Toward a Future Less Marred by Gun Violence

Last week, President Obama omitted mention of gun control in a State of the Union address for the first time since 2012. Politically, that decision might make sense. In the past year, the United States suffered fewer widely-covered massacres involving firearms, and politicians may have been less inclined to pursue gun control for this reason. The recent shooting at Brigham & Women’s Hospital and the recent increase in Boston's gun homicide rate the homicide rate, however, highlight the fact that restricting access to firearms remains a significant public safety issue both locally and nationwide.

Stephen Pasceri of Millbury, Massachusetts, was a 55-year old married accountant with four children, no history of mental illness, and a license to carry. On Tuesday, Mr. Pasceri went to the second floor of Brigham & Women’s Hospital, asked for Michael J. Davidson, the director of endovascular cardiac surgery and an assistant at Harvard Medical School, and shot him twice before committing suicide. Dr. Davidson died in surgery. It has been suggested that Mr. Pasceri was motivated by his anger over the treatment of his mother, who died under the care of Dr. Davidson last year. This represents a case in which universal background checks and increased access to mental health resources may not have made a difference, as Mr. Pasceri was licensed. But that does not mean that there are no lessons to be learned—while mourning this tragedy, we should also examine the United States' culture of ubiquitous gun ownership.

While violent crime and shootings have declined in Boston, homicides were up 27% in 2014 as compared to the previous year, rising from 41 to 52 deaths. This marks an ominous shift in the story of gun violence in Boston and other major American cities, which had seen a widespread drop in the rate of murders over the last several years. A reversal of the previous downward trend would represent a step in the wrong direction.

Regardless of whether or not the spike in homicides in Boston is indicative of a larger trend, gun control remains a pressing issue for all Americans. Politicians must actively and continually seek to promote policies that lower the presence of guns and gun-related deaths in the United States. This tragedy—as well as the tragedies of gun violence that play out every day in our country, often to residents of disadvantaged neighborhoods—should compel us to work toward a future in which fewer families lose loved ones to gun violence.

Though it may be true that the shadow of crisis in this country has passed and the state of the union is strong—as President Obama claimed during his address last Tuesday—America’s lack of effective gun control policies remains an enduring weakness. The murder of Dr. Davidson and others in the Boston area stands testament to that damning flaw. It’s time to talk about guns again.