by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist (read the original in Noozhawk by clicking here)

I learned to shoot rifles as a teen at summer camp in 1971. It didn’t become a passion, but I enjoyed it sufficiently to progress to marksman first class. I proudly displayed my shot-ripped targets in my scrapbook.

I am not averse to gun ownership. I drive a car and am not averse to training and licensing drivers periodically to demonstrate competency and ability to operate a vehicle in a safe manner.

According to a 2021 analysis by Pew Research, vast majorities of both Republicans and Democrats favor two specific policies that would restrict gun access:

1. Preventing those with mental illnesses from purchasing guns (85% of Republicans; 90% of Democrats);

2. Requiring background checks for private and gun show sales (70% of Republicans; 92% of Democrats).

Alarm at the rising incidents of domestic firearm terror is reflected in these areas of agreement. I am surely not alone in having nightmares since the Uvalde shootings in Texas. My grandchildren are in elementary school. The thought of them huddling for an hour among their bleeding classmates, frantically calling 911, brings me to tears.

It’s tempting to feel hopeless, but it’s hope that is required to act.

Beyond gun-owner protections, it’s essential to improve childhood mental health. Every perpetrator is different. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) lists factors in violent behavior in youth including a history of violent victimization, early aggressive behavior, attention deficits, social cognitive or learning disorders, involvement with drugs, alcohol, or tobacco, and high emotional distress.

The American Psychological Association (APA) reported in 2013: “Gun violence is an urgent, complex, and multifaceted problem … associated with a confluence of individual, family, school, peer, community, and sociocultural risk factors that interact over time during childhood and adolescence.”

These societal problems are present in all industrialized nations. Yet a horrific gun homicide rate is exceptionally American. Our firearm homicide rate is eight times our neighbor Canada’s. We have 50x the gun death rate of Germany, 100x U.K.’s rate, and 250x as many homicides by firearm per 100,000 as the population-dense islands of Japan.

The APA report maintains: “Firearm prohibitions for high-risk groups have been shown to reduce violence. The licensing of handgun purchasers, background check requirements for all gun sales, and close oversight of retail gun sellers can reduce the diversion of guns to criminals.”

The problem of gun violence is clear. The solutions — both expanding mental health and restricting gun ownership — are clear. We the people are in agreement. So, what’s the bottleneck in pursuing these both/and solutions?

Our leaders’ refusal to act in our interests. Sens. Mitt Romney, Richard Burr, Roy Blunt, Thom Tillis, and Marco Rubio received, combined, more than $33 million from the National Rifle Association in the 116th Congress alone. Eleven more senators received NRA payments of $1 million or more per senator, and many others received lower sums.

Graphical maps show which states have suffered the most from their representatives’ negligence. One map — depicting the least strict gun laws by state — is nearly identical to another of firearm mortality by state (National Center for Health Statistics). These lawmakers are forcing their constituents to pay with their lives.

We must answer gun violence and lack of leadership with non-violent action. One action is to remove representatives who fill their coffers at the expense of their constituents.

Another is to make sure they hear our voices in non-violent protest. As Martin Luther King Jr. described, we are all one Beloved Community. If we care about our community members — young Americans in Texas, black Americans in Buffalo, and Taiwanese Americans in Southern California — we must act in their memories.

Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist

Karen Telleen-Lawton is an eco-writer, sharing information and insights about economics and ecology, finances and the environment. Having recently retired from financial planning and advising, she spends more time exploring the outdoors — and reading and writing about it. The opinions expressed are her own.More by Karen Telleen-Lawton, Noozhawk Columnist