Well, you passed new restrictions on guns and those who own them. Aren’t you proud? Did your new laws help the twenty-nine year old woman that was beaten to death on Sunday? Perhaps the thought just crossed your mind that this was just one person and not as bad as a mass shooting. If it did, shame on you.
We have all been led to believe that guns are the leading cause of violence, and it is just not true. If you bothered to read reports put out by the Department of Justice, you would find the numbers regarding violence staggering. It was in excess of 5 million people per year for 2016, 2015, and 2014. That’s right, well over 15 million people experienced violence in a period of three years.
If the figure was an even 5 million that would be 13,699 people experiencing violence of some kind every day. Yet the focus of the media is on events involving guns, which is a very small percentage. For 2016 it was 8.365 percent.
Before you lambast me for being insensitive to those that have experienced violence involving a gun, know that I feel badly for everyone that has experienced any kind of violence. If you voted for gun restrictions, you just turned your back on 100 percent of the problem and over 90 percent of victims.
The problem is “why” someone wants to hurt another; the gun is just a tool to carry out the act of violence. Dehumanization is the fuse before violence, and since this correlation has not been addressed, you haven’t fixed a thing.
Penny Hansen
Marysville
Talk to us
- You can tell us about news and ask us about our journalism by emailing newstips@heraldnet.com or by calling 425-339-3428.
- If you have an opinion you wish to share for publication, send a letter to the editor to letters@heraldnet.com or by regular mail to The Daily Herald, Letters, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206.
- More contact information is here.
