5/26/22
Unlike many of my GOP
colleagues, I will readily admit that guns are part of the problem; the
reflexive statement that "Guns aren't the problem; people are the
problem" just ignores the facts and common sense. So I would
go along with some common-sense gun control laws, especially enhanced
background checks to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and psychos and
prolonged waiting periods for gun purchases to stop the most impulsive of
shootings. I would also consider limits on the firepower of guns sold to
civilians beyond what is in place now. However, I would only do so as
part of a comprehensive package of measures because there are so many other
things at work, including:
·
broken homes with
disposable children
·
parents who don't give
a damn (I guess this is nearly the same as #1)
·
video games and movies
in which victims, though made to look like people, are inanimate objects and
killing has no consequences beyond getting rewarded by moving to the next
"level."
·
the decline of
churches and the belittling of religion in the popular culture
·
mental health services
that are either not provided or ignored by those who most need them.
·
a nihilistic, solipsistic
culture that leads to nowhere but disenchantment, resentment, and, in some
cases, violence.
·
media that insist on
giving sick, evil, and deranged people the attention they’ve always craved by
publishing their names. Why do we have to know the names of these killers? Why not deny them the imagined immortality
they seek by simply referring to, in this case, an 18-year-old male who lived
in the area”? (I might substitute terms
like “misfit,” “thug,” or “soulless, malevolent monster” for “male” in that
description, but I’ll take what I can get.)
·
schools being the
softest of targets due to a reluctance of some educators to have stepped up, armed
security of some sort. I’m not willing to sacrifice children in service
to somebody’s utopian vision of the way the world ought to be. Admittedly, armed security didn’t help much
in Uvalde, but better trained and equipped security may have made all the difference.
No, I don't know what to do in the political
realm about the aforementioned items, except for the last one. These are
problems in society that can't be addressed by more federal action, more money,
or the like. These are problems that call for a great awakening of
sorts.
I would be willing, even eager, to discuss the
role of the ready availability of guns to solve this utter insanity, but we
would be better served, and have a chance to solve the problem, by engaging in more
universal conversation and action.
Such an approach will not happen any time
soon, though, because the true believers in the GOP won’t discuss guns and the
true believers in the Democratic Party will only discuss guns. Is
there anybody in the sensible middle anymore?
Silly question, I know.
Finally, two comments, not to infuriate both
ends of the debate but, perhaps, to show my good faith and at least relative
impartiality and genuine desire to stop this carnage:
·
Governor Greg Abbott
was right to point out that 18-year-olds have been able to buy long guns in Texas
for 60 years, but mass shootings like Uvalde are much more recent phenomena. Yes, the University of Texas tower rampage
took place 56 years ago, and, on the horror barometer, was as bad as just about
anything we have seen of late, but that was nearly a one-off event compared to
what we have been seeing over the last ten years or so.
·
President Joe Biden’s
speech in the immediate wake of the shooting was terrific. The responses from Fox News, et. al., would
be comical if we weren’t dealing with something so tragic, but were utterly
predictable.
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