Seek common ground in halting gun carnage

Two sides of the gun issue played themselves out in stark contrast in our region within days. We saw gunfire devastate the family of an 18-year-old Oscar Smith High School graduate, who was found on a Chesapeake lawn. We witnessed the heroic actions of a pizza owner in Virginia Beach who killed a suspected robber, saving himself and his employees.

Both incidents followed the Supreme Court’s 5-4 ruling in a Second Amendment case last week. That decision safeguards an individual’s right to own a gun for personal use. The ruling was cheered by gun owners, and lamented by increasingly impotent gun-control activists.

Many people will see, in the shootings here, an unimpeachable rationale for arming ourselves. Because of people like the 17-year-old suspect in the death of football star Lonnie Andrews Jr., and the 41-year-old man who tried to rob Dominick’s Pizza and Pasta, gun activists argue that Americans will be safe only if they have their own piece.

We’re deceiving ourselves if we think the opportunity to prevent crime will come as efficiently as restaurant owner Ferdinando Abbondante dispatched the threat he faced Saturday night. Think about this: When was the last time a store owner, restaurateur, customer, average citizen did that in the region?

Now answer this: When was the last time someone was killed by gunfire in the region? Just days. As I write this, Chesapeake police are investigating another death that occurred the same day that Andrews, who was headed for Virginia State University on a football scholarship, was cut down. On Wednesday, a 34-year-old man was found shot to death in a car in Portsmouth, and a 19-year-old man was shot and killed in Hampton.

I’ve seen an array of articles, opinions and statistics on guns and gun crimes in the days since the high court’s landmark ruling in District of Columbia v. Heller. Most people seem so set in their views that it often seems pointless to delve into the topic.

However, there should be some points that Americans can agree on, and tackle, in the wake of the court ruling and the continuing body count on the nation’s streets:

-- Guns aren’t going anywhere. The United States has an estimated 283 million handguns, shotguns, rifles and other long guns . That’s roughly one for every man, woman and child in the country. More time and effort should be spent on keeping guns out of the hands of known criminals, but because illegal sales seem to be as easy as buying bottled water, that’s extremely difficult. And access to guns can make an ordinary argument tragic.

-- Most gun-related deaths involve suicides. According to published reports and federal statistics, for the five years ending in 1997, an average of 36,000 firearm-related killings occurred annually. Roughly 51 percent were suicides, and 44 percent were homicides. More effort needs to be taken to keep those with mental problems, including depression, away from firearms. We witnessed the horrific consequences of that last year in the Virginia Tech killings.

-- Because guns are so prevalent, they are a ready tool for criminals, in both killings and other felonies. In 2005, according to federal statistics, handguns were used in 8,478 homicides; other types of guns were used in 2,868 homicides.

-- Even when adults have loaded guns for protection in the home, accidents can happen when children find them, or a disgruntled spouse can use them as a weapon.

-- Federal statistics from the mid-1990s showed that 211,000 handguns and 382,000 long guns were stolen in noncommercial thefts in just one year.

-- Can firearms prevent attacks? Definitely. A much-quoted study by professors Gary Kleck and Marc Gertz from the mid-1990s indicates that “defensive gun uses” number as many as 2.5 million times a year. Other studies have questioned the statistics, and because actual defensive uses are not reported as frequently as shootings, homicides and other assaults, the estimate remains controversial.

Reading the statistics and weighing the odds, it seems clear that guns cause more mayhem than they offer protection to the average citizen. We also know that guns are so ingrained in our culture that they’re here to stay. Everyone should be honest about those realities.

After all, tens of thousands more die every year by gunfire in the U.S. than the number of U.S. troops killed since the start of the Iraq conflict. You could say Americans are fighting another major war, right here at home.

Roger Chesley is associate editor of The Pilot’s editorial page. Reach him at (757) 446-2329 or at roger.chesley@pilotonline.com.