Basic knowledge of guns should be a requirement in today’s society. This knowledge would contribute to the safety of Americans in both rural and urban lifestyles.
Part of the reason there is such a vast opinion gap in our current gun control debate is that guns are portrayed in the media in a black-and-white fashion. The media would like us to think there is no middle ground when it comes to guns. Because the media either depict guns in a negative or a positive manner, this persuades audiences to only feel one way about the issue, and to think — whatever their position — that their opposition is wrong.
But there is a way to find this middle ground — through mandatory gun education.
Clark Aposhian, chairman of Utah Shooting Sports Council, addressed this issue at a gun policy discussion at the Hinckley Institute of Politics on March 4.
One example, albeit a small one, illustrating the nuances of the gun debate is that the abbreviation AR might be interpreted to refer to assault rifles, when it is in fact an abbreviation for Armelite, a gun manufacturer.
The media tends to use the word “assault” in abundance, partly in reference to reporting, but mostly to demonize guns and depict them as weapons of destruction.
According to Aposhian, less than 1 percent of crimes are committed with semi-automatic weapons, that is, assault weapons.
Instead of coming to black-and-white conclusions about guns, we should look at what causes the kinds of gun use resulting in homicide. This is the matter that needs to be resolved if we are to seriously commit to reducing gun violence.
The fact is that gun crime is not spread evenly across the nation. Gun violence is higher in urban neighborhoods, and poverty and gang prevalence might be causal factors of urban gun violence, according to Asposhian. It is not an appropriate inference, then, to connect mere gun ownership with criminal activity.
Knowing and identifying the means through which people come to own weapons would also be a positive step toward understanding the origins of gun violence.
Knowledge of guns and gun violence is necessary for society to arrive at a reasonable consensus on guns.
It’s at that place of clarity that a resolution can be found for the mass homicides that we have recently seen.