Regulations, Trust, Guns

Good regulations promote trust and facilitate our ability to conduct ourselves without being encumbered to think about the risks we face to our very survival every day.  For example, imagine what driving would be like without regulation, without traffic signals or licensing, without speed limits or turn signals.  Imagine cars with sharp protruding dashboards and handles and without seat belts or airbags.  Imagine no car seats for children or laws against drunk driving.

Laws and regulations help to fulfill our constitutional mandate as a people to have a government that, in addition to other mandates is to promote the general welfare.  And our welfare is immeasurably improved by the promotion of trust in one another.  Without regulation our trust would be diminished.  In the case of automobiles, we would inch along every street suspecting that every driver was untrained, unlicensed and under the influence.  We would need to stop at each intersection to be certain that cross traffic was going to give us the right of way, at each bridge to be sure it was strong enough or, if going under it, high enough, and we would require more caution when taking unknown roads with unknown hazards.

The notion that we cannot rely on regulations and laws and societal norms, that we must be constantly prepared to defend ourselves against an imminent threat to our ourselves and our loved ones is, I believe, what drives those who propound having guns at the ready, and who believe that concealed carry and open carry laws will reduce gun violence.  But contrary to the claim that more guns will instill a sense of security, I believe these proposed solutions create a profound mistrust of others and encumbers each of us to assume an unrelenting sense of threat for our survival at every moment.

Laws that promote carrying personal weapons as a daily feature of our lives diminish the capacity of people to trust their surroundings and the people they encounter.  As a society we have professionals, police and private security guards, to establish our security so we don’t have to prepare and monitor for threats to our immediate survival most of the time.  

None of this is to deny the real and present dangers to our lives.  Crime, aging bridges and buildings, automobiles and irresponsible drivers, toxic chemicals, unstable people with access to weapons, terrorists, these dangers, if not addressed, regulated or otherwise mitigated can reduce our lives to that of overriding suspicion and fear.  

In the USA in the year 2016, something on the order of 40,000 people died in vehicular accidents and upwards of 4.5 million were injured, many devastatingly so (see end note).  It is a risk we take to get to and from our work, our friends, our doctors, entertainment and to accomplish the multiple tasks of daily living that we do for ourselves, our family and others.  So regulations have their limitations.  They can only go so far in providing for our safety and general welfare.  Regulations put in place to improve the safety features of automobiles have had some positive impact, to be sure, but we could go further. We could reduce speed limits, for example, especially on interstate highways, which most probably would dramatically reduce accidents, save lives and result in fewer injuries.  But slowing down our expressways will also slow down our commerce.  Fewer medicines will be available in time to save lives, local markets will gain an advantage over national markets, constraining competition, allowing for more scarcity and higher prices. So regulations have their limitations and must be considered in the larger context of what we want as a society. 

Laws and regulations go hand in hand with individual responsibility.  Regulations that allow us to trust one another more don’t obviate the need for caution.  Children must still learn to look both ways before crossing a street.  People in unfamiliar territory should be wary of strangers.  It’s probably a good idea to lock your car and house at night.

To trust is to establish a firm belief in the reliability or truth of someone or something.  Trust is not blind faith, to be maintained in the absence of evidence, but something which is acquired and maintained, or lost, through periodic evaluation of the evidence.

For the most part we trust our societal systems, that police protect us, that doctors cure us, that the waterworks won’t poison us.  Yes, there are exceptions to these expectations and when the exceptions mount in frequency or severity our trust is lost and we seek redress, we seek change, we seek justice.

But the presence of weapons in our daily lives is not a solution that will instill trust or reduce gun violence.  Guns, rifles, semi-automatics must be regulated.  Who can own and use them, where they can be carried or housed, and when they are appropriate are all within the framework of the second amendment and the supreme court rulings that have been made to date. 

Death is certain and life is always on the edge of chaos.  But modern civilization advances through progressive improvements in the quality of human existence. Trust is an essential aspect for living in peace, and the more we can find ways to trust one another, the more likely it will be that peace and tranquility can prevail.  More guns are not the answer.

End Note:  Automobile statistics from Kirsten Korosec, February 15, 2017 638 PM Fortune Autos section. Timeinc.net.