Jeff Hague of Ellendale is the president and legislative liaison of the Delaware State Sportsmen’s Association.
This is in response to the letter submitted by Denise Marks (“There are ways to hinder gun deaths”).
One point that I completely agree with is that suicide is very traumatic for families and friends. Almost 60% of deaths caused by firearms are related to suicide. If one looks at the breakdown by age and gender, one will find that, overwhelmingly, males use firearms as their method. In suicides of those over 85, almost 100% are males. It is rare that a female uses a firearm. They are more apt to use drugs as the means. But, no matter the method, a suicide is very painful for all involved. But let’s not let that distract us from other relevant facts about deaths caused by firearms.
There is an important distinction between the causes leading to suicide and homicide with firearms. Gun homicides occur primarily among young, urban, Black males, as reported by the National Gang Center. Gun suicides occur primarily among old, rural, White males.
While I sympathize with the grief that Ms. Marks has been going through, I cannot agree with her using emotion to blame the firearm.
As I have said repeatedly in this paper and elsewhere, the problem is not the object; it is the person behind the object. Until politicians and other so-called advocates for “commonsense gun laws” have the fortitude to deal with the individual, no legislation is going to help solve the problem.
There is no such thing as just gun violence. Violent crime can be committed with many objects. That term is just a dog whistle.
One point Ms. Marks made that is totally incorrect is that firearms are the leading cause of death for individuals ages 1-19. That is demonstrably false and misleading. Folks like Ms. Marks like to leave out the fact that the “children” ages 16-19 in that statement are the victims of gang and drug violence. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the leading causes of death for children are motor vehicle collisions and parental neglect and abuse, which account for 80% of all child deaths. The National Gang Center notes that street gang recruitment begins at age 14. This is the principle reason why gun deaths are nearly nonexistent for children but steadily rising for teens.
This is just another instance in which folks like Ms. Marks conflate deaths by suicide and homicides.
As the local leader of the Delaware chapter of BRADY United Against Gun Violence, Ms. Marks has one goal in mind: Ban the private ownership of firearms. In a previous letter, she has blamed the law-abiding firearm owners for almost all the social ills, here in Delaware and nationwide.
I have repeatedly dispelled almost all the statistics quoted by Ms. Marks and others, but they just can’t help themselves and continue spreading false information in an effort to scare the public. Just about everything Ms. Marks states as problems are really red herrings for her true objective.
She and others have said that Delaware needs to expand background checks. In 2013, Delaware effectively banned the transfer of firearms without a background check. The exception is between close relatives. Criminals overwhelmingly obtain the tools of their trade illegally.
She said straw purchases need to be stopped. She forgot to mention that it has been illegal for many years, on both a state and federal level, to engage in straw purchases. I know for a fact that firearm dealers are extremely diligent in trying to make sure all purchases are legal.
She has also said we need to ban ghost guns; however, she doesn’t define a “ghost gun.” She neglects to mention that it is already illegal to sell or give any firearm to an individual without a background check. Also, citizens have been manufacturing their own firearms since before the Revolutionary War, and background checks were not required until 1993.
She has accused the firearm industry of perpetrating harm. Does she honestly believe that an industry that is the most heavily regulated in the country is deliberately causing harm?
What I do believe is that folks like Ms. Marks are not interested in reducing suicides or deaths. As I said, their stated goal is to ban private ownership of firearms, period.
All the anti-gun laws that the General Assembly has passed in the last 25 years have done absolutely nothing to reduce violent crime. Why? Because they do not deal with the underlying causes of crime in general.
Until the state and individuals like Ms. Marks deal with the social ills in this state, nothing is going to change.
Delaware ranks near the bottom in education, yet we spend the fifth-highest amount of money per student. Could that be part of the problem?
Rampant drug dealing, drug use and gangs are by far the biggest contributors to violent crime. Why not stop releasing criminals back on the street with little or no bail? Perhaps stop giving offenders probation for crimes committed with firearms. Again, as I have said repeatedly, I don’t know of any criminal in prison who commits a crime on the street.
It is time to stop passing worthless legislation that does nothing but impact law-abiding firearm owners and start really dealing with the underlying problem: the person who illegally uses a firearm. Remember, criminals, by definition, do not obey the law.
Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.
