(Please note that this blog was written and scheduled before the horrific murder of Charlies Kirk and the shooting at a high school in Colorado. Nonetheless the most recent cases of death by gunmen point to the epidemic that continues to plague our nation and about which we do little but quibble.)
If two young white high school students suddenly burst into a school and begin shooting classmates and teachers we do not blame all young white high school students. If a white man begins shooting people at a concert in Las Vegas we do not blame all white men. If a registered Republican attempts to kill the President we do not blame all Republicans. If a white college student dresses like the Joker and fires into the audience at a movie theater we do not blame all white college students. If a trans woman shoots children attending mass at a Catholic School many suddenly rail that all trans people are evil deviants who must be expunged from society.
In the past blaming one group or type of person for perceived harm has led to burning innocent people for supposedly being witches. It is has led to killing Jews, gypsies, the mentally ill by the millions. When we cannot understand something we humans have historically used prejudices to condemn certain groups. By this time in history we should know better. We should be better. We should be more accepting of our differences and more determined to have serious discussions about how to solve our problems rather than ranting about the sins of a single person as though those traits are intrinsic in all from the same group.
Why do we pick and choose which groups to damn and which to gloss over when it comes to mass shootings? Statistically such individuals have been mostly white males. Now and again persons of other races have taken up arms against innocents. In truth most of the individuals who have resorted to violence to voice their disdain for whatever reason have demonstrated a history of anger, depression and even full blown mental illness. The backgrounds of such individuals can vary but in most cases somebody saw something in them that was disturbing and either said nothing or was ignored when they attempted to warn authorities of the danger.
As a society we want to forestall the outbursts of hate and destruction that lead to tragedies but we are unwilling to look at the total picture of what is happening when such individuals choose grotesque violence to make themselves seen and heard. Such behavior does not make sense to the rest of us so we pray and grieve for the victims and their families but never really get to the heart of what keeps such incidents happening. We like to find simple fixes by blaming the problem with generalities rather than the very specific situations that slowly but surely led to a very disturbing murder of innocent people.
If we are honest we must admit that there are far too many guns in our midst, and not just guns that might shoot one person at a time but those capable of bursts of bullets that are rapid fire and so lethal that they literally tear whatever they hit apart. At this moment in time there are more guns in the homes of American than there are people in the population. If we were to distribute one of those guns to every man, woman and child there would still be guns left over.
The question that always comes to my mind is why have we allowed the proliferation of guns to proceed with few if any restrictions. Why should a sixteen year old neighbor of mine get an AR 15 for his birthday? He is a nice kid who is not likely to use the gun to kill someone but why would we think it okay to give him one? What is the purpose?
We have created a society in which guns are far too readily available. We content ourselves with the situation my asserting our right to bear arms. Many among us seem to think that a time will come when we need to defend ourselves with a gun, but in reality how often does that actually happen. How many times has a person with a gun been successful in preventing a mass shooting? The fact is that we miss the cues that something is amiss over and over again. Shooters leave clues all over the place and then we allow them to purchase weapons with few restrictions. Sometimes we even encourage them to use guns as an outlet for their frustrations as with the young man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump and the infamous Adam Lanza whose mother thought that learning how to use guns would get him out of the shell in which his mind lived.
I know very good people who legally carry guns in their cars and sometimes even on their persons. They seem to believe that if a dangerous situation arises they will be ready to defend themselves and their families but this is not the wild west anymore. We live in a mostly civilized society but we have a fetish for guns that all too often allows weapons to end up in the hands of people whose minds are damaged. Surprisingly they often make their mental hell public as though they are hoping that someone will be alert and brave enough to stop them before they do harm. The signs are almost always present. Someone usually knows that there is danger but is reluctant to take action lest they be wrong. We hear the same story over and over again. We glorify violence in our media and create heroes out of villains that disturbed young people decide to emulate.
We often wonder why a man would kill his wife and maybe even his children and then kill himself. it would make more sense if he ended his pain by only taking his own life. We ask why he felt the need to kill others first. We would do well to attempt to understand this phenomenon because it is generally the goal of mass shooters to take out as many people as possible and then die themselves. What causes that? It is not being of a certain race or nationality or political bent or sexual preference. it is an individual sickness having nothing to do a certain type of person.
We do no good when we rant and rave with extreme prejudice. We would do so much better if we were willing to admit that our fascination with guns and violence has not helped. The easy purchase and ownership of guns very much lies at the heart of the matter. We can pray and pray but eventually we have to use the intelligence that we have to craft a plan that may actually work better than the one that we have now. We might start by working together and demonstrating enough acceptance and love for each other to honestly admit that we have yet to be serious about this problem. We might also understand that our prejudices and hatreds are only adding more fuel to the fire that has made our nation the mass shooting capital of the world.
All It Takes Is A Little Love 