Redirect resources from gun control to mental health issues

Dear Editor:

According to 2017 FBI Crime in the United States (https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2017/crime-in-the-u.s.-2017/tables/expanded-homicide-data-table-11.xls) the following murders were committed by the means listed:

15,129—Total murder victims

7,032—Handguns

1,591—Knives or cutting instruments

692—Personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.)

467—Blunt objects (clubs, hammers, etc.)

403—Rifles 

264—Shotguns

  Recently-passed Initiative 1639 placed great emphasis on so-called “semi-automatic assault rifles” yet murders committed using any rifle accounted for only 2.66 percent of the total.  As can be seen, more murders were committed using “Personal weapons (hands, fists, feet, etc.)” which were less than half of those committed using “Knives or cutting instruments.”  And the total murders, by any means, were at least 2.5 times less than the 12th leading cause of death in the United States—Chronic liver disease and cirrhosis (38,170).  (https://www.healthline.com/health/leading-causes-of-death#liver-diseases)

All these deaths are tragic, but the fact is “semi-automatic assault rifles” are not responsible.  The statistics clearly show more were murdered by hands, fists and feet than rifles and shotguns combined!  Even murders done with clubs and hammers beat out rifles.  

It’s time to re-direct resources to identify and treat mental issues--the real un-sung culprit in every category.

Sincerely,

Jim Davison, Waitsburg