COMMENT: ‘A human life is more valuable than a gun’

THE motto of the state of Maine is ‘The way life should be’. Maine, the most northeastern state in the US, is renowned for its natural beauty, small-town charm, and warm, down to earth residents.

Despite its size (nearly identical to Ireland), it is one of the least densely populated states in the US, owing to the fact that it is 90 percent forest. With a population of only 1.3 million people over 35,000 square miles, Mainers refer to the state as being one big small town. The state is famous for its lobster, blueberries, lighthouses, and for being the home of horror writer, Stephen King.

Just two weeks ago, however, Maine became a household name for a much darker reason.

Shortly before 7pm on Wednesday, October 25, a man armed with an AR-style assault rifle walked into the Sparetime bowling alley in the small city of Lewiston and opened fire, killing seven people in a matter of seconds, among them, a 14-year-old boy and his father, enjoying an evening of bowling at the establishment’s Youth Night.

A few minutes later, the gunman stormed a nearby bar, killing eight.

Three more people died of their wounds in hospital, and more than a dozen others were injured; some remain hospitalised.

Following his shooting spree, the gunman fled – first in his car, and then, it is believed, on foot, after abandoning the car near a river.

For 48 hours, residents of the city of Lewiston and surrounding areas were asked to ‘shelter in place’ for their safety.

My family lives in Portland, about 30 miles from Lewiston. My niece (6) and two nephews (10 and 15) attend Portland public schools. Their schools were closed, as were dozens of others in the area, because a mass shooter was on the loose. People were afraid, and profoundly sad. It wasn’t supposed to happen here. Not in Maine.

Background check loophole

THE Lewiston mass shooting is the deadliest of 2023, and one of the worst in American history. But it’s no outlier. There have been more than 500 mass shootings (defined by the FBI as at least four people killed or injured, not including the gunman) in the US this year. It’s nearly impossible to wrap one’s brain around the enormity of it all.

In 2016, when I was living in Maine, I was an organiser on a statewide gun-safety referendum campaign. Our aim was modest; to close the legal loophole that allows for the purchase of firearms through private sales, without federal background checks.

Federal law dictates that the sale of guns from licensed firearms dealers must be accompanied by a federal background check. While far from perfect, background checks do prevent a lot of people who shouldn’t own guns from acquiring them. Private sellers, including those at gun shows, are not bound by that law.

At the beginning of our campaign, polling showed overwhelming support for closing the background check loophole. Then the National Rifle Association (NRA) got involved. And the fear-mongering started. The propaganda permeated the airwaves. In the end, we lost by 3 percent, and the loophole remained open, as it does today.

Maslow’s Hammer

PERHAPS the most dangerous piece of propaganda peddled by the NRA and the politicians they have in their pockets is the familiar refrain that ‘The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun’.

Why is it so dangerous? The short answer is that it’s not true.

According to analysis by ALERRT (the Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training center), roughly 8 percent of gun homicides are thwarted by civilians with guns. That figure is actually lower than the number of shooters who are physically subdued by unarmed civilians. In fact, the data show that having a gun in the home actually makes people more likely to be victims of gun violence and tragic ‘accidental’ gun deaths.

But everyone wants to be a hero, right? And more specifically, every ‘good guy’ with a gun wants to believe that they could be the one to stop the next mass shooting. I am reminded of the adage, “If the only tool you have is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail.” Also known as ‘Maslow’s Hammer’ or the ‘Law of Instrument’, this idea refers to “the over-reliance on a particular tool simply because that tool is either more immediately available or because it’s more familiar.” So how is that concept applicable to the epidemic of gun violence in the US? The answer is obvious. If the only tool you have is a gun, every problem looks like a target.

The price

THE NRA is arguably the most powerful lobbying group in the US, pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into political campaigns, in a (thus far) successful attempt to thwart any and all efforts to enact sensible gun-safety legislation.

Once a legitimate sportsman’s advocacy organisation that promoted the responsible use of firearms for hunting, sport shooting, and conservation – it even supported gun-control efforts in the early part of the 20th century – the NRA has over the last several decades morphed into a singularly-focused disinformation machine.

The power of the NRA lies, above all, in its ability to instil fear in the American public. They rely on the slippery-slope fallacy; universal background checks, waiting periods for gun purchases, and ‘red flag’ laws are fundamental attacks on the Second Amendment to the US Constitution, the ultimate aim of which is to disarm Americans. There is no room for nuance in the NRA playbook; no room for compromise.

I would argue that most Americans aren’t even aware of the degree to which NRA propaganda has invaded their psyches. ‘Guns don’t kill people; people kill people’. ‘Gun laws don’t work because criminals do not follow the law’. It doesn’t matter that that these talking points have been debunked: they have become part of the collective imagination of an America so numb to violence, so fearful of ‘the other’, so hyper-fixated on their right to keep and bear arms, that they believe that the 40,000-plus gun deaths every year in the US are simply the price we have to pay for ‘freedom’.

But what does freedom mean in a country plagued with mass shootings? What does freedom mean when children are slaughtered in schools and movie theaters and bowling alleys? What does freedom mean when it’s easier to purchase a weapon of war than Sudafed? What does freedom mean when, in a moment of rage or weakness or hopelessness, someone can walk into a store and purchase a weapon capable of firing hundreds of rounds of ammunition in a matter of seconds, then walk into any establishment and open fire?

The United States is not the land of the free. Far from it. Americans live in a constant state of hyper-vigilance, knowing that at any moment, they could be the next victim. They exist in an endless cycle of crippling fear, profound grief, and the knowledge that no matter how bad the carnage gets, nothing will change. It’s as if the US is in a nuclear arms race with itself, with the inevitable conclusion being mutually assured destruction.

The cynic in me believes America is a failed experiment. The idealist in me believes a better America is possible. But releasing itself from the chokehold of the NRA and their politician puppets is going to take tremendous courage, collective action, and the recognition – once and for all – that a human life is more valuable than a gun.

Sarah Rawlings, a native of Portland, Maine, now lives in Westport.