There is definitely a cultural element involved. Call it a gun culture or violence culture, whatever you prefer.
From:
8/07 Gun Ownership Vs. Murder Rates - Gun Owners Of America
For example, though Norway has far and away the highest firearm ownership per capita in Western Europe, it nevertheless has the lowest murder rate. Other nations with high firearms ownership and comparably low murder rates include Denmark, Greece, Switzerland, Germany and Austria. Holland has a 50 percent higher murder rate despite having the lowest rate of firearm ownership in Europe. And Luxembourg, despite its total handgun ban, has a murder rate that is nine times higher than countries such as Norway and Austria.
It isn't how many guns, it's how guns are viewed, or have cause to be viewed. There are studies that support the idea that exposing children to violence early and often results in more violence. Another is the correlation between abused youngsters becoming abusing adults. Nothing to do with guns per se, just human behavior as a result of conditioning.
There are competing statistics about the correlation between gun ownership and gun violence of course, but I don't think that is the point. In the end, they all amount to saying--fewer 3rd graders fall off the swing set when outdoor recess is limited. The wording is often tricky in these studies, so of course the statistics can be used to support just about any position.
I would like to just jump over that whole meaningless debate and focus on the real issue. We condition our children to view violence as comedy or commonplace. Kids, even when I was one, do a lot of play shooting. We are a militarized country; children get the message that armed conflict is brave, normal and to be expected.
Entertainment subjects often revolve around violence, the fear of violence, retribution for violence and so on. Many popular video games involve blasting our way through something or somebody.
It is not rational to expect children to completely compartmentalize what we show them we value for entertainment versus reality. It should be no surprise that we produce kids who grow up with the expectation of violence.
Violent crime stats are on the decline in many areas, but we are aware of more of it through the news media. The whole situation amounts to desensitizing us to violence, much of which involves guns because we own more guns per capita than any other country.
When I use the term 'gun culture' I am referring to the glorification of weapons and violence that we are immersed in. That is what needs to change IMO and it has nothing to do with the 2nd Amendment.
Dave.
