Over-population

(Letter to the Oregonian)

Regarding Mark Matsushima's article on our hostility toward immigrants, I sympathize with his argument that these are people who just happen to be of other ethnicities and races, and that we should treat them fairly because they will eventually fit into our culture and add to it. He is absolutely right. However, he misses the point. Race and ethnicity are irrelevant to many people's discomfort with newcomers. They are crowding our spaces. If the eleven million illegal immigrants in this country were blond, blue-eyed Swedes, their presence would still reduce our freedom to move in much the same way as more people in a room does. Our parents may have entered America as immigrants, but that does not mean America can add immigrants forever and still guarantee the un-congested cities and open countryside we value and enjoy. We limit the number of people who can ride in a car. Why not set a limit to the size of the US population? Why not begin to deal with the procreation choices individuals make that exacerbate environmental and social problems world-wide? Why not talk about over-population?

Roseburg

The Oregonian's headline, "STATE AND NATION SEARCH FOR ANSWERS," implies that the reason for the mass shooting in Roseburg is a mystery, as though Columbine, Aurora, Newtown, Virginia Tech and Charleston had different causes. The cause, my dear friends, is always the same: a man with a gun.

Hundreds of people have been murdered not by grannies, toddlers, geezers or girls, but by young men. Males between the ages of 13 and 30 commit 85% of the homicides; they commit all mass shootings. There's something in the male gene that compels many men to form gangs, join ISIS, chain-saw forests and employ financial weapons against the poor. Many young men are biologically driven to hurt others, and given easy access to guns, they'll buy guns, or steal guns, and go on a killing spree.

America's gun laws make it easy. America has the highest gun ownership rate in the world - 88 guns per 100 people. The positive correlation between gun ownership and gun homicides is well documented: those states with the highest gun ownership have the greatest number of gun deaths. The same is true for countries. Reports CNN, "When it comes to gun massacres, the United States is tragically exceptional: There are more public mass shootings in the United States than in any other country in the world." With 5% of the world's population, the US commits 31% of the mass shootings. The NRA's argument that we could stop gun violence if more men had guns is absolutely false.

What can we do?

First, admit the facts: at the core of all bloodshed world-wide are men with guns.

Then, in this country, restrict men's access to the frightful objects. Other countries have proven the effectiveness of gun control. "In Scotland, after Dunblane, in Australia, after Tasmania, in Canada, after the Montreal massacre—in each case the necessary laws were passed to make gun-owning hard, and in each case… well, you will note the absence of massacre-condolence speeches made by the Prime Ministers of Canada and Australia, in comparison with our own President." (Gopnik, The New Yorker)

As to the constitutionality of gun control, lets look at the Second Amendment: "A well regulated militia, composed of the body of the people, being the best security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed." The two words in this Amendment that gun-rights advocates steer us away from time and again are "well regulated." The framers of the Constitution intended guns and militia to be "well regulated."

As to the other half of the violence equation - males - let's make it a felony for any male under a certain age, say thirty, to have a gun unless supervised by an adult female or a male over 30.

Similarly, let's make it a felony for any person to give a male under that age access to a gun, whether intentionally or accidentally.

Do you think such laws would sober people up? I do. And good lord we need some sobriety when it comes to guns. Rationality, not heated rhetoric, saves lives. You'd be hard pressed to find any rationality in the gun-rights camp, however. In fact, if you want a clear example of "mentally ill," just mention gun control to a male, concealed-carry gun zealot. Then be prepared to run for your life.