WHEN DISASTER STRIKES

Photo credit: Paul J. Richards AFP Getty

If only Congress was action-oriented like the NTSB.

On May 25, 1979, I was in a car with my brother as we drove to our summer job working the 2nd shift at an International Harvester plant in Melrose Park, Illinois. As we headed north on Mannheim Road, in the distance we could see thick, billowing black smoke. It wasn’t until we arrived at the plant did we learn an airplane crashed at O’Hare airport.

In what is still the single deadliest airplane disaster in U.S. history, 273 people died when American Airlines flight 191, headed to Los Angeles, crashed just after takeoff on a warm Friday afternoon. Within hours, the National Transportation Safety Board was on the scene, beginning what would be a thorough, intensive investigation.

One cannot imagine the NTSB screwing around for days, weeks, months or years before taking on the task of finding out what caused that airplane to crash. As any honorable organization whose function is to protect the public would do, the NTSB got right to work and, ultimately, implemented the Type Certification Processes which improved, and made inseparable, the industry’s airplane certification and maintenance process.

If only those NTSB employees were now in the U.S. Congress where, instead of immediate, purposeful action following mass shootings, or the daily shootings that occur in America, Congress plays footsie with the NRA while not protecting the public.

In gun disaster aftermath, Congress has had many chances to do their job - I refuse to say show “courage” because it doesn’t take courage to do the obvious right thing - and pass meaningful gun control legislation. Time and again the opportunity slips away.

Recent terrorist mass shootings in Charleston, Orlando, Sutherland Springs, Las Vegas, and Stoneman Douglas were preceded by Columbine, Sandy Hook, Washington D.C.-area, Aurora and too many others.

In Chicago, it only takes roughly a month for the weekly gun murder toll to add up to a Las Vegas. It only takes a couple weeks for it to equal Stoneman Douglas. And on a weekly basis, the Chicago gun murder toll amounts to what happened at the church in Charleston.

Is anybody going to do something about this? Does anyone in Congress care enough to stop talking and take action, passing tough legislation to demonstrably reduce America’s gun carnage?

Can you imagine what would have happened to the airline industry if the NTSB, after every plane crash, refused to investigate and avoided coming up with real, actionable solutions to minimize the risk of flying?

Can you imagine the NTSB doing nothing more than offering the flying public thoughts and prayers?

The day after 273 people died in the crash of flight 191, the NTSB did not say “now’s not the time” or “emotions are too raw” to examine what caused the plane to crash. Similarly, following a devastating tornado the Red Cross doesn’t say “not now, it’s too early to assist families who’ve lost everything.”

Yet, that’s where we are when it comes to guns in America. We hear “now’s not the time” to address gun violence. Or they say, calm down. Or, it’s a mental health issue, not a gun issue. And guns don’t kill, people kill. And of course, don’t tread on the Second Amendment.

Well, it may be your Second Amendment constitutional right to have a gun but it’s a student’s First Amendment constitutional right to live a life where she/he is safe and free to pursue happiness – and an education - without worrying about walking into the middle of the OK Corral on the way to study hall.

Happiness is not, according to Congressional Research Service, America having 48% of the world’s civilian guns. Happiness is not, according to the PEW Center, 4 in 10 Americans owning or living in a home with a gun.

Happiness is not 13,000 Americans dying from gun violence each year. (Despite the focus on AR-15 assault weapons, most American gun deaths are by handguns.)

Happiness is not the U.S., making up less than 5% of the world’s population, accounting for 31% of global mass shootings.

Happiness is not that fool Trump recommending we give guns to schoolteachers. (OMG, speaking of mental illness!)

Under normal circumstances we would look to clergy, and their flock, for guidance on what’s right and what’s wrong. Wrong!

The Southern Baptist Convention has about 15 million members, making it the largest Protestant group in America. They engage in issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage but are mute about gun violence.

Since 1845 the SBC has offered only a single resolution mentioning guns. Uno. Eins. One.

While most Americans who are members of religious groups support tighter gun restrictions, SBC Evangelicals do not. According to the Public Religion Research Institute, 76% of black Protestants, 67% of Catholics and 57% of white mainline Protestants support tougher gun laws. Support among Evangelicals is only 38%.

So where can Congress look for inspiration to solve America’s global-leading gun violence problem?

A recent article in the Business Insider sheds light on how Japan uses common sense and intelligence to implement gun control.

Japan, a country of 127 million people, averages fewer than 10 gun-related deaths per year. Here are highlights from the article:

Following World War II, Japan’s culture came to include the philosophy of pacifism as a key tenet. Japan became the first country in the world to pass gun laws. Like booze was in America during the Great Depression, guns were prohibited in Japan around 1958.

Although gun prohibition has been relaxed in Japan, it is very difficult to obtain a license to own a gun.

First, it is mandated the prospective gun owner attend an all-day class. Next, you must pass a written test. That is followed by a shooting-range test where you must attain at least 95% accuracy. A detailed mental-health evaluation at a hospital is next. Then there is a background check whereby the government examines criminal record and interviews family and friends.

If all goes well, you can buy either a shotgun or air rifle. No handguns. No semi-automatic assault rifles. And then every three years you re-certify by retaking the class and mental-health exam.

Off-duty police in Japan do not carry firearms. Encounters between police and citizens that too often escalate into deadly use of force in the U.S. almost never happen in Japan.

The Business Insider points out that gun control and a cultural respect for authority (for parents, for cops, for teachers, for government) results in a better relationship between citizens and police. And with few Japanese citizens owning guns, beefs are settled without someone in a pool of blood, as often happens in the U.S.

Meanwhile, in America it has been drilled into the populace to be afraid and to distrust. And when you are afraid and don’t trust anyone else you load up, hence the arming of America.

Here’s where Congress can finally do its job. (Repealing the Second Amendment is not practical or even necessary.)

What is practical is passing laws that start the process of unarming America. Laws that allow responsible citizens, after completing a rigorous Japan-like process, to procure modest guns to defend their home and their family, or go hunting, while reducing/eliminating militarized weapons from the arsenal of your next-door-neighbor.

Fortunately, on November 6, it’s in the hands of the American people to vote and send gutless wanderers (members of Congress who show loyalty to the NRA that rivals Islamic extremist loyalty to ISIS) back to where they came from.

See you at the polls!

Douglas FreelandMarch 1, 2018