Ombudsman Alert: HOW CAN WE PREVENT OR REDUCE GUN VIOLENCE?

BY DR. LOUIS ALPERT
Ombudsman
According to the American Psychological Association, “Gun violence is an important national problem leading to more than 31,000 deaths and 78,000 nonfatal injuries every year. Although the the rate of gun homicides in the United States has declined in recent years, U.S. rates remain substantially higher than those of almost every other nation in the world and are at least seven times higher than those of Australia, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and many others” according to statistics compiled back in 2013.”
The American Psychological Association goes on to describe some design features which could substantially reduce gun violence:
“One of the most promising ideas is that of ‘smart guns’ that can be fired only by an authorized user. For example, young people who are prohibited due to their age from legally purchasing a firearm, typically use a gun from their own home to commit suicide…and to carry out a school shooting…If personalized to an authorized adult in the home, the gum could not be operated by the adolescent or others in the home, thus rendering it of little use to the potential suicide victim or school shooter…Efforts to create these ‘smart guns’ have resulted in multiple patent applications…Armatix GmbH, a German company, has designed and produced a personalized pistol that is being sold in several Western European nations and has been approved for importation to the United States.
Although the cost of this new personalized gun is very high, it is believed that personalized guns can be produced at a cost that would be affordable to many.”
While this Ombudsman does not personally  favor members of any US household possessing guns in their home, especially when children are members of that household, Ombudsman Alert believes that the invention of the ‘smart gun’ will and has cut down on incidences of youthful suicides and tragic school shootings!
UPDATE – In the Ombudsman Alert article of 7-4-19 concerning Hot Car deaths of children, an appeal was made to Congresswoman Lowey to co-sponsor the Hot Cars Act(H.R. 3593).Just this week our congresswoman sent this Ombudsman an e-mail  certifying that she is now a co-sponsor of this bill, adding that, “She was shocked  by the record 53 children that died in 2018 after being left in a hot vehicle. After the deaths of the 1-year-old Rodriguez twins in the Bronx, who actually resided here in New City, Lowey believes action must be taken to end these horrific accidents.”
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