When it comes to gun violence, 2022 is off to a bad start.
A report on National Public Radio on May 15 noted that 2022 has seen 198 mass shootings so far this year. There have been more since then. It took reporters on CNN three minutes to just list all the number and cities where they occurred. Information for these reports was compiled by an independent data collection organization (gunviolencearchive.org)
During the weekend of May 14-15, ten people were killed in a racially inspired mass shooting [four or more homicides in the same location] in Buffalo, New York and there was a shooting at a California church that took one life and injured several others. Both were political, motivated by violence aimed at members of another group of people.
Some of my conservative Republican friends are proud of bumper stickers that tell us that “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Democrats call for gun control while Republicans blame mental illness for the killings. Of course, both contain some truth, but are very limited in their power to explain the increase in mass shootings.
Yes, we have too many guns in circulation, many in the wrong hands. But we also live in a period of political, social, and environmental stress. We are racially and economically polarized in a situation complicated by illnesses, both viral and mental. We are unhappy and we need to vent our anger at “the other side.”
It is time to face the stubborn facts that show we live in a culture of violence largely created by the far-right wing, supported by Republican Party leaders.
Fact one: A report from the Anti-Defamation League (NYTimes 5-17-22) counted 450 U.S. murders committed by political extremists between 2012 and 2021. Seventy-five percent of these were committed by white supremacist, anti-government, and other right-wing groups. Islamic extremists were responsible for about 20% and left-wing extremists for 4%.
Fact two: Republican legislators and their supporters in the commercial and social media encourage us to believe that violence can solve our problems. Here are some examples:
- Republican senators like Ted Cruz and Josh Hawley encouraged those who tried to reverse the results of the 2020 election with violence at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021.
- A study by the Institute for Research and Education on Human Rights (Dana Milbank, NYTimes 5-16-22) found that more than 1 in 5 Republican state legislators during 2021-2022 legislative sessions had affiliations with far-right Facebook groups; that is 22% of state legislators, only one of whom was a Democrat.
- ProPublica last fall identified 48 Republican state legislators and local government officials who were members of the Oath Keepers, a militant armed far-right group.
- An Arizona state senator, Wendy Rogers, received national attention for a speech to a white nationalist conference in February in which she called for violence.
Fact three: Right-wing web sites and Republican leaders contributed to the Buffalo shootings by spreading the racist “replacement theory” suggesting that Democrats were trying to fill America with blacks and immigrants (mostly people of color) to dilute the population of “real Americans’ who are white. When we deny the existence of racism in our society and allow the use of coded slurs such as “Let’s Go Brandon,” we are encouraging violence.
Fact four: For years, Republicans and Fox News have spread conspiracy theories about vaccines, called their opponents pedophiles, and said Democrats were enemies of individual liberty while simultaneously working to limit the freedom of all Americans to vote or to be taught accurate history. Such lies strengthen our culture of violence.
We live in a fearful world of war, economic uncertainty, and climate crisis. Instead of addressing these problems, many Republicans want to scare people into giving them political power to accompany the economic power they already have. How will they use that power? Think about that!
When trying to end gun violence, it is as important to address racism and our culture of violence as it is to talk about mental illness, drugs, or too many guns—although those issues should be addressed as well.
Until American voters decide to elect local and national leaders who will address these issues, mass shootings will only increase.