I have a special affection for young people. I have raised six of them as family – biological and fostered kids — and mentored many more. For me, being a dad is the best job on earth.
Every mass shooting – every untimely death – saddens me to the core, especially young people. It is impossible to watch the news of these tragic events without welling up. Having lost a young grandson in war, I know the pain at a very personal level.
As a nation, we collectively mourn tragic deaths – especially of the young. Those with happy lives and bright futures. We feel the pain in our gut when looking at the face of the young American hostage so brutally and needlessly murdered in cold blood by Palestinian terrorists.
Now a few days later, we learn of the murder of four more innocent people – two teachers and two 14-year-old children — by a 14-year-old classmate in Winder, Georgia. For most people, it is beyond comprehension.
Each time there is such a tragic event, it is déjà vu all over again. The same calls for prayers and understanding. The same empty language. The same empty search for an explanation. Why does this keep happening in America? Why are we always left with the sad belief that it will most certainly happen again?
Even as we grieve, the most important question is … how can we prevent it from ever happening again? That is the question we have failed to answer time and time again — maybe because there is no answer. Certainly, no easy or quick answer.
Each shooting triggers the same old divisive debate on gun control – and the same old lament from the left. How is it that the majority of Americans want gun control and yet the political leaders – on both sides fail to respond?
The first thing to understand is that while support for “gun control” is wide, it is not very deep. It is rarely seen on the list of the top dozen issues that matter to voters. That is because the term “gun control” is a generalization that lacks specific meaning in most cases.
When it does get specific – such as in the cases of bump stocks and red flag laws – there is a response from the government. In fact, we have seen laws regulating guns evolve over decades. In my youth, there were virtually no restrictions on gun purchasing, ownership or use – not even an age limit (as the 1950s advertisement atop this commentary attests).
One thing that holds back future regulatory laws is the failure of all the past laws to make a difference. There is a growing realization that all the past gun control efforts have failed – so why should future ones succeed?
While people favor gun control generically, they do not agree on the specific issues. The devil is in the details. Most Americans believe – or accept – that private gun ownership is a constitutional right and mostly a good thing. Those who would confiscate guns are in a very small minority. There is no political energy for changing the Constitution on the matter of guns.
Polling shows that banning the so-called assault rifle has less support than the generic gun control question. Sentiment has more support than specific realities.
If more gun control is not achievable or beneficial, what is left?
The first thing we need to address is the difference in the types of mass shootings – where three of more people are either wounded or killed in a single event. For obvious reasons, the most shocking (and most reported) shootings are due to the nature of the victims … the level of the carnage … the perceived safeness of the locations … and the lack of rational explanation or motivation.
In recent years, there has been a shift in focus from the gun to the mind of the shooters. What is causing so many mostly young men to engage in such heinous actions – mostly resulting in their own deaths or long term imprisonment?
Then there are the other mass murder events – shootings and by other means. These tend to be motivated – not for good cause or justification, but motivated. They can be broken down into three categories – gang-related, established personal grievances and political terrorism.
We rely on government agencies, such as the FBI, CIA and Homeland Security to track down the terrorists before they act – and after. Killing based on personal grievances are tougher to prevent, with restraining orders and red flag laws being the main preventative tools.
We fail big time in gang related killings in America’s segregated minority communities – including innocent bystanders. There is an enforcement failure due to longstanding de facto institutional racism. Since most of the weapons in those cases are illegally possessed, we need to get the guns off the streets.
The most difficult mass shootings are like the one we most recently experienced in Winder. The lone wolf with mental issues. There is no practical way of preventing them from obtaining a weapon if they are determined. Not having guns in the home – or keeping them under lock and key has not worked. Where there is a will, there is a way.
In Parkland, Florida … in Oakland, Michigan … in Winder, Georgia and others …, red flag laws failed. People who saw something did not say something – or if they did, the warnings were ignored.
One of the reasons life goes on after a tragic mass shooting is that despite the claims that it can happen anywhere at any time, most folks do not believe it will happen in their community – and statistically, they are correct. That is part of the reason why the calls for gun control ebb without more legislation or political accountability.
If you are expecting me to close with an answer – with an agenda of actions – you will be disappointed. I do not know what we can do to remove these insane mass shootings from our culture. But I do believe that engaging in the traditional fight over gun control will not lead to an answer.
If there is an answer to be found, it will be in the cultural forces that produce these deranged killers. Pointing to the gun as the primary cause only distracts us from exploring the real causes – whatever they might be.
So, there ‘tis.