Because like it or not, the folks spraying our cities with bullets are not NRA members or legal gun owners. And despite the tendency to tie it all together, they have nothing to do with the Adam Lanzas of the world. — LZ Granderson, in his CNN opinion piece “Gun Control Is Not The Answer“
Read the whole thing.
In a few hundred words, Mr. Granderson makes the point that I and others have used gallons of ink to make. The problem is not the implement; the problem is the person wielding it. But since people problems are thornier, the easier path of attacking lumps of metal and plastic, along with those who peacefully own and use them, is taken.
How we find a solution to the people problem is going to be harder than anyone can imagine. It will require looking at how people act, how they raise their children, and how we choose to spend our national resources, and honestly looking at all of us and saying “you have erred, and you need to do better”. Until we do this, violence, no matter how it happens, will continue to be a plague on our society.
DaddyBear’s Den 
Steve
/ September 19, 2013Oops, oops, oops right there….not too keen on this thought. I AGREE that it’s a people problem BUT when you start talking about changing the people…..are you using “the whole village is needed to raise a child” sort of ideal or are you using the classic Judeo-Christian model (that I subscribe to)
I hear what you are saying; but I can see some left wing nut job insistent on slathering his “love everybody” model of behavior on my g-kids. Eeeewww, that just gave me a visual that I don’t wish to lay on anybody’s kids!
Steve
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daddybear71
/ September 19, 2013Like I said, it’s a thorny problem. I’m not talking about re-education or anything like that. What I’m considering is changing the things that either contribute to or reward behavior that cause the problem.
Here are a few things that I think would be constructive. Most of them are things I’ve mentioned before.
– End the “War on Drugs”. The gangs that make life in inner cities a living hell and bankroll and encourage the thugs who kill people every day would lose their funding.
– Stop encouraging violence in popular culture. I’m not going to go into whether or not music, video games, TV, and movies contribute to the problem, but it can’t hurt to have some social norms that tell Hollywood that making product that glorifies thugs and cheapens human life is beyond the pale. We can do this by refusing to let our children buy their product and making sure that sponsors know we won’t support those who support ‘entertainment’ that adds to the problem.
– Be parents, and encourage others to do so. In my totally unqualified opinion, this is the biggest thing we can do. Young people who have strong, involved parents don’t tend to join gangs or shoot up the neighborhood, if for no other reason that they know an ass beating will be waiting at home for them if they do. This may mean we have to lean heavily on our young people about not being parents before they’re ready, and be responsible parents when it does happen, especially in populations that currently have a huge problem with teen and out of wedlock pregnancy. This is a place where clergy can make a huge difference. A minister who condemns this kind of behavior to mothers and grandmothers will have a bigger impact than any social worker could ever hope
– ????
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