Framing: say “gun violence,” not “gun control”.

Language counts in persuading Americans to give up their addiction to weapons.

by Helio Fred Garcia

On the Wednesday after the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, CT, President Barack Obama called for changes in gun laws to prevent similar tragedies in the future. He said:

“We may never know all the reasons why this tragedy happened. We do know that every day since more Americans have died of gun violence. We know such violence has terrible consequences for our society. And if there is only one thing that we can do to prevent any of these events we have a deep obligation – all of us – to try. Over these past five days a discussion has re-emerged as to what we might do not only to deter mass shootings in the future, but to reduce the epidemic of gun violence that plagues this country every single day.”

Later that day, Rep. Robert Goodlatte (R-VA), the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee — where any such legislation must originate –  responded:

“We’re going to take a look at what happened there and what can be done to help avoid it in the future, but gun control is not going to be something I support.”

Therein lies the challenge in American politics, policy, and governance: preventing gun violence is OK, but gun control is not.

And paradoxically, Congressman Goodlatte’s statement also holds the path to the solution. The key to changing gun laws is to keep the focus on controlling gun violence, not on gun control….

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