Public Health Consequences and Costs of Gun Violence

W&M Oversight, Public Health Consequences and Costs of Gun Violence, September 26, 2019

The public health crisis created by the war on drug users has caused the gun crisis, among other things. The War on Drugs has resulted in harsh criminal penalties for Black men. While some states use diversion for all, particularly Maryland, this is not a universal phenomenon.  

In general, it is the illegality of drugs that leaves only what used to be called “muscle” (and is now called homicide) as the only avenue for settling disputes. Aside from Appalachian bootlegging, there is no longer much violence in the liquor industry, where it was endemic in the days of Prohibition. 

Criminality, as well as being a tool of voter suppression and forced labor, removes Black, White and Latino fathers from the home. This makes gang membership by youth much more likely, and with it, gun violence. If I had joined a gang as a youth, my father would have used a different form of violence to give me the incentive to quit. 

Gun violence will evaporate with legalization and mandatory extended treatment for all substances, from Marijuana to OxyContin and Heroin, as well as for untreated mental illness. Sadly, it is theoretically easier to get treatment for one’s family member by planting drugs on them and call the police. The largest mental health care provider in the nation is the criminal justice system. 

Guns are a public health problem and should be treated as such, with both treatment and confiscation. If criminal penalties are removed, warrants are not needed to seize guns from blighted neighborhoods from East L.A. to Maine. 

The legal issues around gun prohibition are complicated, but not insurmountable. They start with race. The Second Amendment was less about defense than protecting slaveholders from their sins and slave states from federal interference. Canada still invaded in retaliation for our attempts at annexation (fueled by Southern War Hawks) in 1812 and beat us soundly. Impressment had less to do with the war than is taught in high school. 

The issue of federal power itself was settled at Atlanta, Richmond, Appotomax and Vicksburg. This killed the militia rights of gun ownership, which the 14th Amendment unknowingly codified. Section 3 removes political rights from rebels, both then and Congress could surely seize guns to prevent a reprise under section 5.  

This is enough justification to answer Second Amendment objections to banning the sale of assault rifles and the ammunition that makes them so deadly. Collectors do not need ammo and private citizens do not need it outside of well controlled shooting ranges. Hunting with an AR-15 spoils the meat and the trophy value. Real men are bow hunters. 

To mute the opposition to gun regulation, federal contracting is all that is required. Gun and munition manufacturers could be made to choose between sales to government agencies and civilians, with prohibitions against sponsoring certain associations as a condition of federal contracting. As far as local police gun ownership, for all but mass shootings, some officers cannot even be trusted with tasers, let alone handguns. The British may have a point regarding policing without firearms. 

A profound public health issue is suicide. More soldiers die of self-inflicted wounds than the Taliban. Suicide is a very common end to suffers of bipolar disorder, especially with firearms. Suicide by Cop would be less likely with disarmed police. While suicides attempts will continue (another reason for mandatory treatment with adequate funding and bed space), it is a lot harder to kill oneself by other means.  

As a bipolar sufferer, I would rather not have that option. Even for voluntary commitment (especially if it is agreed to when mandatory treatment is the alternative), patients should be given the opportunity to put themselves on a no-gun list when hospitalized. It should not be mandatory, but it should at least be an option.