Letter: Solutions to gun violence seem out of reach

Graphic by Lori Deaton

In 2021, there was one person killed by a gun in Japan. The United States averages close to 50,000 gun-related deaths per year with over twice that number being shot but not dying. Over half of gun-related deaths in the United States are suicides.

The statistics for Asheville in the first six months of the year indicate that we have had at least three homicides involving a firearm and 20 additional individuals receiving gunshot wounds of varying levels of severity. There also have been suicides using a firearm, but that information is rarely publicized. The Asheville Police Department has been called over 200 times so far this year regarding shots fired.

There’s a very simple logic here. Japan has low death rates from guns because guns are not allowed. Communities in the United States, including Asheville, have much higher death rates from gun violence because guns are allowed.

Currently, there are 400 million firearms in the hands of the public in the United States. In almost all cases, anybody who shoots somebody else or willfully shoots themselves should not be in possession of a firearm.

In a cost-benefit analysis, the data is quite clear. The costs to support the Second Amendment are far greater than the benefits. Guns don’t save lives; they take lives. That’s why the surgeon general of the United States has declared gun violence to be a public health issue. That public health issue plays itself out daily in Asheville and our surrounding communities. It is an issue that must be addressed.

Unfortunately, commonsense solutions seem to be out of reach. We continue to be very good at responding to gun violence. We are not very good at preventing gun violence. Under current interpretations of the Second Amendment, prevention of gun violence is basically impossible.

That is deeply troubling when the pragmatic solution has been demonstrated over and over by Japan and other countries. Sadly, our politicians and courts seem to have little interest in commonsense solutions. The carnage will continue.

— Richard Boyum
Candler

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3 thoughts on “Letter: Solutions to gun violence seem out of reach

  1. Think about it

    “There’s a very simple logic here. Japan has low death rates from guns because guns are not allowed.”

    That is the largest and one of the most inaccurate conclusions made in this letter. It represents a significant misunderstanding with regard to both the Japanese people, the overall makeup of their country, and their laws and community standards and traditions. And, a wonderful example of a the misuse of a statistic. It is wonderful to compare to vastly different circumstances and say, “See how easy it is”, but in reality, the author has only articulated how little they understand about the situations that they have compared and reached a conclusion that outside of the obvious, surface-level nonsense doesn’t equate to reality.

  2. WNC

    Just saw someone apparently try to kill former President Trump in Pennsylvania, details not certain.
    Criminals have guns because they’re criminals. Liberal politicians don’t want honest citizens to have firearms for their protections. However they want honest citizens to pay for armed protection for all politicians.
    Thank God for the 2nd amendment even with Blue States trying to protect criminals and prevent honest citizens from protecting themselves.

    Notice the most intolerant folks are liberals regardless of the facts that are yet to be determined about this incident.
    7-13-2024
    6:40 pm

  3. Mark Stachura

    In 2021 There was only one person killed in Japan because their legal system
    is draconian and you are guilty until proven innocent. You could spend up to
    6 months in jail waiting to be heard, not in court, but by the police to
    provide enough evidence to be freed.

    While the US averages 50,000 gun deaths per year (over half are suicides)
    armed citizens have STOPPED over 2.5 million crimes a year, or 6,849 every day.

    The simple logic here is the original editorial was composed by someone with no
    knowledge of statistics and has picked and chosen arbitrary garbage to prove their point.
    As a Pharma Scientist I had to work with PhD statisticians every day and my favorite
    story was a statistical journal article written on purpose to illustrate this by proving
    that telephone poles cause car accidents because there are fewer accidents where there
    are fewer telephone poles. The idiocy is evident to even the uneducated.

    If you want to stop death by suicide, improve healthcare access and social security.
    If you want to stop murders by illegal guns, build the wall, close the borders and only allow
    US citizens to roam free. Prossecute gun violence with the same draconian culture as Japan.
    In the countries with the least violence and the most freedoms, that is what they have done.

    There is nothing wrong with Americans. There is something wrong with people who
    don’t belong here.

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