@revelette1,
Actually, I think there is a lot that can be done about gun violence, that has little to do with guns, and more to to with the people themselves. It relates directly to the loss of trust of others, the loss of respect, loss of control, and in particular the loss of a sense of self. Addressing these would lower gun violence (and also lower the rates of domestic violence)
1. Don't teach children about their individual rights in school without teaching how that is
balanced against community rights (teaching only about individual rights teaches children to focus only on their rights).
2. Bring back manners. Outside of 'food etiquette' (which doesn't particularly matter to this conversation), manners were actually about disagreeing respectfully and treating people courteously (ie. with consideration and
respect) They weren't perfect, but they were much better than what we have now.
3. Teach children to respect their elders. It a really easy thing for children to grasp. What it actually does though, is teach children to respect everyone. I gave no thought to this until I started noticing people who were respectful no matter the person, and started asking 'did you parent teach you to respect your elders?' with each of them going 'yes'.
4. Get rid of the concept of blame, and introduce Personal Responsibility and Contributing Circumstances. Blame allows people to blame others for who they are & where they are at ('you made me so mad', 'others have put me in this position', 'I can't control my lot in life' etc). If everyone is responsible for their own decisions & emotions, even while other factors contribute to those decisions & emotions, then you can't get away from the fact that who you are, where you are, and where you are going in life is your responsibility, so the only way to make improvements is to go about trying to improve.
Once people start doing this for a while they: start problem solving (necessary to resilience), start solving problems (develops self assurance and a sense of achievement), become more emotionally mature (particularly as they are no longer blaming others for their emotions, and also because their resilience is increasing), gain more control over their lives (problem solve & gain confidence to overcome, no longer blame others for their lot) meaning they don't take it out on 'people they can safely control'.
5. Allow people to gain more control over their lives, because
'those with no control over their lives at work take their control needs out on those who they think they can safely control'. Government needs to stop 'stepping in to solve a problem without the person first trying' (ie. being a solution for everything). Being able to solve problems (which is developed by constantly engaging in problem solving) is necessary to ones sense of control. No problem government stepping in if they've tried, tried, and failed. Just don't do it at the first instance. This is similar to point 4, but this is about governments involvement in disempowering people.
6. Create a system that develops self esteem rather than tears it down.
People with high self esteem or who value high self esteem are rarely (needlessly) violent. High Self Esteem is the value you place on who you are as a person, that doesn't need outside validation (Ego needs outside validation, and attacks if that validation is threatened). To me, a very simplified view on its development is 'identify what values you admire in others, then develop them within yourself...and you will then know you have admirable qualities '
That's on 'self esteem side'. There's more to it, but this is to point out that I think our culture has been walking an unhealthy path, and increasing violence, domestic violence, and shootings don't truly surprise me.
