DEL’S MESSAGE FOR THE MEDIA ON UVALDE

Del. You’ve nailed it, far better than you know, when you suggest we put it “all on the table.” Let’s take a look at it “all” for a moment.

Let’s talk about murder and suicide. Most murder victims are family members. All suicide victims are family members.

We know that most, if not all mass murderers are suicidal. They are suicide VICTIMS. It’s hard to think of a murderer as a victim – but we cannot help them until we adopt this perspective.

Talk of guns, gun control vs more guns is a distraction from the core problem. The USA is suffering from an epidemic of suicide victims, a few of whom also murder as part of their suicidal act.

But there’s something else – important – about suicides, even murder suicides. Most suicides are not counted. We don’t know how many. Counting murder suicides is also a challenge.

How many mass murders are there? We don’t know. “Under the definition used by the Gun Violence Archive, by the end of 2019, there were 417 mass shootings; by the end of 2020, there had been 611; and by the end of 2021, 693.” “Under the stricter definition used by law-enforcement and crime-tracking organizations, there were ten mass shootings in 2019, two in 2020, and six in 2021” – Wikipedia. In those three years, were there 12? or 1,700?

According to the Violence Policy Centre, there were 1200 murder suicdes per year – a total over 3,600. Twise the hihest estimate of “mass shootings”. They are in our face on the news, but we can’t even count them accurately.When we focus on Uvalde, we miss the other 1200 in the same year. Focus can be a valuable technique – it can also be a total distraction.

Those are just “murder suicides.” Most suicides are invisible. In 2020, there were – reportedly – over 45,000 suicides in the USA.

Mass Murder with a gun makes the news. Suicides not. Mass murders propel gun arguments. Suicides? Not. The suicide problem is 20 times larger than the highest estimages of the mass murder gun problem. But nobody cares about most victims. They don’t make the news.

We need to put suicides on the table. All of them. And all of their details.

Yes, guns are a large part of the problem, but a focus on the gun avoids the true issue, the true victims of suicide. The focus on guns traps us in a discussion, one that cannot be resolved – and even as we partially resolve it, will not address the problem.

Who are the victims? You got it right. Most are depressed young men. If we can understand and resolve the problem of depressed young men who go ballistic – and then buy guns and bullets – the mass murder problem disappears. These people are not invisible – most cases show clear signs that we consistently ignore. Uvalde is no exception. Nobody reaches out to help the depressed young man. Instead we reach for the gun – to protect ourselves or to take it away from them. It’s not about the guns. Taking the gun away from a suicide victim might prevent or delay the suicide, but it ignores them and their problems.

Suicides, of course will always be with us. But there is a fundamental difference between a natural suicide (giving up on life) and a murder-suicide (refusing to give up without a fight).

And, of course, when we put it “all on the table” we will see the drugs in the proper perspective. But noboody wants to touch that topic. It’s more deadly than a gun.

to your health, tracy

ps. As you questioned yourself, “is this your issue?” you missed something important and a small detail. Vaccines are drugs. There are also vaccine suicides in the USA, suicides committed by people who are vaccine injured. They just don’t buy guns and shoot people – so they dont make the news.