The Psychology of Violence and Rights

It is both my personal and professional opinion that now is as good a time as any to completely overhaul the American Constitution as well as other constitutions and charters worldwide considering the level of ignorance that comes with the culture of entitlement that proceeds from it.

Ya, I know. Another ignorant Canadian pointing to the Right to Bear Arms saying that it has to be repealed. Well, yes and no. While it would be great to see the right repealed - especially as the British are your allies now - I was thinking more along the lines of making sure that anything other than hunting rifles and hand guns must stay at a gun range when not in use (and can only be used at the range, if that wasn't obvious).

The term used to describe the AR-15, and most other guns used in mass shootings, is assault rifle. Any speaker of the English language would say that you use hunting rifles to hunt so by any stretch of logic assault rifles are used to assault. Not sure where handguns would fit in that phrase, admittedly, but you get the image.

And the only thing Americans seem to love more than guns (and fast food) is the Right to own those guns (which, by the way, "bearing" arms doesn't necessarily mean you own them. Google it). Unfortunately when the American Constitution was written there was no concept of anything other than "Rights". By the time Canada made it's Charter in 1960 (the Charter as we know it know was made in 1982 and before 1960 we used variations of the British Charter even though we gained our independence in 1867. Google it) constitutional law had developed and we expanded the concepts of rights, freedoms, and privileges.

Rights are guaranteed by government in some way, shape, or form; Freedoms are opportunities to exercise your rights; and, Privileges are conditional opportunities granted under specific circumstances (typically provided as long as you are obeying the law). For example, in Canada we have more-or-less free health care (paid for in taxes and through expenses not covered by provincial health insurance) but that is only a privilege. The government can limit access and even change the cost of health care without a true referendum. Freedoms of speech, religion, and alike are guaranteed but the government may justify - with the support of the Supreme Court - to limit or restrain certain activities if they impede on others' rights. The government may also restrict or limit activities listed as "rights" even though they are guaranteed in the Charter (or Constitution [USA]) under justifiable circumstances (like, I dunno, using guns to kill people).

It's important to understand these distinctions in order to limit emotional dysfunction around these concepts. For example, people become enraged when the prospect of restricting abortion arises. Abortion is tied to health care and is therefore subject to limitations (that, and if you actually read the R. vs Morgentaler SCC ruling the court has an ongoing request of the government to set limitations on abortion). In the US, although there are hundreds of examples justifying the limit of the sale and access of guns the government won't do it because 2nd Amendment supporters will go crazy (people will likely and ironically be shot).

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And this is an ongoing problem as part of the cycle of violence. There is a gross ignorance - somehow in 2018 (I hate using the number of times the earth has rotated around the Sun as a reason for something to have happened, but here we go) of the cycles that keep violence occurring in our society. I still say that Emile Durkheim's (French sociologist) concept of anomie explains it best. As we become assimilated into a culture, or aspects thereof, we lose our sense of responsibility for our fellow man. If I assimilate the concept of the universality of accessibility to weapons of violence in a culture that accepts violence under certain circumstances, assuming it to be correct, then I can also lose responsibility for my actions and act against those around me. I don't need to justify my actions because you cannot judge me.

Think about the cycle of domestic violence as an example: Tension -> Violence -> Honeymoon all circling denial. As long as I stay under the radar I can act out whenever I want and nothing has to change.