Gun control again at forefront after shooting
A lone gunman, equipped with a military-type assault rifle, took 17 lives and injured another 22 in a school shooting in Florida last week.
There wasn’t even a final tally of the dead and wounded before proponents and opponents took to their Facebook, Twitter and other social media accounts to debate whether it was time for stricter gun control in our country.
Proposals for stricter control ranged from better screening for licensing — including background checks on private sales between individuals — to banning assault rifles to an outright ban on guns altogether.
An outright ban is not realistic, and will never pass in this country. Nor should it. The reality is, there are far more people who respectfully use guns for hunting or shooting sports than those who misuse them for acts of violence against their fellow humans.
A ban on assault rifles might help curb the carnage wreaked by a disturbed person intent on killing, wounding and maiming, but it doesn’t solve the overall problem. However, it may be a measure to be considered as another tool in the toolbox to help curb mass violence in this country.
We seem to be focusing too much on one aspect of these tragedies.
Instead, we need to find out what compels people to bomb public buildings, drive vehicles into crowds and, yes, use firearms to mow down those whom they feel wronged them.
It seems that all too often, when the government wants to cut spending, it trims funding for counselors, social services and mental health services, all of which could be frontline resources for identifying potential assailants and getting them help before they cause another massacre.
And there must be a university somewhere that could make good use of a research grant to find out why incidences of mass violence are on the rise in this country, and around the globe.
It’s time to focus on the deeper issue of why people commit acts of massive violence. Our children, our friends, our families, deserve nothing less than our best effort to make them feel secure in their homes, schools, churches, malls and city streets and sidewalks.
