The bells of mourning ring in communities around the nation as we grieve those killed in senseless acts of social violence. In our heartfelt response to such tragedies, we know that the bells also toll for all of us.
We are stunned and we search for answers. Political influences, organizations and some national leaders turn to the seemingly apparent scapegoats: gun-rights organizations and the infamous military-style assault rifle introduced in the Vietnam War.
The recent killings in Connecticut are indeed horrendous, and the frequency of other needless killings in America no less repulsive and horrifying.
Those who commit such acts of social violence are strangers to us until they act. Then we learn to our dismay his alienation from community, family, bouts of depression, drug use, diagnosed mental health issues, even threatening statements and acts that either go unnoticed or ignored by parents, friends and educators, perhaps even the mental health or medical communities.
While the vitriol directed against the National Rifle Association, Gun Owners of America and the National Shooting Sports Foundation may appear the best thing to do now, further restrictions on gun ownership in America ignores the true stranger in our midst: mostly troubled young males who may not receive mental health care yet have access to a firearm.
Historically, American gun owners have upheld an obligation and significant responsibility to ensure that firearms are handled safely, are removed and secured from areas where children and perhaps young adults may inappropriately access them. Gun rights organizations promote this process. Yet, individual firearm owners may ignore such steps and then the bells of sorrow ring again.
Firearms are not evil things, nor are they always used for mass killings. Remember Timothy McVeigh whose home-built, 4,000 pound explosive concoction killed 168 people and wounded over 500 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma? He didn’t use a firearm in one of our nation’s worst acts of social violence.
A solution is obviously complex but does not require a draconian political response that may not include adequately funded guidelines and treatments for mental health care.
To paraphrase former president Dwight Eisenhower… “Those who surrender their freedoms for personal security deserve neither.”
Let’s hope that such bells stop ringing in America. It’s time for us to work together to help understand and prevent social violence at all levels.
R. Struck
Grand Marais
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