By Sue Baldauf
Director of Bedford Youth and Family Service
When I read the newspaper articles or hear the radio reports and interviews about the recent school shooting in Florida, I wonder how much more obvious does it need to get? How many more have to die? If we as a nation could not come together after the elementary school babes were slaughtered in Connecticut, then I hold out little hope. Though I must admit I am tired of shaking my head and feeling despondent.
The violent, high-profile tragedies understandably capture the nation’s attention. But they contribute to 154 mass shootings, 6,880 gun-related deaths, and 13,504 firearm injuries in 2017 alone, according to the watchdog group Gun Violence Archive.
This does not even take gun-related suicides into account. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), more than 21,000 Americans take their lives with a firearm each year. That is nearly half of all suicides and compares to an average of about 11,000 annual gun homicides.
We are fortunate to live in Massachusetts which has a sane approach to firearms and weapons, consistent laws to prevent unmitigated access to AK 47s and UZIs, a strong Attorney General, solid representatives in Congress who vow not to weep or hand-wring but want to act on national gun policy. We have strong public health policies and advocates and some of the best mental health access in the country, all of which could be impacted if the concealed carry law goes into effect nationally. This law, as you may know, would renege on the previous federal mandate to leave gun control up to the states and, if passed, now allow gun permit owners in any state to legally have a firearm in any other state, no matter the state law. This means that a gun owner permitted in Alabama, one of the least restrictive states to license firearms, could come to Massachusetts with any type of weapon and not be subject to our own state laws. Due to the rage and animosity, we have seen in our politics of late, it is frightening to think of what possibilities might ensue in a return to the ‘wild west’ should the concealed carry law pass.
The Massachusetts Medical Society a couple years ago focused on gun violence as a public health issue and compared it to our national history dealing with automobiles. Research on auto accidents led to the enactment of speed limits and seat belts. We also have laws in place to try to keep chronic offenders off the roads to limit drinking and driving, for instance. Why not study gun violence as a public health issue? For one thing, funds are not available for that research in the same way they are for heart disease, cancer, and other causes of death. Research published in JAMA in January 2017 offers an explanation for the lack of funding: A 1996 congressional appropriations bill that banned funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to be used to “advocate or promote gun control.” The authors of the study note that “similar restrictions were subsequently extended to other agencies, including the National Institutes of Health, and although the legislation does not ban gun-related research outright, it has been described as casting a pall over the research community.”
Our local law enforcement has offered a Gun Buy Back program for several years with support from local clergy and the Violence Prevention Coalition of Bedford. Keeping unwanted guns off the streets and out of the hands of reactive, angry people is important. Bedford Police have also recognized the importance of securing mental health services for residents who could use some help and have collaborated with other local law enforcement to offer a social worker as a “jail diversion” option for people who come into contact with the police. That program has been very successful.
The town of Bedford for nearly 30 years has provided counseling services for Bedford residents who might need help through a local contract with Eliot Community Human Services, believing that preventing a problem is more cost effective in the long run. Any of us can have an issue that we need help with at some point in our lives, that we need to consult with someone about, or that can impact our physical and emotional health. Mental health is as important as physical health which is why Bedford Youth and Family Services offers free and anonymous mental health self-assessment at www.bedfordma.gov/youth under the “screenings” section. Residents can understand if the symptoms they are experiencing might be indicative of a common and treatable mental health disorder such as depression or generalized anxiety disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, or a substance use or other mood disorder.
Most people with mental health or behavioral health issues are not violent towards others but can be at greater risk for suicide, especially if they have access to a firearm. While the current national reaction to the Florida shootings indicates that the need is for increased access to mental health services, that that will prevent gun violence, that is both accurate and not. Certainly, we do need consistent access to quality mental health services nationwide but that alone will not prevent an angry person with a firearm bent on destruction from harming others. Much like we prevent babies from falling down stairs with gates, young people from smoking and drinking before their brains are developed with laws, vulnerable drivers in 2-ton metal containers from harm with seatbelts, we need laws to keep dangerous weapons limited and restricted.
Keeping the Peace is sponsored by the Violence Prevention Coalition of Bedford, a representative group of citizens interested in ending violence in families, communities, and beyond. Sue Baldauf is Director of Bedford Youth and Family Services, a constituent member of VPC.
The VPC meets the first Tuesday of every other month at 8:00 a.m. at First Church of Christ Congregational, 25 the Great Road, Bedford. For more information call 781/275-7951.
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