Numbers to chew on in the wake of another school shooting:

• 70% of all homicides are firearm related.
• There are about 26% of adults with a diagnosed mental illness.
• 6% have a “serious mental illness.”
• Only 3% have a serious mental illness and are not institutionalized.
• Violence is not even a symptom of something like schizophrenia. Mentally ill people are most likely to harm themselves by an overwhelming margin. Suicide is the most lethal form of violence.

Yes we need better attention to mental health care. But no, this will not make a dent in gun violence. The numbers just don’t support witch hunts for the mentally ill as a solution to gun violence. The beast to slay is looking at how to cut down on homicide in general.

• Young men between the ages of 25-36 are doing 95% of the killing.
• 99% of killings occur away from school grounds.
• American children die from gun inflicted wounds in the US up to 12 times more than in other industrialized nations.
• The US has the highest child poverty rate among the most industrialized nations.
• Drugs, poverty, unemployment, race, culture, gender inequality, and weak social systems and support are ALL correlated with different forms of homicide.

None of these data are new!

No folks, more guns won’t solve the problem. Following the example of other nations that seem to have found ways to solve the problem will. Finding ways to reduce economic inequality and poverty are two huge factors to mitigate gun violence. We can also focus on harsher penalties for breaking gun laws if we actually enforce them. But that is a band-aid for a massive social sickness in the US. As we become poorer and more afraid of people taking our liberties and stuff (real or imagined), this violence will continue.

Equality, health, and education can overcome violence.

Those who want more guns on the streets and who are also cutting funds to education are partially responsible for the disproportional rate of homicides by gun violence.