Violence is a complicated topic. We all try to simplify it, but it’s far more complex. The presence of a weapon isn’t a requirement for it. Instead, there are a number of factors that do need to be considered.

During the House hearings on gun violence, we heard some of the usual comments, followed by a controversial statement that will outrage a lot of people, but touches on a key truth.

The house judiciary committee heard from a panel of experts and victims of gun violence Wednesday.

Democrats are proposing a bill to require universal background checks for gun purchases.

Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee Jerry Nadler said, “The epidemic of gun violence in this country is a national crisis and an international embarrassment.”

In 2017, 40,000 Americans were killed by guns.

Nadler went on to say, “No other developed country has such high gun violence rates. The common factor in all these other countries is that they have strong gun laws.”

…

The hearing became heated when Republican Congressman Matt Gaetz from Florida said the problem isn’t guns.

“In the circumstances that I indicated it was not the firearm, it was the fact that we have an immigration system that allows people to come here violently, said Gaetz.

Of course, Gaetz’s comments angered a lot of Democrats, but he touches on something important.

You see, while people talk about how we have gun violence rates well above other developed nations, Gaetz’s comments about our Southern Border brings up some key points. Namely the presence of a country that isn’t far from failed state status just on the other side of a porous and unprotected border.

While the violence in our country is hardly just because of that, only a complete idiot could immediately dismiss that as at least a contributing factor.

Further, unlike most developed nations, we have a wide breadth of cultural diversity here. I’m not blaming minorities for violence, but I am blaming various subcultures within the United States. Many groups believe violence is the way to solve problems, including inner-city gang cultures as well as various supremacist movements within the U.S.

When we look at places like Europe, we see relatively homogenous nations from a cultural standpoint. While there have been immigrants to these nations throughout the years, most assimilated with their host nations as quickly as they could. There was one culture. Recently, unassimilated refugees–people with no interest in assimilating–have flooded across Europe and guess what they’ve seen? An uptick in violent crime.

Look, the issue isn’t about the gun. A gun is a tool. Give a law-abiding man a rocket launcher and he won’t hurt a soul, but the violent thug will murder with his bare hands if that’s all he has.

Violence has deep roots, and it doesn’t do anyone any good to ignore that fact and have people point to other developed nations and pretend they’re exactly like the United States. They’re not. We share remarkably little with them when you get down to it — both culturally and geographically.

Gaetz pissed a lot of people off with his comment, and I don’t think it sums up the entirety of the issue, but it’s a point that needs to be considered if you’re going to even pretend you’re serious about combatting violence.

So, of course, the Democrats on the committee won’t.