Gun deaths told by the numbers*

The thesis for this OpEd is “hold your horses,” gun crime is a far more complex beast than most want to recognise.

From Colorado Springs to San Bernardino mass shootings have continued to make headlines and “memes” floating around social media.

Pundits and politicians have given sound bite solutions to America’s homicide and mass-shooting problems, yet the numbers reveal a far more complex universe, worthy of public analysis.

The latest reportable numbers reveal:

• 21,175 suicides by firearms[1];
•  8,438 murders by firearms[2];
• 1,107 people killed by police using firearms[3];
• 606 unintentional/accidental deaths by firearms[4];
• 31,326 total deaths in the United States during a recent year.[5]

As horrifying as these numbers appear, the U.S.'s murder rate has been declining from a high watermark of nearly 10 out of 100,000 in 1991 to less than 4.5 in 2013.[6] Comparatively speaking, researchers estimate that 18.5 mothers died for every 100,000 births in the U.S.[7]

The total number of suicides by all means was 41,149.[8] Since 2005 Americans taking their own lives has been on the rise, with 12.6 out of 100,000 falling victim to suicide.[9]

The rate of homicides involving a firearm decreased by 49% between 1992 and 2011,[10] though firearms remain the instrument of choice for roughly 67% of murders, the other 43% accomplished their lethal act with some other ‘tool’.[11]

Unintentional or accidental deaths caused by firearms, seems the easiest for society to reduce by pushing more gun safety education. Unfortunately Americans as a whole are not the most safety prone. The Center for Disease Control reports that 130,557 Americans died in 2013 as a result of accidents or unintentional injuries.[12]

Many American’s greatest fear is being the victim of a deranged perpetrator’s shooting rampage, yet the Department of Justice reports that 95% of all homicides in the U.S. involve only one victim.[13] This means 0.23 out of 100,000 will be victims of a mass murder, which is a fairly low rate in direct proportion to the media coverage.

The reality is the victim will more likely than not know their murderer. With certain exceptions, homicide is not committed by an unknown person to the victim: 25.5% of male victims and 11.9% of female victims were killed by complete strangers. Compared with 46.2% of male victims were killed by a friend or colleague, and 41.5% of female victims were killed by an intimate partner.[14]

Is homicide a male problem? The latest trends show: 68% of all homicides had a male offender and a male victim. Shockingly, 98% of all mass shootings were committed by males[15]; 94% of all gang related murders were male victims; 90% of drug related murders were male victims; and 79% of felony murders involved a male victim.[16]

In only 21% of homicides was there a male offender and female victim; 9% involved a female offender and male victim; and lastly just 2% of all homicides involved a female as both the perpetrator and victim.[17]

A mass shooting is defined as four or more people shot in one event, whereas a “murder spree” or “mass murder” is when more than one person was killed during the same occurrence.[18] Legally speaking, these distinctions are used as aggravating factors to increase the severity of the penalty.

According to the shootingtracker.com, mass shootings have declined from 363 in 2013 to just over 300 for the current year.[19]

One commonly cited precedent to follow is that of Australia. Following the 1996 school shooting on the Island of Tasmania, the government seized approximately 650,000 firearms. While suicides by firearms declined significantly, homicides by guns has been a hard statistic to determine since there were so few homicides in Australia before the ban.[20]

The lesson from down under is that a solution that only focuses on the tool and not on culture, education, regional values, crime, or economic triggers misses the big picture.

What is the take-away? Society must decide if attacking the ‘tool’ used or addressing the underlying causes is more important. Such underlying causes include: mental health (and legislative cuts to funding), long-term male joblessness (which leads to crime), and gang and drug related activities (which increase murders). There are no simple solutions, only intelligent choices.

Matt Soper is a resident of Delta County and alumnus of Colorado Mesa University, holding law degrees from The University of Edinburgh and the University of New Hampshire. Contact the author at matt.soper@alumni.law.unh.edu.

*M Soper, "Gun deaths told by the numbers." Commentary. The Daily Sentinel, Grand Junction, Colo. 6 December 2015, p. 7B.

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[1] “Suicide & Self-Inflicted Injury.” Center for Disease Control. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2015. Web, . 6 October 2015.

[2] “Murder 2013.” Uniform Crime Reports. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015. Web, < https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/tables/table-20/table_20_murder_by_state_types_of_weapons_2013.xls>. 6 October 2015.

[3] “2014 Data.” Killed by Police. Killed by Police, 2015. Web, . 6 October 2015.

[4] WISQARS Injury Mortality Reports, 1999-2010, supra note 1.

[5] Estimated total number of deaths for 2014 involving firearms. See FBI crime reports, CDC database, & the website killedbypolice.net. 1 December 2015.

[6] “Murder Rate 1970-2011.” Murder Rates. Death Penalty Info, 2015. Web, < http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/murder-rates-nationally-and-state>. 6 October 2015;  “Crime in the U.S. 2013.” Uniform Crime Reports. U.S. Department of Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation, 2015. Web, < https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2013/crime-in-the-u.s.-2013/violent-crime/murder-topic-page/murdermain_final>. 6 October 2015; also see: “The Nation’s two measures of homicide.” DOJ. Web, . 6 October 2015.

[7] “Maternal deaths in childbirth rise in the U.S.” The Washington Post.

[8] Suicide & Self-Inflicted Injury. Op. cite.

[9] “Facts & Figures.” American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, 2015. Web, . 6 October 2015.

[10] “Homicide in the US known to law enforcement.” Bureau of Justice Statistics. U.S. Department of Justice. Web, . 6 October 2015.

[11] “Murder 2013.” Uniform Crime Reports. FBI, 2015. Web. 6 October 2015.

[12] “Mortality: accidents & unintentional injuries.” Center for Disease Control. U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, 2015. Web, . 6 October 2015.

[13] “Homicide in the US known to law enforcement.” Bureau of Justice Statistics. Web. 6 October 2015.

[14] “Homicide Trends in the United States, 1980-2010.” Bureau of Justice Statistics. U.S. Department of Justice. Web, . 6 October 2015.

[15] “Why Mass Killers Are Always Male.” Time. Web, . 6 October 2015.

[16] Homicide trends. Op. cite.

[17] Homicide trends. Op. cite.

[18] “2014 Raw Data.” Mass Shooting Tracker. Shooting Tracker, 2015. Web, . 6 October 2015.

[19] “2013-2015 Raw Data,” Mass Shooting Tracker, Shooting Tracker, 2015. Web. 2 December 2015.

[20] Ehrenfreund, Max. “What liberal don’t want to admit about gun control,” Wonkblog. The Washington Post 9 October 2015. Web. < https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/02/what-liberals-dont-want-to-admit-about-gun-control/> 2 December 2015.

On being dyslexic: learning to learn

“52.18,” I read on the computer screen, and then began to write it on a piece of paper. As I wrote, I thought, “It was 52.18, wasn’t it?” I glanced back, nope, the number I was coping was 52.81.”

Being a dyslexic is challenging, as what I see at first instance can be a completely different word upon review. When typing, I will omit words or endings, which at the time of typing I had thought I had included. It is nearly impossible to edit whilst I am writing. As a writer, this makes me want to yell out to the world in frustration.

David Boies visiting with Matt Soper.
© 2013 UNH School of Law.

In the book, David and Goliath (2015 ed), by Malcom Gladwell, famed appellate lawyer David Boies, is quoted as saying, “My wife gave me an iPad a year and a half ago, which was my first

computer-like device, and one of the things that was interesting is that my attempt to spell many words is not close enough for spell-check to find the correct spelling[.] . . . I can’t tell you how many times I get the little message that says, ‘No spelling suggestions.’”(p107-08) Boies, who is dyslexic, told the aforementioned to illustrate his dyslexia and how it impacts his daily life. Boies is remarkable, as he found tools, strategies, and mechanisms for strengthening other aspects of he learns and retains information. Boies chose litigation, as it had the least reading within the profession of law and allowed him to use his memory and thinking stills to over compensate what is compensated for by dyslexia. Boies is one of the frequently sought lawyers to argue cases in front of the US Supreme Court.

Reading takes much longer than my cohorts. Recently on a flight with my girlfriend we were both reading similar books on the plane. As I was quite proud of making it to page 50 when we landed, I glanced over and realized she was nearly finished with her book of approximately 400 pages. Likewise, reading text in a movie / TV show is annoying – as the words disappears before you can read the entire message.

While dyslexia has the appearance of making me slow, my written works have been published in academic journals, established newspapers, and online blogs. To tackle my dyslexia I have had to become a tremendous listener. This is not to say I am an audio-learner. What is meant by developing listening skills is being able to listen, for example, to the audio of a Supreme Court debate, then memorizing, through memorializing key points on paper and later reviewing and repeating the those  points.

A trademark element of dyslexia is what appears to be poor short-term memory. Developing a strong long-term memory is the strategy for coping with dyslexia. To say dyslexia is ‘not having a good short-term memory’ is incorrect. It is more that the processing speed of the mind is what causes problems for taking-in and learning information on first impression. For example, a dyslexic has difficulty processing rapid auditory inputs, which makes remembering a phone number challenging without writing it down quickly.

A major problem for a dyslexic is the inability to revisualize the gestalt of the word. Dyseidetic dyslexia, also known as visual dyslexia, effects reading and spelling patterns by causing confusion with letter orientation, limits on sight vocabulary, losing place while reading because you don’t instantly recognize what you already read, omitting letters and words because they were not visually noticed, along with difficulty trying to sound out and spell irregular words. For me, it is irritating to sound out a word phonetically, only to have spell check tell you that you miss spelled it.

Foreign languages present a unique challenge for a dyslexic. During my Edinburgh years, I began studying French as mental relaxation from law. I found whilst I could hear the sounds and pronounce words correctly, even with the proper accent, the spelling proved horrific. I found I would think of a word, then drop of letters that were not pronounced when writing. French highlighted the difficulty of remembering phonetically regular and irregular letter combinations, along with difficulties analysing unknown words.

Dyslexia is more than just a passing term to dismiss laps of the memory. As a dyslexic, I find objectives hard in a world that doesn’t understand the challenges I face daily. Yet, seeing the world in a different light is far from a weakness.

What are the odds: High School friends reunited on same flight*

Bill Helmsing and Matt Soper randomly met on same flight a decade after graduating from high school together

Delta High School friends reunited on same flight from Boston to Denver. Captain Bill Helmsing, with the 1st BDE 10th Mountain Division, and Matt Soper, who is studying Intellectual Property law at the University of New Hampshire, had not seen each other for 10 years and were surprised to be flying home for the holidays together. 

Helmsing, a West Point graduate, is stationed in Ft. Drum, New York and is about to deploy to the Regional Command East in Afghanistan as a member of a Security Force Advise and Assist Team. 

Soper is an alumnus of Colorado Mesa University and the University of Edinburgh’s Faculty of Law and plans on sitting the New York Bar Exam in July 2013. Helmsing and Soper graduated from Delta High School in 2003.
______________________________________________
*'You Saw It', Grand Junction Daily Sentinel 28 February 2013: 8B

2012 year-in-review: LL.B. to LL.M.

In the year since graduating from the University of Edinburgh much has happened in my life. I have gone from law student to campaign manager to youngest elected city council member of my home town to working for the leading NGO on maritime piracy to once again being a law student. In this time I have met and visited with the president, vice president, GOP challenger, a retired US Supreme Court justice, the highest judges from New Hampshire, Texas, and New York, along with visiting with Colorado's governor, New Hampshire's governor, Texas' governor, the junior US senator from South Dakota, and a former US senator from Pennsylvania, not to mention having lunch with a former governor of New Hampshire and a former US senator from Colorado. Life has also been challenging, I was present when my aunt Clara passed away and not long after that I received the letter saying I had been denied admittance to sit the New York bar. This resulted in me having to step down as trustee and pursue an LL.M. degree, which is one of the new requirements for sitting the bar. I also experienced the economic downturn, but applying to over 50 businesses and hearing no responses. Perseverance and no matter the odds, never give up, have become daily mantras. The following is a year in review:

27 November 2011 - graduated from University of Edinburgh with an LL.B. in Law

December 2011 - launched exploratory committee for a possible bid for the Colorado House of Representatives, Dist 61

January 2012 - began campaign manager for Bruce Hovde's re-election campaign for Delta County Commissioner, Dist 2

February 2012 - began campaign for Orchard City Board of Trustees

3 April 2012 - elected Orchard City's youngest Trustee

April - October 2012 I served on the Orchard City Board of Trustees. 

April 2012 - became campaign manager for Mark Roeber's Delta County Commissioner Campaign, Dist 3

May - August 2012 - maritime piracy legal researcher (intern) with Oceans Beyond Piracy, which is an NGO that provides research on the economic and human costs of piracy at sea, along with engaging stakeholders to find a governance based solution to countering piracy. Working included revising and enhancing counter piracy matrix, editing law reports, following pending criminal and tort cases, and providing information for diplomats, the military, and industry. 

September 2012 - begin LL.M. in Intellectual Property (IP) Law at the University of New Hampshire's School of Law (Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectually Property)

September 2012 - visited Portland, Maine; Kennybunkport, Maine; Boston, Massachusetts; Mount Washington, New Hampshire; the White Mountains of New Hampshire; Newport, Rhode Island

October 2012 - shook hands with President Obama in Portsmouth, NH; visited with Vice President Joe Biden in Concord, NH; talked constitutional law with form US Supreme Court Justice David Souter in Concord, NH; and gave words of encouragement to Mitt Romney in Manchester, NH.

October 2012 - travelled to New York City for the first time since I was 12 years old. Met up with my former Edinburgh flatmate and good friend, Fabio Pucci. We were flatmates for nearly 3 1/4 years. He was in NYC to present a paper at the Rockefeller. We went to the top of both the Rockefeller Center (Top of the Rock) and the Empire State Building. I stayed the first night in Harlem and the second in Times Square. Whilst walking in Central Park, I thought to myself Manhatten Island is crazy, fun, and looking at the buildings might injure my neck ;-) I also went to the cite of the World Trade Center attacks. I was disappointed that there were venders (including the National Commission) selling goods, profiting off of the dead of nearly 3,000. Fabio put things in perspective by saying the towers were about commerce and free enterprise, capitalism, and trade. "If there weren't venders selling goods and making money on the very site where so many died, then the terrorists would have won." 

October 2012 - sat the Multi State Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), this exam, along with the Bar Exam, is required to be admitted to practice law.

October 2012 - visit Montpelier, Vermont

October 2012 - elected as a "write-in" to the Board of Governors of the New Hampshire Student Bar Association 

November 2012 - hung out with the Supreme Court Chief Justices of New Hampshire, Texas, and New York; in addition to having lunch with former New Hampshire Governor Steve Merrill.

Trustee Soper's resignation letter

Dear Mayor and Board of Trustees:

This letter is to intimate my resignation from the Board of Trustees, effective upon the swearing-in of a lawful replacement. This past July complications with the New York Court of Appeals arose regarding my qualifications to be called to the bar under newly enacted regulations. These regulations were in response to the financial crisis and were designed to protected American legal jobs for American lawyers. Unfortunately for my situation, I studied outside the United States, which means I fall under these new regulations. Prior to this summer, the regulations allowed anyone who had studied at least three years of law within a common law jurisdiction to pay the fee and sit for the New York Bar Exam. Providing a candidate passed the bar and an ethics check, and then they would be admitted to practice law.

After being informed of the situation, I launched an appeal, based on legitimate expectations and the grandfathering clause. My appeal ultimately failed and I am required to complete an LL.M. (master of laws) degree at an American Bar Association (ABA) law school. The program must be taught in-person and certain course work completed before admittance to sit the bar will be granted. I applied to the University ofNew Hampshire, School of Law and was accepted. They have a continual admission process right up until classes commence. Once I have completed this degree, I will then sit for the bar exam in July 2013.

The entire affair has come as a surprise and it is with great sadness that I must step down from my seat on the Orchard City Board of Trustees. Since I will no longer physically be in the jurisdiction of the town, I will not be able to be an effective representative for my constituents. I have been honoured to represent my fellow citizens for the past six months and it has been a privilege to hold this position of esteem trust. I believe the good people of Orchard City will understand that since I already have a substantial educational investment in becoming an attorney, I cannot afford to do anything but comply with the new regulations.

In these past six months I have learned much about municipal government - especially in relation to water. As the author of the mosquito resolution, concerning the EPA's and Agenda 21 's attack on aerial spraying, I was pleased to see our board send a strong message to our congressional leaders. Helping repeal the water conveyance rule, which took water away from farmers in good years only to sell it back to them in drought years, was an accomplishment

which helped loosen the regulatory barriers imposed by local government. Voting for our hydropower- unit and voicing concern over our engineering firm was about due diligence and looking out for town's future. Most importantly, I proud to have played a role in the Centennial celebration of my town- in the town play I portrayed the Cory postmaster (ironically, a position my cousin held for many years).

I have one request to make of the board. I'd recommend the Board of Trustees fill my vacancy with an individual with similar characteristics as me. The electorate voted for certain values and characteristics, which I brought to the Board of Trustees and it is only fair to the people to maintain these elements. In other words, I am recommending against making my vacancy the subject of spoils and patronage.

Orchard City is a great town and a place where I plan on raising my family, practicing law, and retiring someday. Being an advocate for my neighbours and representing them has truly been rewarding. Orchard City's Board could teach representatives in Washington, DC a lot about governing, namely how to do more with less and balancing a budget. I am pleased to say that in this half-year together we have upheld the public trust and managed the best interests of the town to such a degree that our founders would be proud.

Thank you and God bless,
            /s/
Matthew Soper,
BA, LLM, LLB
Trustee, Town of Orchard City,
State of Colorado

27 yr old takes seat as Orchard City's newest trustee

At age 27, Matt Soper was elected the youngest trustee in Orchard City’s 100 year history. Soper credited his historic election victory to his commitment to cultivating innovative solutions to challenging problems facing our community, fiscally conservative principles, and maintaining a great town in which folks can live, work, and retire.

Soper said, “To me the town's job is to deliver water at affordable rates, provide for emergency response, and otherwise get out of the way so that businesses can grow and folks can enjoy their lives.”

Soper came in fourth, behind incumbents Jimmie Boyd and Marsha Thomas and former Trustee Craig Fuller in the April 3, 2012 municipal election. 

“Of the 401 votes I received, I’m most proud of the support from my 97 year old, great-aunt, Merle Payne, who was the long time deputy county clerk in Delta. She always said she hoped to live long enough to see me elected to a public office,” Soper commented. 

Orchard City Trustee Matt Soper

Orchard City, the second largest municipality in Delta County, is home to 3,100 residents and is the largest municipality in terms of square miles in Delta County. Orchard City was legally incorporated on 11 May 1912 to raise a bond in order to deliver clean water to the residences of the growing communities of Austin, Cory and Eckert. Each historic community continues to retain its own post office, zip code, and unique identity. 

On Wednesday, 11 April 2012 at 7:00 PM, Matt Soper was sworn-in as trustee at the Orchard City Town Hall, located at 9661 2100 Road, Austin, Colorado.