PSYCHOLOGY & GUNS

PSYCHOLOGY & GUNS

by Michael Kulla, Ph.D. 

June 30, 2014

Perhaps we’re asking the wrong question in our national gun debate. The issue is not whether we should have gun control laws in America or what they should be. The issue is why so many white middle-aged American men view any effort to regulate guns as an assault on their identity, and thus, fight sane laws as if their lives and liberties were at stake. Our nation remains awash in firearms. The reason is that middle-aged white men are buying more and more guns with ownership increasingly concentrated among them.

The likelihood that these men will own firearms increases the further they live from a city, yet it’s not because they’re hunting more. Guns have become something else. They’ve manifested into symbols of identity, totems of virility for a cohort of these rural and ex-urban men.

You only need to look at the ads the gun manufacturers use to lure in their buyers. They typically invite men to imagine themselves as warriors in camouflage taking on a hostile world. Buying a Bushmaster Semi-Automatic “confirms you’re a Man’s Man, the last of a dying breed, with all the rights and privileges duly afforded.” In other word, from a psychological perspective, guns give these men strength, status and respect, which many of them feel has eroded since the 1960’s.

It wasn’t long ago when broad-shouldered white men dominated our culture, and in their role as breadwinners gave them status and pride. We appreciated their physical prowess and hard work, which made our factories run and the economy hum. They were the pillars of our community, unrivaled as heads of families and icons of the “Real America.” But decades since, the American dream hasn’t been so kind to them.

Also, these white middle-American men often believe that minority gains in America are not earned through hard work but are ill-begotten through special privileges among the urban and educated elite who hold the levers of power and status in society today. Just as the educated suburbanite drives a Prius as a badge of virtue, the emblem of the NRA affixed to his pick-up or car, shows his power to all that can see.

The important role of firearms in our history’s founding and mythology, is well accepted. Later, guns were crucial for the “successful” expansion of the Western Frontier. America went on to be the strongest military power in the world. However, that power has been challenged (a draw in the Korean War, withdrawal from Vietnam, 9/11 and the merry-go-round in Iraq) leaving firearms the perfect handmaiden for America’s demise.

While all people have a potential for violence, they do not usually act on it. Sigmund Freud emphasized our unconscious sexual and aggressive impulses, which seem readily applicable to guns. In his theory of the mind, the conscience, or superego, puts the breaks on id impulses for the sake of civilization.

Yet, counter-actively, human beings are the only living organism that will prey on its own kind for reasons other than survival. Only humans murder each other for power, obsessive gratification and other psychological deviancies, which are all antithetical to preserving the species. In contrast, the animal kingdom is habituated to survival, food, territory and procreation.

In a gun-besotted nation where the right of each citizen to possess many weapons of potential mass destruction as he or she wants, and is considered sacred and inviolable, surrenders to a deep-seated vulnerability and opens the gates to steroidal chaos.

Michael Kulla, Ph.D.
NYS Licensed Psychologist
Pleasant  Valley, New York
845-635-1144

Looking Down the Barrel of Gun Issues

Looking Down the Barrel of Gun Issues

Authored by Michael Kulla, Ph.D.

Guns are literally stitched into the American fabric. The U.S. possesses more guns per capita than any other country in the world. Yemen is a distant second. Frequently in strife, Yemen has an active branch of Al-Qaeda.

Not only are we number one in possessing guns, we’re at the top of the list for using them lethally. Countries with the lowest gun homicides, almost zero per 100,000, are Japan, South Korea and Iceland, all of which have strong gun laws.  Homicides from firearms are over thirty two times greater in America than in the United Kingdom and Australia.

The cost, mostly to taxpayers for medical treatment, criminal justice proceedings, security precautions and reduction in quality of life due to sky-high American gun violence, has been estimated at $100 billion annually. The extent of this unhealthy situation should be self-evident.

With 300,000,000 guns in America, and sales surging, it’s unrealistic to expect America to make meaningful inroads into this problem given the failure to have done so in the face of perpetual gun crimes.

The Second Amendment right to bear arms, a favorite argument on the part of the gun proponents, is a ruse. The landmark 2008 Supreme Court case did uphold the Second Amendment, but they also took pains to carve out many exceptions, calling for reasonable restrictions on that right. This is true of our constitutional rights generally — they’re not absolute. We must be reasonable. Just as we have the First Amendment right of free speech, one can’t yell fire in a crowded theater nor disturb the peace, etc.

A generation ago, Conservative Supreme Court  Chief Justice, Warren Burger, put it strongly. “The Second Amendment has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of ‘fraud,’ on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.”

The “good guy” against the “bad guys” is another rallying cry by gun devotees. But just who are the good and bad guys? Recently two cops were fatally ambushed by a couple who viewed the law as the enemy. Good guys, bad guys and in between (Note the Trayvon Martin case) is in the eyes of the beholder.

The gun lobby would have you believe that the real aim is to confiscate all their guns. This is hype to rally the base because guns are as American as apple pie. We have a long history of hunting and gun ownership.

Today in America, more than 18,000 children are shot by guns each year in assaults, suicides and accidents! Guns used in these tragedies are often from their own home, or that of a friend  or family member with unsafe access. 1.7 million kids live with unlocked and loaded firearms. Hiding guns is not enough and just talking to children is not enough. They are curious, and if they find guns, they’re likely to play with them.

Since the Newtown, Connecticut School Massacre, there have been 74 school shootings! The life of each of our children, every single one, matters and is worthy of our passionate protection. Rights demand responsibility. This right does not extend to terrorists, it does not extend to criminals and it does not extend to the mentally disturbed.

Just before submitting this article, on June 12 an article appeared in this writer’s local newspaper entitled “Gals & Guns”,  adorned with colored art work covering a full page and some. Unobjective, it read like a propaganda piece for the NRA. Twelve to 17 year old girls with chaperone were invited to attend a Woman and Girls Only Rifle Instructional Clinic, indeed part of an NRA program.

Teaching young teens this highly dangerous “sport” would be deemed by many to be inappropriate, an abomination and downright scary.

In a gun-besotted nation where the right of each citizen to possess as many weapons of potential mass destruction as he or she wants, and is considered sacred and inviolable, surrenders to a deep-seated vulnerability and opens the gates to steroidal chaos.

 

Michael Kulla, Ph.D.

NYS Licensed Psychologist

Pleasant Valley, N.Y.

845-635-1144

 

Stand-Your-Ground: A Brief Reflection on Zimmerman Trial

A Brief Reflection on Zimmerman Trial

We live in a rational, law-abiding society, yes? Yet Stand-Your-Ground laws, strongly agitated for by the National Rifle Association, is the decree in 22 states, including Florida, allowing the likes of a George Zimmerman to interpret the law in his own image.

The President Obama’s unscripted and disarmingly personal reflections about the event called for white folks to try to understand the context of the Black experience. Before his Presidency, he said he experienced people crossing the street, locking car doors at his approach and being followed in stores. What a life! Certain Right Wing pundits responded crudely and disrespectfully, especially when the President uttered the truism that he could have been Trayvon Martin 35 years ago.

Stand-Your-Ground

Did Mr. Zimmerman have any regrets or second thoughts? He answered “no” with assurance. This took my breath away. It speaks of a man who is emotionally a vegetable and out of touch. Mr. Zimmerman is a tool whose worldview is that danger lurks everywhere (aka the gun lobby who wants more George Zimmerman’s to boost sales).

Sadly, out of necessity, African American families universally instruct their growing children what to do if stopped by the police. What a shameful commentary when a child can be lawfully tracked down and shot based on his demeanor only.

A few additional reflections: I found Mr. Zimmerman’s remarks after the event even more troubling than his actions during the alleged struggle in the alleyway. “No Remorse. No Regrets.” What a hideous state of mind for one who has just killed and should at least by then have realized he was an innocent young man.

“No Remorse. No Regrets.”

Mr. Zimmerman suggests that it was “God’s Will”. What kind of God does he think is working its will in the world? This is sheer ignorance of the worst order. And the first juror that we head from is equally ignorant and insensitive to the tragedy that the case really was.

On guns: Bringing one to the alleged fistfight is almost always going to escalate from an argument or altercation to a point where someone gets shot.

“Yes, prejudice is deeply rooted with its distortions/misperceptions abounding, often beneath our consciousness.” Michael Kulla, Ph.D. (2013)

• Michael Kulla Ph.D.
• Pleasant Valley New York
• 845-635-1948

GUNS; A PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE

Three thousand gun deaths and counting since Sandy Hook. “No time left, they’re comin for ya…got to protect us against minorities and looters…lock and load.” That is Wayne La Pierre and his gun absolutists talking, with racial undertones, and the Republican establishment is not calling them out on it. Far-fetched verbiage? Yes, and loony from this psychologist’s perspective. Tyranny is far from imminent yet insurrection is being promulgated with no thought to the chaos, carnage and pain that would ensue.

It’s 1791, the Second Amendment is passed. It takes 10-15 seconds to load a musket, twice as long for a rifle. Fast forward to 2013. You can now kill more people faster with one depression of the trigger than an army could! This cannot be the original intent of the Second Amendment.

The NRA has a psychologically misguided and atrophied vision for America as they want us scared, submissive and robotically catering to their conspiratorial viewpoint. They would return us to the days of the Wild West and individual vigilante justice. What kind of a society is it where it’s easier to buy a gun than find a job?

The data speaks for itself. America has the highest rate of gun deaths among the developed nations and the highest rate of gun ownership according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Why is this so? The answer is complicated, but our fetish forever-more powerful shooting machines and their easy access is an obvious factor.

We urgently need to gather scientific date to better understand the many aspects of gun violence. Why, for instance, are men mass murderers? But the NRA and their footmen have blocked attempt by Congress at gathering a scientific database.

Our country is awash with violence. It’s easier to get worked-up about violence that’s visceral and immediate, but “silent” forms of vehemence are just as virulent, e.g., losing one’s home, job, health coverage and spiraling poverty. These are all purveyors of emotional stress, anxiety, depression and anger — destabilizers to the psyche.

For over 50 years, the American Psychological Association has issued reports that viewing of large amounts of violence on TV by young children has been correlated with increases in violent behavior into adulthood. If TV viewing can affect our aggressive tendencies, what about the music we listen to?

A 2007 study found that by the time the American child starts elementary school, he or she will have seen 8,000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence, just on TV. Add to this, that a small percentage of the population suffers from various forms of mental illness, and that we perpetually under-fund treatment for psychological disorders. As a psychological practitioner for many years, my share from insurance reimbursement diminishes while patients’ share increases. Insurers have become increasingly therapist and patient inhospitable.

Proposals are afoot to identify and report people who could potentially be dangerous to others. Organizationally cumbersome, it would also be very expensive. Once reported, the identified person might be apt to minimize their threat level to avoid negative consequences.

On the positive side, legislatures are increasingly holding workplaces, schools and universities accountable for violence prevention. Threat assessment is a burgeoning field of research and practice. A new journal of Threat Assessment and Management from the American Psychological Association will be accepting manuscripts in November. Meanwhile, the most direct and effective route is to keep firearms out of the hands of potentially dangerous people.

We need to ask ourselves, what kind of society will best foster mental and physical health and well-being. Certainly, one parameter that our teachings tell us is that preserving human life is the highest calling, and murder is the most depraved act of man.

The need to stockpile sophisticated weaponry at paramilitary levels brings into question OCD, hostility/aggression and sometimes a more pervasive diagnosis. Sandy Hook should have strongly pricked the conscience (Freud called it superego) of the nation, but not everyone’s conscience has matured, which is often associated with sociopathic leanings.