GUN VIOLENCE IN AMERICA

AND NOW WE HAVE THOUSAND OAKS, CALIFORNIA...11/7/18

In the 1994 film Barcelona, written and directed by Whit Stillman, two characters have the following exchange which concerns shootings in America.

Spanish woman:  You can't say Americans are not more violent than other people.

Fred:  No.

Spanish woman:  All those people killed in shootings in America?

Fred:  Oh, shootings, yes.  But that doesn't mean Americans are more violent than other people.  We're just better shots.

The film takes place in Barcelona, Spain.  Hence, the female character speaking above is Spanish.  And Fred, an American, is a United States Naval officer posted in Barcelona.  The sad truth about the exchange between the two fictional characters is that the Spanish woman is correct in what she has to say.  America is the most violent country in the world when it comes to gun violence.  It was true in 1994 when the film was released and it is still true today in 2017, more than twenty years later.  

Shootings in public places such as the movie theater in Colorado and Sandy Hook Elementary School, not to mention the most recent shooting committed by a possibly mentally deranged man, Stephen Craig Paddock, during a Country and Western concert in Las Vegas which left 58 people dead and over 500 wounded, was the worst loss of life as a result of gun violence here in America.  Guns are more accessible here in the United States than any other nation in the world.  More people in the United States possess a gun than people in other parts of the world.  Why?  Fear?  Paranoia?  Both?  Or could it be that we, as Americans, have forgotten how to communicate, express ourselves.  Instead, we seek to find a quick fix.    

We become frustrated, upset, angry and instead of expressing our emotions in civil, verbal terms, because we have forgotten how to, we reach for a gun.  A short cut to alleviating emotional turmoil.  There.  It's finished.  Over.  I've done it.  I won't have to deal with that anymore.  Sigh of relief.  And then comes the ripple effect of the life or lives violently taken.  The grief of survivors, family, friends.  And, sometimes, anger leads to vengeance.  A culture of cruelty is what we have become here in the United States of America.

How does the United States of America do a better job at preventing so much gun violence?  First lawmakers in Washington, D.C. must pass proper legislation in order to make purchasing gun weaponry more difficult.  Particularly military type guns.  And then it is necessary that more research be done on how to improve mental health and how to detect mental deterioration.  Finally we need to learn how to communicate.  Discover proper outlets to express our emotions, good or bad.  Holster our weapons and talk with one another in a civil tone of voice.  It has gone past the time for us, as the most democratic nation in the world, to set a good example of what it means to be free of violence in general, but especially gun violence.