Violent Shooting at Newtown is not about Gun Control

Many of us stand glued to our television sets this morning listening to the horrendous story about a shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut.  Some have already began questioning whether if we had stronger gun control could this and other recent shootings could have been avoided.  My answer is simply “no”.

My reasoning for saying this can be easily discerned from those recent events especially when compared in contrast to what recently happened in an elementary school in China.  Imagine a country where no citizen has the right to carry, conceal or bear firearms.  Yet violence does happen and as the example in China where it was a stabbing of several people instead of a shooting, to say that China should now outlaw knives makes no sense.  It is time we begin to place the blame squarely where it belongs and that is on the person or persons committing the acts.

Now don’t get me twisted, no “real” hunter needs a 32 clip magazine to enjoy their sport.  If any hunter requires that much ammo to bag their catch, then it is safe to say that they are not hunters but “pretenders” and probably could not hit the broad side of a barn from the inside.  The average American really have no need to possess or own an automatic weapon unless they are expecting a large number of zombies to invade their home and they do not mind shooting up that home in order to protect their family.  That being said, this does award at least 10% of the blame in the laps of lawmakers who are so afraid of the National Rifleman Association (NRA) that they pee their pants when someone representing them are on the other end of the phone line.  Another 5% of the blame remains with the American public for not making more noise toward the removal of these assault weapons and large magazines from our streets and from our communities.  This, as math teaches us leaves 85% which must go and stay directly with the offender.  A stigma will remain with a community that suffers such violence forever and there should be a stiffer one to stay with the offender just as long.

How do we deal with this problem?  We deal with it the only true way we can, on a one to one basis.  We stop treating others like they are some diseased animal or a dollar sign with legs.  We start dealing with people as human beings with sincerity, honesty and compassion that we are all quite capable of.  We see them as our reflection and before we utter one harsh word, take a few minutes and think about how we would feel if these same words were directed at us.  You never have to denigrate anyone in order to show them the possible error of their ways, you only need to ask if they knew or know that it may be wrong.  Getting them to admit whether they know or knew is a much better accomplishment than feeling good about telling them off. 

As more time passes, we may learn that this action was spurred on by someone or several people’s treatment of the shooter.  We may learn that the often silent and unnoticed person felt the need to be seen and heard because they were overlooked so often.  In China the offender used a knife because he did not have a gun.  In America we use a gun because we can but if guns were outlawed and we could not get a hold of one, then we too would probably end up using the same as the person did in China.  In other words, violence is a big part of our way of life and frankly will never be eradicated.  Our only other option is to speak kindly to those we meet, smile at those who are not and nod our heads to those we see.  To many, this may seem too simple and therefore cannot work which proves my point.  While we begin to look for the grand answer to this problem, we lose sight that simple human kindness does defeat brutality and that love always win out over hate.