White Supremacy & Mass Shootings in America

Examining the historical problems and some possible solutions

This meme was making the rounds on social media after the Uvalde mass shooting. It shines a light on two things:

1. A powerful rifle that American political leaders have allowed to remain legal
2. The people who used these rifles in mass shootings

I’ll start with the weapon itself.

The Mass Shooter’s Weapon of Choice: The AR-15

For those who don’t know: the AR-15 is a high-powered semi-automatic rifle that comes with magazines that can hold 20 or more bullets at a time. The civilian version of the AR-15 requires a shooter to pull the trigger each and every time they wish to fire the weapon. Faster pulls = more bullets fired.

The AR-15 is extremely lethal. As the meme indicates, it’s the gun of choice for mass shootings most likely because it’s incredibly powerful and unfortunately effective at killing. This clip from the TV show “60 Minutes” illustrates the potential damage to your body when it’s hit by a bullet shot by an AR-15.

Please note: this clip does NOT show bullets hitting a body.

To put the power of this rife in perspective, the Uvalde gunman had two “AR platform rifles” along with “375 rounds of 5.56 ammunition”, a kind of munition that is often used in the military. The carnage when his bullets struck those children's bodies was so massive that parents were asked to provide their own DNA samples so that their children — who’d been so badly disfigured — could be identified.

From the New York Times:

Among the countless chilling details to emerge from the school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday was this: The authorities had asked parents waiting in agony for news about their children to give DNA samples. The request suggests that some of the 19 children who were killed may have been so severely wounded and grouped so closely together that they were difficult to identify, according to experts in medical forensics.

The “Other” AR-15

There’s a second version of the AR-15: a fully-automatic version, sold only to police and our armed forces. As such, this version of the rifle is illegal for the general public to own. I’m guessing that this is due, in part, to The Firearm Owners Protection Act, which usually bans private ownership of any weapon that the government defines as a “machinegun”.

The problem? Us Americans always find creative ways around hurdles. Tools like bump stocks, hellfire triggers, Gatling cranks, and pull & release triggers allow gun owners to convert their semi-automatic weapons into something that functions a LOT like an automatic weapon.

Here’s an excellent demonstration of how a bump stock installed on an AR-15 dramatically changes the weapon’s shooting speed:

Bump stocks were used in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history, the Las Vegas shooting in October of 2017 where 58 people were murdered. After that incident, the Federal Government banned bump stocks in March of 2019 after a push from the Trump administration.

But the Federal government didn’t go door-to-door to collect the devices. They simply asked folks to turn them in or destroy them and, if not, possibly face ten years in prison or a $250,000 fine.

If you don’t think folks will really destroy their bump stocks, you’re not alone: this organization estimated there were still 500,000 units around the country at the time the ban went into place.

There’s a chance that bump stocks won’t be illegal forever. First, the decision to ban them was made by the executive branch, not Congress; second, the ban was challenged back in 2018 — before it even went into effect — and has now managed to wind its way up to the Supreme Court.

The Political Reality

This most recent mass shooting in Uvalde isn’t just sad: it’s shocking. It’s beyond comprehension. But under our nation’s shock lies a sad truth:

Americans live in a country that’s repeatedly placed the rights of gun owners above the lives of innocent children.

It’s as simple as that, really.

Consider the equally shocking mass shooting in 2012 at The Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut. After that heinous mass shooting, no gun laws changed at the federal level.

NONE.

Of course, the Democrats tried. Diane Feinstein proposed what became known as “The Assault Weapons Ban of 2013”. The legislation sought to enact gun control measures like making certain automatic weapons and large-capacity ammunition magazines illegal. Predictably, the measure — as did others — failed to pass in the US Senate.

Here’s the roll call from that vote:

Who voted for guns, who voted for children

Three observations:

1. The only people who voted in favor of the bill were Democrats, Bernie Sanders (as an Independent), and one, lone Republican: Senator Mark Kirk from Illinois.
2. Every other Republican voted against the measure.
3. Fifteen Democrats joined with the Republicans, including Joe Manchin, Jon Tester, and Mark Warner, all of whom are still in the US Senate.

In the end, the 60 NAYs decided that the rights of Americans to purchase weapons suited for mass killing and then fit them with large-capacity magazines were more important than the rights of elementary school children to live.

Americans live in a country that’s repeatedly placed the rights of gun owners above the lives of innocent children.

Nearly a decade has passed since the deadly mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012. Despite there being over 2,000 mass shootings since then along with tens of thousands of gun deaths, Senate Republicans remain unwilling to support the will of the people: most Americans — usually by a wide margin — favor stronger specific gun control policies.

Even when Americans are asked — generally — if we’d like stricter gun laws, data from Pew Research and from Gallup reveals that more than half of Americans (53%) favor them. So, the national sentiment is clear:

The data show strong public support for proposed legislative changes that would do such things as require background checks for all gun purchases, ban high-capacity ammunition magazines, require all privately owned guns to be registered with the police, and require a 30-day waiting period for all gun sales. And, although there is debate on what does and does not constitute an assault weapon, a Gallup review of available data and question wording experiments in 2019 confirmed that such a ban does have majority support. More generally, 57% say that the laws covering the sale of firearms should be made more strict.
— Gallup, supra.

The Unspoken Ally of Guns: White Supremacy

Who uses these most violent of hand-held weapons? Almost exclusively white men. Let’s return to the AR-15 meme and cross-check the events against who pulled the trigger:

1. The Tree of Life— 11 killed by a male, White supremacist
2. Sutherland Springs — 24 killed by a White, male shooter
3. Poway Synagogue — 1 killed by a male White supremacist & Antisemite
4. Midland/Odessa — 7 killed by a White man
5. San Bernardino — 14 killed by an American/Pakistani couple
6. Waffle House — 4 killed by a White, male shooter
7. Sandy Hook — 27 killed by a White, male shooter
8. Aurora — 12 killed by a White, male shooter
9. Las Vegas — 58 killed by a White, male shooter
10. Parkland — 17 killed by a male, White supremacist
11. Orlando — 49 killed by a homophobic Afghani-American male
12. Boulder — 10 killed by a Syrian-American male
13. Buffalo — 10 killed by a male, White supremacist
14. Uvalde — 21 killed by a Latino teenager

Of the 14 heinous mass shootings listed on this meme:

• All, save one, were committed by men. In one instance, the lone woman on this list joined her husband in the violence.
• All, save one, were committed by native-born Americans. The only exception was the Pakistani woman who joined her husband.
• 10 were committed by White men.
• Those targeted were Blacks, Jews, Gay men, and children.
• No shootings were committed by Black, Asian, Jewish, or LGBTQ Americans.

This meme isn’t an outlier: the mass shooters in our country are almost exclusively men. And those men are nearly 70% white.

Source: Statista

Source: Statista

These statistics aren’t accidental, nor are they a mere coincidence: they are a historical byproduct coming from centuries of racist American gun laws which initially only granted the rights to own and use firearms to white men. Anyone of color was prohibited from gun access. Especially slaves. Many talented and well-researched historians and journalists have detailed this historical ugliness. Many. Times. Over.

Consider how those with power in America have historically treated women, Blacks, and Native Americans. From the birth of America, power was always concentrated in the hands of wealthy, white, men of European and Christian descent. Those in power codified their rights — and the exclusion of those rights to others — into law.

That, essentially, is the definition of White Supremacy. In fact, it’s the much larger kind of White Supremacy: the kind which establishes the normalcy of whites exclusively holding and wielding the power.

The Mental Health Angle: A Reflection of White Supremacy

It is jarring for some people to confront the data. That data clearly shows that it is almost exclusively white men who are pulling the triggers in mass shootings.

More than jarring: it’s threatening. It’s threatening because it violates the narrative that white people in positions of power have created around Black men being violent criminals.

And when humans feel threatened, they tend to pivot away to other, more palatable matters. This is precisely what’s happening now: instead of talking about guns, a lot of folks in the halls of white power suddenly want to talk about mental health. This includes Republicans like the Governor of Texas, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Texas Senator Ted Cruz.

OK. Let’s talk about mental health then.

I’m not a psychologist, but I think it's safe to say that anyone who picks up a weapon capable of mass destruction and then uses it to commit acts of murder and violence is suffering from depression, hatred, or mental illness. They may even have a criminal background. Perhaps all of these things are true, however…

• Mental health isn’t the overall problem with gun violence in America, no matter how often some claim that it is.
• Even so, this is why 87% of all Americans — 85% of Republicans and 90% of Democrats — support mental health restrictions on the purchase of firearms. Republican Senators historically do not.
• This is why 81% of Americans — 70% of Republicans, 92% of Democrats — support background checks on all private and gun show sales. Republican Senators do not.
• This is why 77% of Americans — 70% of Republicans, 85% of Democrats — support family-initiated “red flag” laws which would allow family members “to seek court orders to temporarily take guns away” from those they know who pose a risk to themselves or others. Republican Senators do not.
• This is why 70% of Americans — 66% of Republicans, 78% of Democrats — support state or police-initiated “red flag” laws. Republican Senators do not. Ditto for Republicans in State Legislatures who do not support those laws.
• According to the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, those with mental health issues are more likely to be the victims of gun-related violence, not the aggressors.

The data are clear. So are the voting records and rhetoric of Republican Senators, something we discussed previously.

One cannot claim to simultaneously support more attention being paid to mental health issues and then staunchly oppose any stricter gun laws to help prevent those with mental health issues from having access to or using their lethal weapons.

Fixing The Problem

There are many, many strong obstacles to improving gun safety, gun violence, and gun access in America. But that doesn’t leave those who favor more common-sense laws without options. Here are some possible solutions to explore.

Solution #1: Elect More People of Color

Sometimes, the best way to understand a problem is to look at it differently. Here’s one such way:

Source: Statista

This image is additional, damning evidence that White Supremacy is both alive and well in both Houses of Congress:

• In the House of Representatives, out of 439 elected officials: 313 or 71.29% of all Representatives are white.
• In the Senate, out of 100 Senators: 89 or 89% of all Senators are white.

While those stats are disgraceful, this 117th Congress is the most racially diverse in history. More fascinating is that the diversity in Congress rests, almost exclusively, in just one party:

• In the House of Representatives, 47.34% of all Democrats are people of color while only 8.9% of all Republicans are.
• In the Senate, 16% of all Democrats are people of color while only 6% of all Republicans are.

Electing more people of color into Congress doesn’t just allow the halls of power to more accurately reflect our populace, it also helps pass gun control legislation. That’s because people of color support common-sense gun regulations far more than their white counterparts. It was true in 2010, it was true in 2017, and it remains true now.

Solution #2: Elect More Democrats to the Senate

Democrats have consistently tried to sponsor and pass laws to tighten gun laws in America. While those laws have sometimes passed in the House of Representatives, they’ve stalled or failed in the Senate due to obstructionist Republicans.

Chris Murphy, the Democrat Senator from Connecticut has been a consistent champion of gun reform in the Senate since the mass shooting in Sandy Hook happened in his state, back in 2012. He’s tried — valiantly and repeatedly — to convince his Republican colleagues into doing something to help staunch the loss of children’s lives. They’ve ignored his pleas.

SO he tried a new tactic this past week: he begged.

In this CNN video compilation of Murphy’s past speeches on gun control, you see him literally begging Republicans to help him. Begging his Republican colleagues to do something — ANYTHING — to help him save children’s lives.

Senate Democrats confront reality on gun talks

If history is an accurate predictor of the future, then Murphy’s latest speech will also fall on deaf ears. Therefore, voters must do four things:

1. Insist that every Democrat running for the U.S. Senate commits to specific gun reform.
2. Make every future Senatorial election about gun reform. Share the voting records of all Republican incumbents who have regularly voted to support the rights of gun owners over our children’s lives.
3. Donate, volunteer, and help more Democrat Senators to win those elections so they can get to the Senate and help gun reform legislation be passed.
4. Hold elected Democrats to the fire until they vote as expected on this issue.

While this will probably take time, that’s how our political system was intentionally designed. We must overcome that. And we might keep in mind this fact: not only is replacing obstructionist Republican Senators key to pushing gun control over the finish line but replacing those Senators is also easier — in some regards — than replacing offensive and dangerous members of The House.

That’s because Senatorial elections are state-wide, making them immune to even the worst possible gerrymandering.

Solution #3: Use The Current System Against Itself

Money in politics is a problem. And the problem isn’t going away anytime soon in America. This is why the gun lobby gives insane amounts of money to Republican House members and Senators: because they hope to buy favor and influence:

1. The NRA has given big to Senate Republicans over the course of their tenure. Mitt Romney, oddly, tops the list, at over $13 million.
2. The larger gun industry and its lobbyists have also given big to Congressional Republicans. Hundreds of thousands of dollars have flowed into the coffers of Ted Cruz, John Cornyn, Lindsey Graham, and many others.

Therefore, organizations that support gun reforms must start giving BIG to pro-gun reform candidates and elected officials. Fortunately, that now seems to be happening, a great development.

Information at OpenSecrets.org now shows that pro-gun control lobbies are donating large amounts of money to their preferred candidates. This Newsweek article indicates the trend isn’t a passing phase. More and more gun control lobbyists are now even lobbying Republicans on gun control.

The trend needs to continue and grow.

Solution #4: Carry The Torch Lit By Scalia

Antonin Scalia, arguably the most well-known, well-respected, and sometimes most-hated Conservative on the Supreme Court during his tenure, authored the majority opinion in the infamous Heller vs. D.C case. That ruling changed our national gun laws.

But…

Scalia wasn’t an extremist. And he certainly wasn’t an idiot. He understood that The Second Amendment, just like the First, has reasonable limitations. In his majority opinion, Scalia wrote the following (emphasis mine):

Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited. From Blackstone through the 19th-century cases, commentators and courts routinely explained that the right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose. For example, the majority of the 19th-century courts to consider the question held that prohibitions on carrying concealed weapons were lawful under the Second Amendment or state analogues. Although we do not undertake an exhaustive historical analysis today of the full scope of the Second Amendment, nothing in our opinion should be taken to cast doubt on longstanding prohibitions on the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill, or laws forbidding the carrying of firearms in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings, or laws imposing conditions and qualifications on the commercial sale of arms.

Can’t get more clear than that. Although the Court made it legal for Americans living in Washington D.C. — and anywhere — to own a handgun, they left open the very real need to craft laws restricting which people have access to which guns in which locations.

So copy down this language. Memorize it. Then… use it when confronting the Republicans who refuse to protect the lives of American children.

Solution #5: Firmly Confront Opponents With Facts

Before heading to the NRA convention in Houston, Senator Ted Cruz [R-TX] stopped by Uvalde to pay his respects during a local ceremony. While there, he was confronted by Mark Stone, a reporter from Sky News, and… the exchange went viral:

Stone was armed with facts and a firm commitment to confronting a Senator who’s not only accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars from gun lobbyists but who’s also always opposed increased gun control legislation. He came with specific data, didn’t back down, and remained polite but firm.

Cruz couldn’t answer his questions.

So, instead, he became passive-aggressive and insulting. When Stone wouldn’t give up, Cruz got in real close and claimed — days after 19 children were shot dead by a teenager — that “America is the freest, most prosperest and safest country on Earth.”

Then, he called Stone a “propagandist” before walking away. It was an ugly look for Cruz and it left me hoping that others might follow Stone’s example.

I didn’t have to wait long.

Days later, Cruz attended the NRA convention in Houston and, after he spoke, went out for Sushi. In the restaurant was Benjamin Hernandez, a board member for a local chapter of “Indivisible”, a national progressive organization. Hernandez approached Cruz’s table, asked for a picture, and then… spoke passionately about gun control:

A Protestor Confronts Senator Ted Cruz

Cruz’s security detail forcibly removed the man from the restaurant. Cruz accused Hernandez of “combining ignorance and hatred”.

When Ted Cruz is confronted with facts or other opinions, he calls people ignorant, hateful, or propagandists. And he does that — please listen to me — because he cares more about the rights of gun owners than he does about protecting the lives of the children in his home state of Texas.

Confronting those in power, repeatedly, is essential. Especially when children’s lives are being lost. However, there’s an art to this…

Of course, one way is to come with data and a strong will to not back down when met by those who are experts at avoiding the issue.

Another way… is to use humor to do the very same thing. Here’s a most EXCELLENT example of what it can look like when political commentary is combined with humor and balls of steel:

This. Was. Excellent.

It’s worth stressing that I do not support violence of any kind when confronting those in power. I believe that those who advocate for gun safety and common-sense gun policies must always arm themselves with facts, not weaponry. There is no advocating for a more peaceful future by being violent in the present.

Afterword

As I finished this article, it was announced that a bipartisan group of Senators had reached a compromise on advancing new gun legislation. While this is encouraging news, the details are still emerging at the time of publication. The new legislation seems to include embracing Red Flag laws, background checks for gun purchasers under the age of 21, and hardening school safety provisions. It also has the support of Senate Minority Leader McConnell, which means it will most likely garner enough votes to pass the Senate.

Watch this space.

Epilogue

On June 25th, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act into law. The new legislation will:

• implement stricter background checks for gun purchasers under the age of 21
• provide incentives for states to adopt “red flag” laws
• block domestic abusers in dating relationships from owning or buying guns until five years pass without further disqualifying convictions
• provide funding for mental health and school safety measures

Notably, the new law — which was crafted by a group of bipartisan Senators and led by Republican John Cornyn — does not address military-style assault weapons, high-capacity magazines, armor-piercing bullets, ghost guns, or any devices which can convert a semi-automatic weapon into a fully automatic weapon.

For his part in getting the legislation passed out of the Senate, Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) now faces a backlash from Republicans across the country.