Diversity Gets the Blame for the Rise in Gun Violence

Is diversity to blame for the alarming, growing incidence of gun violence in the U.S. today?

Due to the rising incidence of gun violence, the latest of which is the gunning down of two journalists on live TV in Virginia, there are those who seem to put the blame on diversity.

Data show some hard facts on gun violence. In terms of gun ownership, the US has an estimated 283 million guns in civilian hands. Each year about 4.5 million firearms, including approximately 2 million handguns, are sold in the United States. An estimated 2 million second hand firearms are sold each year. The percentage of American households with a gun has been steadily declining (high of 54% in 1977 to 33% in 2009). The average number of guns per owner has increased from 4.1 in 1994 to 6.9 in 2004.

In terms of gun deaths, some facts include: More than 30,000 people are killed by firearms each year in this country; more than 30 people are shot and murdered each day; 1/2 of them are between the ages of 18 and 35; 1/3 of them are under the age of 20; Homicide is the second leading cause of death among 15-24 year-olds, and the primary cause of death among African Americans of that age group. - Read more at:

On the Chris Salcedo Show last week, the radio host asked Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX) to weigh in on the horrific shooting on live TV of two journalists in Virginia. After acknowledging that widespread gun violence is a daily occurrence in the United States, Sessions zeroed in on what he viewed as the real cause. “It has a lot to do with distrust of people. Chris, I have been in lots of societies, we could say like Japan, where they have a homogeneous society, where people are more alike,” Sessions said. He went on to discuss “this thought process that we have to have diversity in America.” - Read more at:

One opinion article seems to, in a way, share the same view as that of the Texan lawmaker Rep. Sessions. We can no longer afford to countenance the pervasive and sophomoric mentality among our leaders, our educators and our media that assume the problems of the world must be addressed in a polite, politically and morally correct manner in order to understand our enemies and to ensure their ideas of “cultural diversity,” “political correctness” and “religious sensitivity” remain unchallenged by the truth. This foolish and dangerous mindset always brings to mind the cartoon character Pogo who is often quoted as saying – “We have met the enemy and he is us…” - Read more at:

A media outlet was also reported months ago to have blamed “cultural diversity” for gun violence that is fast becoming a regular occurrence. The report says:

"Fox News is trying to blame the Charleston shooting on the “different cultures” that make up the United States. Fox News has always been a media outlet that that presents their audience with coded versions of white supremacist narratives but this time they decided to go full racist and manage to make their network sound like a televised version of a white supremacist internet forum."

The increasingly diverse American society makes diversity an imperative; workplace diversity spurs innovation, creativity, economic progress. Diversity fosters inclusion, unity, in communities and schools. Thus, it leads to less marginalization and discrimination.

Do you really think diversity should get the blame for the growing incidence in gun-related violence? Share us your thoughts. 

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