The Wild West – Revisited?

 

During the 1870s many towns in the western territories and sparsely settled states were mostly lawless with only intermittent enforcement of regulations about drinking, gambling, and brawling.  Rival gangs and rowdy cowboys were joined by grifters and bargirls. Few self-respecting church ladies were seen in these bawdy towns. There were attempts made to civilize some towns, but as they became respectable, the offenders just moved west. Into that mix came the people of legend, Wild Bill Hickok, Doc Holliday, and Wyatt Earp. Many tall tales have enhanced the stories from that era, but some truths have remained.  These men were showmen, gamblers, killers, lawmen, and enforcers.  They operated on both sides of the law and often made their own laws. Earp and Holliday were mostly known for their escapades in Dodge City, Kansas and Tombstone, Arizona. The Colt or Navy revolver was usually their weapon of choice.

The infamous fight at the “OK Corral” occurred in Tombstone and involved lawmen Earp, Holliday, and Earp’s brothers Morgan and Virgil who were up against an outlaw gang. The deputies killed several members of the gang; those who got away vowed revenge and subsequently killed Virgil and Morgan. Tales such as these enhance the image of the lawless, free-wheeling west, and that anti-government, independent gun-toting image endures for much of that part of the country to this day. Several states have current open carry laws, so gun owners may walk around in public wearing their arms without restraint. And, although some churches have requested that people not bring guns into services, Texas law permits such use, for example, for licensed owners.

News reports have shown that in 2021, so far, that there have been more than 104 mass shootings in 29 different states.

Recent days have left the country reeling with the number of mass shootings at workplaces and meeting places and of family members.  During this same time, a record number of police shootings have also occurred, many of Black and brown men. These happenings leave me shocked and concerned.  We already know that there are far too many guns in civilian hands across America.  The Current Small Arms Study estimates note that there are at least 393 million guns in this country, (August 2020) but other reports note that once President Biden was elected, gun sales again rose.  According to Statistica in November of 2020, approximately 42% of Americans own a gun of some type. The table does not indicate how many guns each owner has but, as shown above, studies note that the numbers of guns in use are higher than the US population (currently 328 million approximately). They indicate also that 50% of Republicans state they own at least one gun with 64% stating they live in a gun-owning household, while 18% of Democrats are gun owners with 34% stating there is a gun in their home.

Today, alone, there have been multiple deaths reported from shootings in Kenosha, Wisconsin and Austin, Texas. One shooting was at a bar and the other may have involved domestic issues. Six people are dead and three are wounded from these two incidents.  Both The New York Times and the Washington Post have had major editorials or articles this week about guns and their use in our society. The Times article notes that just since the beginning of the Derek Chauvin trial on March 29 at least 64 people have died at the hands of law enforcement nationwide. That averages out to approximately 3 deaths per day across America at the hands of the police!  It notes that Black and Brown men account for more than one-half of this total number of deaths.

This week has seen the highly publicized gun deaths of a young man in Minnesota at a traffic stop and a teenager after a drive-by shooting (possibly once armed) in Chicago. Both involved sudden gun use by police. And, although there has been much publicity about these two deaths, the other 62 happened mostly without fanfare or press, but the people still died. The majority of deaths came about from crimes such as gun use, others were from issues of domestic violence, traffic stops gone wrong, or concerns with mental health. The Times article further notes that an average of 1100 deaths at the hands of individual police forces occurs each year which fits the averages mentioned above for these last three weeks. I know that police have to make quick decisions in cases of dangerous crimes and I want police to be there when we need protections in our neighborhoods. But I question why anyone needs to get shot at a traffic stop, such as Philando Castille or Duonte Wright for minor or questionable offenses.

These are tough questions, I know, but we need to find some answers. Life is, to me, precious and I do believe that we all need to protect the lives of every member of society. I do hope you agree. Our society is diminished if we do not respect the rights of everyone. How many more times do we need to see mothers in the streets mourning the loss of their child? All mothers and spouses need to expect their family members to return home at the end of each day. So do spouses and mothers of police officers. We also mourn when police officers die as we did for the US Capitol officer this week. Each day when an officer hugs their children and goes to work, he or she hopes to return home that evening; the police officer (Billy Evans) at the Capitol had no chance when he was run down. Brian Sicknick, who died after the Capitol insurrection, had no chance when he was attacked by a lawless bunch of marauders.

The Washington Post reflected on mass shootings from Columbine forward. The first mass shooting that I ever remember hearing about was the Texas Tower shooting in 1966 on the University of Texas campus which injured 43 people, 13 of whom died. The gunman had earlier killed his wife and mother and was eventually killed by a police marksman. The shootings of that many people just innocently walking across the campus took about 96 minutes. (The shooter had three rifles, a sawed-off shotgun, and two pistols.)  More recently, the Las Vegas hotel shooting in 2017 killed 59 people and wounded more than 500 others with rapid automatic type firings and was over in less than 10 minutes, since the gunman killed himself as police closed in on him. They found 23 firearms in his hotel room and 19 more at his home.

Virtually all of the mass shootings mentioned by the Post have involved assault-type weapons or AR-15s, which were not an option for the Texas shooter. The AR-15  (AK-47, M-16) was an evolution from earlier military weapons developed for rapid firing military arms. They did not make their way into civilian use until after the Vietnam War. Most have the capacity for large magazines and semi-automatic to automatic firing. Since the Columbine school shooting in 1999, there have been more than 40 mass shootings (meaning more than 3 deaths each) in these 22 years. Several of these shootings have been at schools such as Sandy Hook and Parkland where we have lost many children.

2020 saw fewer mass shootings due to the pandemic, so I guess we should be grateful that we were mostly all hiding away safely in our homes. However, during just this last month there have been three shootings with multiple deaths – 8 in Georgia, 10 in Colorado, 8 in Indiana. When are our Congress, our local governments, and our society going to say this can no longer be tolerated? We should implement an assault weapons ban and buy-back program such as they had in New Zealand after the mosque shootings there. I know New Zealand is a small country, but small countries can also have good ideas that can work elsewhere. Even then, I fear we would still have too many weapons in the country.

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Worldwide deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic have now reached over 3 million. This week saw a pause in the use of the Johnson and Johnson vaccine in the US as there were reports of 6 cases of women developing a rare type of brain blood clot. More than 7 million doses had been given so far. Each of the affected women was under 50, so there may be some issues with estrogen or menopausal states. I would guess that it will be restarted soon, but with perhaps more restrictions such as use limited to older women and most men. So far, the US has vaccinated more than 200 million people, which is a good record.  Still, this vaccine pause has validated the fears of those hesitant to get vaccinated, so we will see where this goes. Michigan is under a severe surge at the moment, mostly from the British variant, which has been found more prevalent in younger people.

Current COVID stats: (NY Times) 4/18/21

Total US cases: 31,690,900. New cases: 40,482. Total deaths: 566,804. Total new deaths: 352.

Maryland totals: Total cases: 434,859. New cases: 1,500. Total deaths: 8,545 New deaths: 17.

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This week should bring a verdict in the Derek Chauvin murder trial.  From what I have seen and read, there should be little doubt of his guilt.  We shall see what the jury has to say.

On the panda watch – feeling upside down? The panda does a headstand!

“Til next week – peace!