The killings in Connecticut cause me to flash back to October 7, 2007, while I was living in a small rural community in NE Wisconsin when a young sheriff's deputy killed 6 teenagers, wounded another and finally killed himself. I knew many of the victims, I knew numerous members of the victims families and I was a member of the community "family". The raw feelings of horror, sadness and anger all emerged again. These feelings I had hoped to never revisit were with me again as they have with every killing that has happened since October 2007.
What can we do to prevent mass murders? In my humble opinion, this is what I think we can do to start.
First, the media and the public needs to stop referring to these incidents as shootings. A shooter is someone who responsibly goes to a gun range and engages in target practice. A shooting happens when someone accidentally shoots someone else or themselves. A murder, is a premeditated killing in cold blood. This is a mass murder and these adults and children were murdered. By sanitizing the coverage, we lessen the impact of what was done. Next, the media needs to cover these events responsibly, the more coverage of the murderer only inspires the next potential murderer who has mental health issues to perform a more spectacular mass murder. Call it what it is. It will not make those who were killed any less dead, but will force us as a society to face up to exactly what was done. Responsibly owning a gun and going to a range makes you a shooter. Planning a killing and killing people makes you a murderer. What good comes of sanitizing what was done? It makes a big difference to someone who is mentally ill. Please interview some mental health professionals to explain that. People's lives are more important than network ratings.
We need to hear from mental health professionals to make people aware of what to do when someone you know is having difficulty and could potentially become a mass murderer. What are the signs to look for? What do you do?
Making gun laws tougher may help, but that will not be the only solution. CT has some of the strictest gun laws and gun ownership overall, if I have my statistics right, is declining. Our leadership is fooling themselves and the public if they think gun control will stop mass murders in itself.
We need to have a culture shift. There is a right and wrong and as a society we have lost touch with what that is.
Our leadership has failed us and that starts with the Office of the President of the United States and then to Congress and then to the voting booth ( I am not talking about just this administration). This is just not a battle over gun control. We need campaign finance reform so the politicians represent the people, not dollars. We as a nation need to understand there is right and wrong and when we forget that evil prevails.
I cannot save the world, as I thought I could as a teenager, but I can work on my circle of influence. I will do my best to work with and support people with mental health issues and that starts with my own family.
What can we do to prevent mass murders? In my humble opinion, this is what I think we can do to start.
First, the media and the public needs to stop referring to these incidents as shootings. A shooter is someone who responsibly goes to a gun range and engages in target practice. A shooting happens when someone accidentally shoots someone else or themselves. A murder, is a premeditated killing in cold blood. This is a mass murder and these adults and children were murdered. By sanitizing the coverage, we lessen the impact of what was done. Next, the media needs to cover these events responsibly, the more coverage of the murderer only inspires the next potential murderer who has mental health issues to perform a more spectacular mass murder. Call it what it is. It will not make those who were killed any less dead, but will force us as a society to face up to exactly what was done. Responsibly owning a gun and going to a range makes you a shooter. Planning a killing and killing people makes you a murderer. What good comes of sanitizing what was done? It makes a big difference to someone who is mentally ill. Please interview some mental health professionals to explain that. People's lives are more important than network ratings.
We need to hear from mental health professionals to make people aware of what to do when someone you know is having difficulty and could potentially become a mass murderer. What are the signs to look for? What do you do?
Making gun laws tougher may help, but that will not be the only solution. CT has some of the strictest gun laws and gun ownership overall, if I have my statistics right, is declining. Our leadership is fooling themselves and the public if they think gun control will stop mass murders in itself.
We need to have a culture shift. There is a right and wrong and as a society we have lost touch with what that is.
Our leadership has failed us and that starts with the Office of the President of the United States and then to Congress and then to the voting booth ( I am not talking about just this administration). This is just not a battle over gun control. We need campaign finance reform so the politicians represent the people, not dollars. We as a nation need to understand there is right and wrong and when we forget that evil prevails.
I cannot save the world, as I thought I could as a teenager, but I can work on my circle of influence. I will do my best to work with and support people with mental health issues and that starts with my own family.