Daily Archives: January 5, 2016

In it, George D. Lundberg, MD, persuasively argued that maybe the vehemence of gun owners protecting their so-called “right to bear arms” isn’t so much an intellectual argument as one fueled by addiction.  And I think that Dr. Lundberg may be on to something.

He first listed the nine symptoms of substance addiction:

• Availability of the agent for experimentation;
• Initial use producing pleasure followed by subsequent pleasant episodes of use and positive secondary reinforcement;
• Psychological dependence or habituation;
• Tolerance, with need to use more to get the same effect;
• Chemical physical dependence;
• Withdrawal symptoms when the agent is taken away;
• Drug-seeking behavior;
• Continued use even when obvious harm has been experienced; and
• Rationalization and denial.

Then, Dr. Lundberg states that, like addictions to gambling and sex, with an addiction to guns, there is no physical/chemical addiction.  But the other symptoms?  Check, check, check.  Check-mate.

Here, in fact, is Dr. Lundberg’s gun addiction checklist:

• Availability? Check;
• Positive reinforcement? Check;
• Habituation? Check;
• Tolerance? Big check. Once someone becomes a gun owner, adding guns is usual; one is not enough. The average American gun-owning household includes 8.1 firearms, up from 4.1 in 1994. The NRA goes bonkers about any suggestion of limits;
• Chemical dependence? No;
• Withdrawal? I have not personally seen a convulsion in a gun-owning doctor when confronted with the possibility of losing his or her guns, but pretty damn close. I mean….;
• Weapon-seeking behavior? Check;
• Continued use despite harmful results? Check; and
• Rationalization and denial? Check.