Salt in the Exit Wound

If you are a hunter, gun enthusiast, or like medical dramas on television, you probably know that when a bullet enters an object or person, the exit wound is larger than the wound created when the bullet entered. Gunshots kill because the ammunition strikes a vital organ or because the severity of the exit wound causes one to bleed to death. How much damage a bullet causes to a human body is determined by the velocity and mass of the missile – the kinetic energy. When a bullet is discharged from a firearm, it spins at an incredibly high rate of speed. The average 9 mm ammunition travels at over 700 mph or nearly 1200 feet per second. But when it strikes its target, the spin is disrupted and the projectile tumbles through the body wreaking havoc on the contents of the body cavity. The enormous energy associated with the bullet must go somewhere, so it explodes through the muscle, tissue, bones, and skin breaking free of the body and causing the larger exit wound.

But there is a second exit wound.

The second one can kill you, but if it doesn’t it never goes away. It’s the emotional wound created by the loss of a loved one. It is a special kind of hell because of the violence, trauma, and disregard for human life that caused it. We have witnessed the aftermath of this kind of exit wound too many times. We’ve seen it in the faces and heard it in the voices of Covenant School parents and others like them in the growing fraternity of survivors of mass shootings. And there are family, friends, and fellow officers who feel it in Memphis as the city mourns the loss of Officer Joseph McKinney who was gunned down by a teen who also lost his life.

Despite the recent one-year anniversary of the Covenant School shooting and the onslaught of gun violence in Memphis and elsewhere, some in the Tennessee legislature persist in increasing the prevalence of guns in our schools, neighborhoods, and workplaces, instead of seeking ways to curb the violence. The litany of bills making firearms more pervasive and accessible in the face of mothers and fathers pleading for common sense gun laws is nothing more than rubbing salt in their gapping exit wounds.

Minutes after the news of the Covenant School shooting broke, and last week as we learned of the death of Officer McKinney, politicians of all stripes leapt on social media to call us to prayer. As a Christian for more than 40 years, I am a strong believer in prayer, but I also believe in action.

Governor Lee, to his credit, called a special session to seek solutions for gun violence in the wake of the Covenant shooting. He also floated the very reasonable idea of a so-called “red flag” law that would allow judges or law enforcement to temporarily remove guns from the possession of individuals deemed to be a threat to themselves or others. The idea was dead on arrival and the legislature squandered an opportunity to enact meaningful reforms that could protect the lives of students, teachers, and law enforcement officers.

Imagine sitting down on a park bench to eat a sandwich. You’re approached by an emaciated person who asks for something to eat. Instead of sharing your sandwich, you offer to pray that she will find food soon. Only calling for prayer in response to gun violence is as paradoxical as this scenario. The needed help is in your hand. You have the power to alleviate at least some of the suffering but choose to look the other way.

As more information comes out about the circumstances surrounding the killing of Officer McKinney, there are calls for being tougher on crime and holding judicial commissioners accountable for setting low bonds or releasing violent suspects on their own recognizance. These are issues that deserve scrutiny, but lawmakers shouldn’t obsess over the “speck” while being oblivious to the “log”.

For example, the City of Memphis broke the homicide record before bail reforms were even implemented. According to the nonpartisan Sycamore Institute, firearm-related deaths have risen steadily from 2011 to 2021. Firearms are the number one cause of death for children over the age of one surpassing car accidents. Almost 30,000 guns have been stolen from vehicles since the legislature allowed guns to be stored in cars without penalty to owners who fail to secure them. Most of those guns are not initially recovered and are often used in the perpetration of violent crimes. The reasons for crimes like what occurred at Covenant and those that happen nightly in major cities are varied and complex, but to ignore the growing accessibility of guns as a contributor is intellectually dishonest.

Believe it or not, I am not anti-gun. For a significant portion of my career, I helped Republican candidates out-gun (pardon the pun) their opponents on gun rights. I know the “right” answers to the NRA and Gun Owners of America questionnaires. More than that, I grew up hunting with a grandfather and stepfather who were members of the NRA and passionate about gun ownership.

Before we called them “side hustles,” my stepfather’s side hustle was being a federally licensed firearms dealer. He erected a building behind our house that was the size of a two-car garage and filled it with firearms, ammunition, reloading supplies, and various accessories for hunting, sport shooting, and self-defense. Needless to say, we had a motley crew of customers visiting our house on weeknights and weekends. Through those years, I fired semi-automatic rifles and pistols from various manufacturers, hunted with rifles and shotguns, and shot skeet in our backyard. My sophomore year of high school, our required health class included a hunter’s safety course. I understand the allure and the power that comes with discharging a firearm.

I am not a lawyer, but I believe the Second Amendment guarantees citizens the right to keep and bear arms. I also believe what the late Justice Antonin Scalia said in District of Columbia v. Heller.

“Like most rights, the right secured by the Second Amendment is not unlimited…History demonstrates the right was not a right to keep and carry any weapon whatsoever in any manner whatsoever and for whatever purpose.”

And, I believe what Scalia said is what most Americans and Tennesseans believe. We want to have guns for protection, hunting, collecting, and sport, but we must take pragmatic steps to keep guns out of the hands of those who want to cause harm. It’s reasonable, not revolutionary.

At this point, how do we start?

Governor Lee can set a tone by vetoing Senate Bill 1325 that allows teachers to carry a concealed weapon under certain conditions. That veto may be over-ridden in our “strong legislature, weak executive” model, but doing so would send an important message.

Then, the legislature can thwart the progress of House Bill 2082 that would allow open carry of any firearm, like an AR-15 the choice of the Covenant School shooter.

Before the next legislative session in January 2025, the governor and legislative leaders, working in a bipartisan way, and with collaboration from Covenant parents and gun crime victims, could hammer out language to keep guns out of the hands of the mentally ill and those arrested for domestic assault. Other common sense laws could include reinstating a background check and a safety training component to the open carry law and holding gun owners accountable for failing to secure firearms that injure a person or are used in commission of a crime.

These are not the policies of radicals intent on confiscating your granddaddy’s hunting rifle or leaving your person and property defenseless. These are sensible ideas that promote safety and compassion for crime victims who should spend their time healing instead of fighting bad gun laws.