Guns, violence and race

A recent look at the Internet provides these statistics on gun homicides in 2015:
229 blacks were killed by whites
500 whites were killed by blacks
2380 blacks were killed by blacks
2574 whites were killed by whites
36 unarmed blacks were killed by police
31 unarmed whites were killed by police.

These statistics can be reconfigured based on different interpretations of the nature of the crime or on percentages of the population or other such interpretations.
There is no question of the systemic injustices toward blacks, and all efforts to remedy this are important.

But the real issue is violence in America and our appetite for it in media, entertainment and video games. This is fed directly by the insane obsession with guns and the rabid and rigid NRA. America is on average 25 times more violent than other industrialized countries. Concealed carry laws allow guns in parks, bars, churches and schools. There’s a gun for every American citizen, many easily purchased on the streets. Too many lawmakers in the pocket of the NRA, and its ability to deliver voters on command. And a Supreme Court that conveniently ignores the militia clause of the 2nd Amendment. (What are the responsibilities of a gun owner under the militia clause.)

So even if we bring justice to the issues of race and homicide, we will still have the issue of a violent America and its obsession with guns. Let’s start there.