In the wake of tragedies, there is a human tendency to reflect and attempt to figure out the “how” and “why” of what happened. This recent shooting in Uvalde, TX is no different. For the past couple of days, though, that analysis has turned to one of “there is no need for further research. We know what the issue is.” And it’s true, we do.
So why do we keep re-living this mass shooting nightmare month after month, year after year?
I was unexpectedly struck by a special form of stupidity this morning over breakfast that may shed some light on how and why we keep going round and round on this issue.
I’m eating my Belgian waffle and bacon, sipping my coffee, and reading an interview with Josh Charles from Esquire. I overheard the following exchange between a table of old buddies (4 guys probably in their late 50’s/early 60’s) who seem to be meeting for their weekly or bimonthly breakfast.
“True statistic I heard yesterday. True statistic. Hammers kill more Americans than guns do. True story.”
Now, on the face of it, that seems insane. And to give one of the guys credit, he did say “that doesn’t sound right”. But the principal speaker kept going about how soft we all are. How kids aren’t brought up right to shoot. All of the things you’d expect from the pro-gun viewpoint.
The latter bullshit aside, I found it frustrating that none of them pulled out their phone to check this illogical statistic. So, I did.
The first link that Google produces from a “United States death by hammer” search is this one:
Number of murder victims in the United States in 2020, by weapon used
Turns out, this story is not a new one. A Rolling Stone article refutes a version of this brought up by GOP Congresswoman Lauren Boebert when she said the same thing in early 2021. And proving that this is not a recent situation, Greg Abbott, then Attorney General of Texas, now Governor presiding over the shooting days ago, said a version of the same thing in 2013. (Of course, this was in reaction to President Obama’s call for a Texas to enact stricter control laws. You know, because god forbid we try to protect people.)
There’s even a Quora post on the same topic, entitled "Is it true that more people are murdered with hammers than guns in the US?" The responders in this thread correctly spell out the distinction between the generic use of the word "guns" versus the use of the word "rifles". Let's just state up front that rifles ARE guns, and move on with the full knowledge that individuals who decide to utilize this particular word parsing technique are sidestepping the larger issue. I'm looking at you, Governor Abbott.
And if you want hard statistics, the CDC has statistics (with sourcing) has those, too:
I say all of this to point out that this is how forward progress comes to a screeching halt. These utterly illogical “facts” get strewn about Fox News and/or conservative radio/websites. And the consumers of those outlets believe it. Whole cloth. Despite the fact that any one of us can simply do a quick Google search and disprove the statement.
Yet, they don’t.
Why?
Do they just not want to face the truth? They want to believe in their own viewpoint that much that even when confronted with the truth, it still doesn’t matter?
I’m left with the hard truth that their answer is “yes”. I mean, they still believe the 2020 election was falsified. And it doesn’t seem anyone can convince them on that truth, either.
