This Saturday's shooting in Tucson, Arizona, had a chilling effect on this nation. There are a couple of issues that come out from what happened.
First, it points to what happens when we allow freedom of speech and dialogue to get pushed past the envelope. Yes, the shooter was wrong for what he did. But I think he bought into some of the negative rhetoric that some political leaders have pushed as "healthy debate" and "disagreeable dialogue." A debate on the issues, I agree with. Telling folks to "reload" or to "target" any members of Congress is beyond reproach. Methinks the lady doth protest too much.
Public service is a choice. People do it because they generally want to improve their own living conditions as well as those around them. To be targeted for doing something that takes most people out of their comfort zone is well, just plain foolish. We can disagree. Everyone comes from a life perspective that's worth something, that's worth listening to. The shooter, at 22, could have gotten involved in the political process by joining groups and associations where his opinions could be heard; join political organizations where he can effect change from within. Trying to kill the congressmember was a puerile school-yard-bully mentality that just doesn't have a place in adult conversations. Of course, a lot of dialogue is coming out that Jared Loughner was mentally ill.
This was a great post by another blogger on the political rhetoric. http://shakespearessister.blogspot.com/2011/01/lets-get-this-straight.html
On another level, here we go again with the controversial second amendment, the right to bear arms. I remember a high school in Colorado, Columbine to be exact, back in 1999, when two teenagers took it upon themselves to shoot several of their classmates and some teachers before taking their own lives. I was in my late 20s back then. But I remembered thinking, "where did they get those guns at their ages." Now, I have family members in different parts of this country who own guns. They use rifles for hunting, for sport. I'm not sure if they've ever used it to protect themselves. So, on some level, I can understand the need for a gun. Living in the District of Columbia, many would argue that gun ownership is a good way to protect oneself. That, I'm not sure.
This gun shooting reminds me of some other high profile gun killings. A couple of years ago it was the Virginia Tech shooter, Seung-Hui Cho. And then, many youngsters who shot their parents and then shot other kids at school. For a while, that was common place. The one that really got to me was the recent case of Nicholas Browning, a “good” kid from Maryland, who shot his mom, dad and two younger brothers before heading out to play video games with friends. Then, he pretended he came home to a bloody scene. Wow, definitely something out of Criminal Minds. It pains me that his mom and dad, unknown to them, raised their own murderer.
Check his picture out. He looked like a sweet youngster.
Killing someone in real life is not akin to a video game you could take off and start over. It's permanent and there are consequences. Unfortunately, young people with mental diseases are not all being diagnosed at the right time or even at all. It's only when they do something like Saturday's mass killing, then, the buttons are clicked or the linkages are made. More often than not, it's too late for several victims who are either dead, disabled, hurt or scarred for life. From what I've read, most of the FBI checks for potential gun owners tend to be only for arrests or problems along those lines. However, if the person has never been arrested, that still doesn't mean he or she should qualify for gun ownership. It's difficult to figure out how the gun owner would have prevented Loughner from buying one. I don't think he was ever in a psychiatric facility, unlike the Virginia Tech shooter, who still qualified for a gun.
There needs to be a meeting of the minds to discuss how one can prevent mentally ill folks and those who intend to do harm to others from purchasing or acquiring guns. Even if they do find other weapons of choice, like knives or hand grenades, I think a person will have a better chance of getting away. Ironically, Loughner was kicked out of community college, like the Virginia Tech shooter, who had some issues at school as well. Will it be a violation of privacy if colleges report to someone--maybe not law enforcement--but some other group, about the kids that are thrown out of school? Will it be a violation of civil rights? Or is there some other way for various government agencies to have a conversation, to pass along information, to protect its people--especially at the state level.
There are many layers to this. And as I enter my 40th year on this planet, there are so many things I've observed that seemed preventable. Difficult to figure out, but something needs to be done. There seems to be a lack of respect for human life and other human beings. I'm wondering where that hatred is coming from. Maybe we need a return of civility, where manners was respected, and maybe, a little prayer in school.
