The Cost to the Nation
The Second Amendment has imposed substantial human, social, economic, and political costs on the country. The burden of these costs makes it imperative to address the amendment’s glaring shortcomings. With the flawed SCOTUS decision in NYRPA v Bruen now upon us, the gun violence costs to society – and societal stability – are sure to increase.
Ours is by far the most violent country among leading democracies; U.S. prestige and influence suffer as a result.
U.S. public safety is severely undermined by the prevalence of and uncontrolled access to firearms; some 60 police officers die in the line of duty each year; police nervousness about encountering armed citizens often underlies their reliance on excessive, sometimes lethal, force in individual situations involving the citizenry. In response, police are arming themselves with military grade weapons at substantial cost.
Firearms are involved in some 20,000 murders, 24,000 suicides, and the wounding of tens of thousands each year and an unending series of mass murders perpetrated by weapons of war; firearm incidents claim the lives of 2,000 children annually.
The economic cost of the lost potential from the violence is palpable, with some studies suggesting upwards of $200 billion a year in lost income and productivity.
The past several years have brought great challenges to our police leaders and to rank and file law enforcement and other public safety officers.
Tension and lack of respect between law enforcement and the citizenry has become a serious societal issue.
There are any number of unfortunate cases where police used excessive force because of mis-perceptions of life threatening risks to them from their encounters with citizens. Law abiding citizens with legally permitted weapons have been killed by nervous police seeking to pre-empt such perceived threats. Many law abiding citizens become murderers by using their firearms to kill, often in anger or disgruntlement.
In addition to the 60 police who lose their lives to firearms in the line of duty each year, in 2020 another 175 died by their own hands by firearms due to stress and job-caused PTSD; another 100,000 on duty officers suffer from PTSD, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Police forces are opting to arm themselves at great cost with military grade weaponry in order to be able to confront potential threats; “we need AR15s to be able to confront murderers and criminals with AR15s”.