After the Dayton shooting, the rallying cry became “Do Something.” But, unfortunately, it very quickly devolved into the usual national partisan finger-pointing. There were immediate calls by Democrats to enact gun control. Understandably, there was a call to do something in the wake of the tragedy we faced. However, I would posit that it is not about doing just something — it is about doing what will actually stop the tragedy, and gun control would not have stopped either shooting. We must rather focus on combating the violent criminals who perpetrate these mass killings.
The Oxford killer was given his firearm by his father, and the Dayton killer’s friend bought his firearm for him. This act is commonly called a “straw man purchase.” The Oxford killer’s father was appropriately charged and arrested, and the Dayton killer’s friend was convicted of breaking federal firearm laws. What they did was illegal, and they were and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. This shows the exact problem with the often-proposed gun control measures: they would not have been successful in either of these cases of stopping the killer. The way they got their firearm was already illegal, and there were several blatantly ignored warning signs in Oxford. Additional gun control measures only place additional burdens on the millions of law-abiding citizens who want to exercise their 2nd Amendment right to protect themselves and their families.
Instead of focusing on partisan gun control that only places restrictions on 2nd Amendment rights, we should all work together to find ways to fix this violence. Mass killings are tragic, and we should work to prevent them, but we also need to look at the big picture. According to UC Davis Health, of the 39,707 firearm-related deaths in 2019, 23,941 were suicide, 12,701 were non-mass shooting homicides, and 2,160 were mass shooting homicides.
There are evidence-based suicide prevention protocols we need to implement in our schools. Just to our south, in a Cincinnati suburban school district, they have had seven suicides in four years. In one school district. This is an epidemic we can tackle.
Furthermore, many non-mass firearm homicides deal with either domestic violence or gang violence. We can provide our law enforcement officers more support to deal with gang violence, and strategies can be implemented to help women leave potentially violent relationships and receive the support they need. We have done some of this already in the legislature, as HB 123 went into effect this March, which requires every school to complete one hour of suicide prevention training. Additional funding has also been designated to crisis centers that help women in domestic violence situations. Nevertheless, we can do more about the increasing behavioral and mental health concerns — and we will — without restricting Ohioans’ 2nd Amendment rights.
Korey Cocking is the Chair of Greater Dayton Friends of NRA and owns Armed Lady and MushinSST, where she teaches firearms and self defense courses as a NRA Certified Training Counselor and Instructor & Rangemaster Certified Instructor. She has Master’s of Science in Nursing and is a wife and mother of two sons, residing in Brookville.
Editor’s Note: This piece is in response to a column written by Howard Rahtz in yesterday’s paper.
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