Are school shootings a gun problem or a social problem?
Yes.
But most people who want to legislate firearms know little to nothing about them or, apparently, about law or history. Guns are essential for personal defense in a fascist nation (looking at you, Trumpers) when the Supreme Court has ruled that the police have no legal responsibility to protect individuals.
And people using guns in blazes of furious anger is a consequence of such fascism, not a cause.
The specific problems we’re facing as a nation (outside of the need for more appropriate gun regulations drafted by impartial experts) are a culture of fragile, toxic masculinity (i.e. Fight Club); capitalist survival pressures; the decline of public institutions; lack of access to medical care, including mental health care; and more.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to this problem from any perspective that I can see. And that’s precisely why people insist that it’s better to simply ignore the 2nd Amendment and be more like Europe. Well, Europe actually takes care of its people. Gun bans mean punishing the innocent ones, and we’re a nation of laws, their need to be challenged notwithstanding.
Let’s not even discuss how gun bans disproportionately affect minorities and how ‘gun control’ is often a dog whistle for that. Sort of like how ‘pro-life’ is really a battle cry for more middle and upper-middle class white women to have more babies because the old guard is petrified of a diverse society, which swings it all the way back around to anti-trans sentiments.
It’s all scapegoating. On both sides. We as a society need to take a nuanced look at this and approach the problem from every conceivable angle. I know that’s harder to do now because the problem has continued for so long, but I really think we need to try if we’re ever going to solve it.
