Ten Arguments Against Gun Control — And Facts That Prove Them Wrong

I remember where I was when the mass shooting at Columbine High School happened — the offices of the Daily Tar Heel Newspaper on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. All the staff stood around in shock. We’d seen school violence, we’d seen mass shootings, but this — this was different.

So planned, so military, so calculated and so, apparently, random. Surely, many of us thought, Americans would have to stop everything and figure out what’s wrong.

But we didn’t. We went on.

I don’t remember where I was when I heard about any other school shooting. They’ve become a fact of life. No shock, just resigned grief.

Are guns to blame? Young male rage seems at least equally at fault — whether we call it mental illness, toxic masculinity, a sickness in our society, or a culture of violence, it’s an undeniable reality. Boys are learning that violence is power, that life is dispensable, and that, if they aren’t popular, athletic, strong, or smart, they have very little value.

Yes, we need more and better mental health care in this country, and we need increased access. But making this into solely a mental health problem isn’t helpful (see below).

A culture change, especially among young men, would be. But cultural change takes time…