Gun Violence Isn't a Problem it's actually 5 Problems, with Different Solutions

Ive writtenextensively on gun violence, spoken on international TV and radio on the subject, and evenpursued a gun license in the strictest city of one of the strictest states in the country. Despite my first-hand experience, the most ardent defenders of the Second Amendment like those who marched on Richmond, Virginia this weekend to protest "Jim Crow" gun laws will still tell me things like, We dont need more laws! We need to enforce the laws on the books! or We cant stop every shooting because thats just the price of freedom. Those same #2A Avengers will of course acknowledge that yeah, okay, maybe NICS has some problems, or maybe those Parkland cops should have done something earlier, and then swiftly retreat back into the same tribalistic mindsetsthat always prevent human progress.

So I wrote this essay, hoping to have a rational conversation.It was originally published on Medium in 2018, but it remains frustratingly relevant, so I'm posting it here.

Naming something gives you power over it.

Thats the basic idea behind all the magic in every folktale dating back for centuries, from Rumpelstiltskin to the Rolling Stones Hope you guessed my name. Ancient shamans didnt practice magic; they just had knowledge, and names for things like eye of newt that no one else could understand.To name something is to know it, and knowledge is power.Think about the relationship between spelling and spells and you wont be so surprised that Harry Potter has been all over the gun violence conversations lately, on both the Left and the Rightwhich makes sense, considering that they have a word you memorize and practice reciting in order to kill people. Read the rest