It is so difficult for some of us to understand the events that happen in our country. I believe if we use emotional intelligence and look at the facts of guns in our country we can find solutions to make a great difference. Looking at the second amendment, James Madison was written to empower state militia against foreign adversaries or a tyrannical federal government. Looking at the state of affairs today and the statistics or facts, we can all take a pause and cognitively make healthy decisions for our country. Remove politics from the equation and decide common sense solutions on what type of country we want to live in.
Having a gun in your home does not equate with standing watch over intruders, which is rare and used less than 1% of the time in self-defense according to the Harvard Injury Control Research Center. We actually are more in danger of self-harm if someone in a family become suicidal with a gun in the home, rates of accidental deaths rise with a gun in the home, more guns in the home mean more guns out of the home and more homicides overall. Therefore, we are more in danger when we have a access to a gun in the home.
Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and Norway all had mass shootings and quickly tightened restrictions and lead to sharp reduction of gun violence. We know the more guns in circulation the more homicides, suicides, and accidental deaths happen.
In my opinion, we need to relook at the second amendment and revise this based on the current state of affairs in our country. We need to look at ourselves and ask the question, “It is more important to have a right to own a gun greater than the right to leave our house without fear of being shot? Also, given the statistics we are more in danger having a gun in the home, why would we want to continue this?
I understand this is not a popular statement but emotional intelligence tells us we need cognitive decision making without attaching emotions to the horrendous problem we face. We are all in danger with so many circulating guns in our society and this will continue to grow as the gun sales increase. What do we want for our kids and the next generation. We are all living in a heightened level of fear which correlates with more anxiety and stress and poorer mental health and physical health. Our kids are living with more fear and trauma and we are adding to the mental health crisis. What do Alice drills tell our kids and the mass shootings do to us longterm.
Please join the movement to relook at our constitution and second amendment, which is man-made. Our forefathers did their best at the time writing this but so much has changed and I am making an assumption they did not envision an America where mass shootings of civilians are common place. Let’s make America safe again.
All the best for the millions of family who have lost someone to the horrific slaughter of our children and loved ones that should not be happening. My grief for your loss is palpable. I have to use Anna’s tools of self regulation to calm myself and look for solutions to this problem.
Kris
