Aaron Alexis was a 34-year-old navy contractor who had previously been honourably discharged from the military. A normal member of society, if you ask me, at least judging by that short profile.
But obviously not normal enough, considering that he went on a rampage at the Navy Yard in Washington DC, where he worked, killing a dozen people and injuring many others. Definitely not a good story, but what’s worse is that it seems like a script that’s re-enacted all too often: someone takes a gun, kills many people for no apparent reason, then is shot dead themselves.
I’m not sure I can give one particular reason for this sad phenomenon. As a matter of fact, I’ll postulate that there are many reasons, so eradicating such random acts of horror may never be possible. However, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do anything about it. Just off the top of my head, without needing to crunch any numbers, I can come up with one possible way to ease the problem: reduce access to guns.
I would have thought that was straightforward, but no. I have had debates with many people about American gun laws and I always face the argument that more guns would make the victims better able to defend themselves. The likes of conservative commentator Alex Jones and a big chunk of the American right wing are convinced that their country would be a safer place with more guns available.
That’s not to say everyone on the American ‘news’ channels feels the same way. Believe me, I’m not a big Piers Morgan fan (he’s not the best representative of us Arsenal fans) but as much as it pains me, I agree with him on this one: ‘more guns’ cannot be the solution to senseless killings. If everyone has a gun, imagine what anarchy there would be. Teenagers, the broken-hearted, the mentally deranged, the scared illegal immigrant chased by the cops – they would all have easy access to a lethal weapon. You do the maths.
At the very least, you would think there would be stricter background checks. Shouldn’t there be stricter laws even if people have to have guns? Should guns really be available over-the-counter like a wristwatch or jewellery? How many more people have to be orphaned or widowed before the authorities realise that guns shouldn’t be as available as groceries?
Guns only ever hurt people when in the wrong hands – but we can only entrust them to the right hands if we control their availability. What’s so difficult to accept about that?
Olajide Jatto is a software engineer and writer based in Dublin.
