I was wrong. Dead wrong.
I thought, logically (there was my mistake), that after 12 innocent people were shot to death the other day in the Washington Navy Yard we would have the standard debate over gun control in this nation and a discussion of how we treat the mentally ill as a couple of ways to avoid such senseless bloodshed.
Wrong.
There was about a nanosecond of debate, if that. The cable news and morning news shows quickly filled up their time with tales of Brittany Spears and Hiccup Girl and other life-staggering events. The Congress moved on to another issue they can’t decide on. The 12 dead weren’t even identified publically yet and we moved on. So, after Columbine, Sandy Hook, Aurora and the others, “we” apparently have become so used to such horrific news -- innocent men, women and children gunned down for no reason at all – that we move on. I said the other day that mass inaction was as senseless as these senseless crimes. At least before the Navy Yard we took long enough to think and discuss before we had mass inaction. Now, we don’t even skip a beat.
A friend asked after I wrote the other day, in effect, “what can I do? My representatives don’t support gun control.” Vote against ‘em, is one thing to do. Encourage your friends, relatives and family to elect people who want to do
something, instead of nothing. Speak out. Don't forget.
After the Holocaust the reminder became “never forget.” But we do. An insane dictator gasses his own people, the United States president calls for military action and “we” sit back and ask “why?” Why? Because we should never forget .We should never forget the 6 million Jews killed. We never should forget the 1400 Syrians killed, we never should forget the 20 children and six adults killed in Sandy Hook, we should never forget the six people killed in Arizona the day some nut tried to assassinate a Congressman and instead maiming her for life, we never should forget the 24 killed in Columbine ... you get the idea.
Gun control isn’t the only answer. Each of those incidents involved shooters who had some mental incapacity. Some may have been off their meds, like the one this week apparently was. But when someone comes into a medical facility – specially the Veterans Administration – and says he’s hearing voices and getting vibrations, you’d think something would happen where someone would be notified to keep an eye on him. I don’t suggest we have enough law enforcement officials to assign one to each person reported as a potential danger. But there has to be something that can be done to stop some of these senseless incidents.
I hope I’m not wrong again.
I thought, logically (there was my mistake), that after 12 innocent people were shot to death the other day in the Washington Navy Yard we would have the standard debate over gun control in this nation and a discussion of how we treat the mentally ill as a couple of ways to avoid such senseless bloodshed.
Wrong.
There was about a nanosecond of debate, if that. The cable news and morning news shows quickly filled up their time with tales of Brittany Spears and Hiccup Girl and other life-staggering events. The Congress moved on to another issue they can’t decide on. The 12 dead weren’t even identified publically yet and we moved on. So, after Columbine, Sandy Hook, Aurora and the others, “we” apparently have become so used to such horrific news -- innocent men, women and children gunned down for no reason at all – that we move on. I said the other day that mass inaction was as senseless as these senseless crimes. At least before the Navy Yard we took long enough to think and discuss before we had mass inaction. Now, we don’t even skip a beat.
A friend asked after I wrote the other day, in effect, “what can I do? My representatives don’t support gun control.” Vote against ‘em, is one thing to do. Encourage your friends, relatives and family to elect people who want to do
something, instead of nothing. Speak out. Don't forget.
After the Holocaust the reminder became “never forget.” But we do. An insane dictator gasses his own people, the United States president calls for military action and “we” sit back and ask “why?” Why? Because we should never forget .We should never forget the 6 million Jews killed. We never should forget the 1400 Syrians killed, we never should forget the 20 children and six adults killed in Sandy Hook, we should never forget the six people killed in Arizona the day some nut tried to assassinate a Congressman and instead maiming her for life, we never should forget the 24 killed in Columbine ... you get the idea.
Gun control isn’t the only answer. Each of those incidents involved shooters who had some mental incapacity. Some may have been off their meds, like the one this week apparently was. But when someone comes into a medical facility – specially the Veterans Administration – and says he’s hearing voices and getting vibrations, you’d think something would happen where someone would be notified to keep an eye on him. I don’t suggest we have enough law enforcement officials to assign one to each person reported as a potential danger. But there has to be something that can be done to stop some of these senseless incidents.
I hope I’m not wrong again.
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