Newtown

Today is the one year anniversary of that horrible day.  It is fitting to hold the families in our thoughts. It is also fitting to note the on-going tragedy of gun violence in the United States and the failure of our political system to do anything about it.

There is evidence to suggest that fearful people tend to be more conservative.  And the conservative belief that human nature is fundamentally competitive would seem to reinforce the fear of a dangerous world.  I could see how the acquisition of guns would assuage that fear, even though, for me, the idea of people around me having guns adds to my own fear.

Isn't it just logical to think that fewer weapons would avoid at least some the violence that happens everyday?  And yet gun control isn't going to happen because fear overrides compassion.

Update (December 31):  The Boston Globe editorializes about mass killings this past year.

Update (June 20, 2014):  A study from the Violence Policy Center ranks states by gun death rate and finds that

states with the lowest overall gun death rates have lower rates of gun ownership and some of the strongest gun violence prevention laws in the nation.

Update (July 29, 2014):  Differences in threat bias explain a large part of the variation in political ideology according to a study from lead author John Hibbing of the University of Nebraska.  John Stuart Mill referred to a party of stability and a party of progress as common in political systems.

Update (February 15, 2022):  In a settlement with nine families of Sandy Hook Elementary School victims, Remington Arms will pay $73 million. It's the first time a gun manufacturer has been held liable for a mass shooting.