crime and homicide rates. But wearing a certain color clothing on a certain day isn't useful. Spend the same energy writing letters to your legislators. Educate yourself about the actual issues with good information from reputable sources. Volunteer to work with help lines. Don't just go out wearing an orange T-shirt, do something.
So, no, I won't be wearing orange today.
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