“We don’t need more gun control. We need to return to God.”— Georgia’s Marjorie Taylor Greene
By Jack Bernard, contributing columnist
PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. | Georgia’s U.S Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene stated the above as a reaction to the Uvalde murders by a teenager using military style assault weapon. After every shooting, gun rights advocates like Rep. Greene say something along the lines of “We must pray.” However, it is an unfortunate fact that prayers alone don’t reduce gun violence.
For example, let’s examine the most religious states in the United States. From Pew Research polling, the most religious states are all in the South: Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee and Louisiana. These four are also the states with the highest per capita rates of gun deaths!
For comparison, Massachusetts is the least religious state (only 33 percent of residents are religious versus 73 percent in Tennessee). But a Tennessee resident is five times more likely to die of gunfire versus a Massachusetts resident. The reader can perform the same analysis for every state in the Union. The results are always the same. The states where folks pray more have significantly more gun deaths per capita. So, praying (or vague calls for “family values”) is not the answer.
Other Southern GOP leaders (like Gov. Greg Abbott of Texas) blame shooting deaths on mental health problems, saying “We as a state, we as a society, need to do a better job with mental health.” OK. However, did Abbott think the same thing in 2021 when he reduced the Texas Mental Health and Substance Use Department’s state funding by $211 million?
I once worked closely with Doug Skelton, M.D., the highly respected former head of Substance Abuse and Mental Illness programs for Georgia. He told me, “In my experience the lethality of violence, whether toward oneself or others, is highly dependent on the availability of a lethal weapon. To be effective, any solution aimed at reducing firearm deaths must first reduce the availability of guns, especially the most lethal ones.” And Dr. Skelton, who grew up near Gwinnett County, was and is correct.
Clearly, prayers alone are not working. Neither is vaguely improved mental health services alone without a combination of better funding and appropriate gun control laws. Despite the proven high rates of gun violence in Georgia, not long-ago Governor Brian Kemp led a successful legislative effort to permit adults to openly carry handguns without a license. That was his and our legislature’s strange response to increasing gun deaths: more guns.
Instead of carrying water for the National Rifle Association, and seeking its political backing and contributions, the governor should have been trying to lessen gun deaths in our state.
Here are just a few legislative actions supported by most Americans and which could be immediately passed by Congress and/or state legislatures:
- Expanding background checks;
- Regulating gun show sales;
- Halting person-to-person unregulated sales;
- Limiting sales to adults 21 and over;
- Halting interstate sales;
- Stopping “ghost gun” production;
- Constructing a gun database;
- Passing a national “red flag” law to restrict mentally ill people from having guns; and
- Taxing gun and ammo manufacturers to pay for greater gun control law enforcement and victim compensation.
The solutions are evident. What is lacking is the will to act by Republican elected officials, like Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp. Only voters can change that fact.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
Follow Us