Las armas pequeñas causan un enorme sufrimiento

Monday, December 11, 2023

*Tony Magliano - Freelance columnist

English Spanish

No hay nada pequeño en el desgarrador sufrimiento causado por las armas pequeñas.

Cada día mueren mil personas por heridas de bala, y el triple resulta gravemente herida. "Si la muerte, las lesiones y la discapacidad resultantes de las armas pequeñas se categorizaran como una enfermedad, serían una epidemia", afirmó Rebecca Peters, ex directora de la Red de Acción Internacional contra las Armas Ligeras.

Peters añadió que, aunque hay muchos factores que deben abordarse para reducir en gran medida las muertes y lesiones graves provocadas por las armas pequeñas, no obstante, las masacres escolares en los Estados Unidos, las pandillas armadas en Brasil, y la violencia sexual sistemática en la República Democrática del Congo tienen un hecho fundamental en común: la amplia disponibilidad de armas pequeñas, incluyendo pistolas, rifles de asalto, y subfusiles.

Según el Small Arms Survey (Estudio sobre Armas Pequeñas) de 2018, hay más de 1,000 millones de armas pequeñas distribuidas por todo el mundo, de las que 857 millones (aproximadamente el 85%) están en manos de civiles.

Según el estudio, EE.UU. tiene el mayor índice de armas por persona del mundo. Y con aproximadamente 393 millones de armas en manos de ciudadanos estadounidenses, es la única nación con más armas que personas.

De acuerdo con Politico, "Los Estados Unidos se destacan como el único país de altos ingresos con una tasa de homicidios por arma de fuego dramáticamente alta. El número de muertes por violencia física con armas de fuego es 100 veces mayor en los EE.UU. que en el Reino Unido".

Nuevos datos de los Centros para el Control y la Prevención de Enfermedades (CDC) revelan que en 2022, el número de muertes por homicidio en EE.UU. a causa de la violencia armada fue de 19,592. Y el número de muertes por suicidio de personas por arma de fuego fue de 26,993.

En el ámbito mundial, según World Population Review, en 2019 las armas estuvieron implicadas en la muerte de más de 250,000 personas: el 71% de las muertes fue por homicidio, el 21% por suicidio, y el 8% se debió a accidentes con armas de fuego.

En una conferencia patrocinada por la Sociedad Canadiense de la Cruz Roja y la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Ottawa, el Dr. Walter Dorn, profesor de Estudios de Defensa en la Real Escuela Militar de Canadá, reconoció que, aunque la aniquilación por armas nucleares es una verdadera posibilidad, "el hecho es que la mayoría de los asesinatos en nuestro mundo se llevan a cabo con armas pequeñas, aquellas armas que pueden ser portadas y utilizadas por una sola persona".

Para subrayar este punto, Dorn afirmó: "Las armas pequeñas son las herramientas de violencia preferidas en la mayoría de las guerras internas; golpes de estado; violencia de milicias y pandillas; opresión gubernamental y abusos de los derechos humanos, así como en la delincuencia doméstica y transnacional. Incluso en las guerras internacionales desempeñan un papel importante, y en algunos casos predominante. Aunque no están catalogadas como armas de destrucción masiva, hoy en día son realmente los principales instrumentos de asesinato en masa".

Algunas soluciones de sentido común sobre las que reflexionar son: aprobar comprobaciones exhaustivas y obligatorias de antecedentes a nivel nacional y estatal, y periodos de espera para todas las compras de armas; promulgar el registro universal de armas; poner fin a la posesión de armas sin permiso; prohibir la venta múltiple de armas (en la actualidad, en los EE.UU. no existe ningún límite federal sobre el número de armas que una persona puede comprar a la vez); prohibir por completo la venta de todas las armas de asalto, como la AK-47; financiar en su totalidad una red gratuita y amplia de servicios de salud mental que estén disponibles con facilidad para todos; hacer que el control de la ira y de la educación para la no violencia sean obligatorios en todas las escuelas; y reducir drásticamente el comercio de armas y la venta de armas entre las naciones, con el objetivo de alcanzar un tratado multilateral internacional que ponga fin a la fabricación, almacenamiento, transferencia y uso de todas las armas, tanto nucleares como convencionales (ver: https://bit.ly/Jun2017-VideoPapaFrancisco-EliminarComercioDeArmas).

Estos son pasos no violentos por los que todos los seguidores del Jesús de la no violencia deberían trabajar y orar de todo corazón, no importa que nuestras convicciones políticas e inclinaciones culturales sean liberales o conservadoras.

Debemos prestar atención a lo que Jesús le dijo al discípulo que intentó defenderle cortándole la oreja al sirviente del sumo sacerdote: "Guarda tu espada, porque el que a hierro mata, a hierro muere".

Comments from readers

Carlos - 12/11/2023 10:56 AM

I totally disagree. I am not quite sure why people are fixed on the arms and not on the people that use the arms. What the Church needs to do is focused her attention in promoting healthy families where fathers are present. Once we accomplished that, the violence will be reduced. Also arm control is fatal to any society as we cannot trust the government. Just look at the FBI who considers faithful Catholic a threat. We cannot rely on the government for protection. Look at the crime in the cities! The government is barely protecting citizens. In a perfect world, we can afford not to have arms. I don’t promote them. However, they are necessary in the current situation that we are in, the less of the two evils. We should focus as a Church on the family. We need to strengthen the family. Then the violence will go away!

Art Acuña - 12/11/2023 09:55 AM

Most gun-control advocates cite the same statistics and reach the same conclusion: No guns equals no crime nor violent deaths. The root cause of this dilemma is not the availability of guns but the collapse of the family, the erosion of morality, and the lack of mental health options for those with serious mental problems. As with all things where the government gets involved, more government interference generally equates to the opposite of the desired legislation. Your article failed to mention that U.S. cities with the most stringent gun legislation tend to have the highest incidence of gun violence. The problem goes much deeper than passing "sensible gun legislation". Until we obtain a 'metanoia' (i.e. a change of heart and mind), there will not be any improvement to problem. We can't 'legislate' ourselves out of this. Unfortunately, I see and hear very little talk about the changing our hearts and minds from civic and government leaders...and, to top it off, there is NO mention of metanoia from the pulpit.

Valli Leone - 12/11/2023 09:00 AM

I agree strongly with you, Tony, about these small gun ownership issues. In my opinion, they seem to cause more fear, more alarm and more danger than they ever help. When we as individuals and as a nation come to trust and totally depend on our awesome God, we will not need these weapons in our homes or on our persons. Jesus himself told us that fear is useless and what is needed is trust. This applies to every legitimate and illegitimate worry or concern that we might have. It’s my belief that fear is running rampant in the world; and I am convinced that it is the number one tool of satan to kill, steal, destroy, separate and divide us from God‘s love and from one another — and from life itself! Brothers and sisters, we need to put on the full spiritual armor that was given to us by our God. Read Ephesians 6. This senseless and useless killing caused by handguns must stop! If we are not willing to give them up, the problems will just be magnified; and we will see even more killings in the future. We must decide now what kind of world we want to leave to our grandchildren and to all posterity to come – – one of peace or one of violence. As we continue to prepare through this season of Advent, may the Prince of Peace rule in our hearts and in our homes. Guns are not a part of that plan., Lord Jesus, come! ⚜️🎄⚜️

Lisa Shelly - 12/11/2023 07:51 AM

Consider this--in order to practice our Catholic faith, we each need to pass an extensive background check, from both the state and the federal government. We have to wait before allowing to attend Mass and receive the Sacraments. We have to register ourselves as Catholics. We have to do that in every State we happen to find ourselves in on a Sunday. We are denied possession of the Rosary. Do you want to write a letter to the editor? Complain about taxes to your mayor, governor, president? You need to be registered. You need to be investigated. You need PERMISSION to exercise your rights. This is what is being advocated here. Now, apply this to the Second Amendment. The Fifth Amendment. This is not "freedom" at all. This is coercion that our founding fathers abhorred and escaped from--and created a new government, with God's help, to govern in a better way. You are talking about a Constitutionally-guaranteed right. The issue is not guns--it is what we, as a society, have allowed to happen. There is no other way to fix this than to deny all our God-given rights? No other alternative? That is an even sadder lesson from this essay.

Carlos - 12/11/2023 10:56 AM: I totally disagree. I am not quite sure why people are fixed on the arms and not on the people that use the arms. What the Church needs to do is focused her attention in promoting healthy families where fathers are present. Once we accomplished that, the violence will be reduced. Also arm control is fatal to any society as we cannot trust the government. Just look at the FBI who considers faithful Catholic a threat. We cannot rely on the government for protection. Look at the crime in the cities! The government is barely protecting citizens. In a perfect world, we can afford not to have arms. I don’t promote them. However, they are necessary in the current situation that we are in, the less of the two evils. We should focus as a Church on the family. We need to strengthen the family. Then the violence will go away!

Art Acuña - 12/11/2023 09:55 AM: Most gun-control advocates cite the same statistics and reach the same conclusion: No guns equals no crime nor violent deaths. The root cause of this dilemma is not the availability of guns but the collapse of the family, the erosion of morality, and the lack of mental health options for those with serious mental problems. As with all things where the government gets involved, more government interference generally equates to the opposite of the desired legislation. Your article failed to mention that U.S. cities with the most stringent gun legislation tend to have the highest incidence of gun violence. The problem goes much deeper than passing "sensible gun legislation". Until we obtain a 'metanoia' (i.e. a change of heart and mind), there will not be any improvement to problem. We can't 'legislate' ourselves out of this. Unfortunately, I see and hear very little talk about the changing our hearts and minds from civic and government leaders...and, to top it off, there is NO mention of metanoia from the pulpit.

Valli Leone - 12/11/2023 09:00 AM: I agree strongly with you, Tony, about these small gun ownership issues. In my opinion, they seem to cause more fear, more alarm and more danger than they ever help. When we as individuals and as a nation come to trust and totally depend on our awesome God, we will not need these weapons in our homes or on our persons. Jesus himself told us that fear is useless and what is needed is trust. This applies to every legitimate and illegitimate worry or concern that we might have. It’s my belief that fear is running rampant in the world; and I am convinced that it is the number one tool of satan to kill, steal, destroy, separate and divide us from God‘s love and from one another — and from life itself! Brothers and sisters, we need to put on the full spiritual armor that was given to us by our God. Read Ephesians 6. This senseless and useless killing caused by handguns must stop! If we are not willing to give them up, the problems will just be magnified; and we will see even more killings in the future. We must decide now what kind of world we want to leave to our grandchildren and to all posterity to come – – one of peace or one of violence. As we continue to prepare through this season of Advent, may the Prince of Peace rule in our hearts and in our homes. Guns are not a part of that plan., Lord Jesus, come! ⚜️🎄⚜️

Lisa Shelly - 12/11/2023 07:51 AM: Consider this--in order to practice our Catholic faith, we each need to pass an extensive background check, from both the state and the federal government. We have to wait before allowing to attend Mass and receive the Sacraments. We have to register ourselves as Catholics. We have to do that in every State we happen to find ourselves in on a Sunday. We are denied possession of the Rosary. Do you want to write a letter to the editor? Complain about taxes to your mayor, governor, president? You need to be registered. You need to be investigated. You need PERMISSION to exercise your rights. This is what is being advocated here. Now, apply this to the Second Amendment. The Fifth Amendment. This is not "freedom" at all. This is coercion that our founding fathers abhorred and escaped from--and created a new government, with God's help, to govern in a better way. You are talking about a Constitutionally-guaranteed right. The issue is not guns--it is what we, as a society, have allowed to happen. There is no other way to fix this than to deny all our God-given rights? No other alternative? That is an even sadder lesson from this essay.