Hello everyone, I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving. I hope you were able to enjoy your holiday with family and friends. The Holiday season has begun and I’ve already started my Christmas Shopping.
But enough about that. In the last week before Thanksgiving, we’ve had two mass shootings. One in Colorado and one in Virginia. This saddens me. What is going on in our country?
The shooting in Colorado is being investigated as a hate crime because the gunmen opened fire on a LGBTQ night club. The one in Virginia was an employee of Walmart who opened fire on fellow employees. Both incidents are under investigation, but like I’ve said before, I feel the root of all these shootings is disconnection. The shooter has lost his connection with family, friends, and community. No one wakes up one day and says, “I’m going to shoot up Walmart today.”
There are signs something’s wrong. The shooters may have a history of violence in their past. In fact, The New York Times conducted a study and found that seven out of ten mass shooters have a history of domestic violence. Either they are the abuser, or they grew up in an abusive household. This is where we need to start. Let’s take a hard look at domestic violence.
We have to stop sweeping it under the rug. Did you know that a woman is five times more likely to be murdered if her partner has a gun? So, if you combine the disconnection the shooter feels and add domestic violence to the mix, you’ve got a bomb ready to go off, and there’s no telling when it’s about to explode.
But what can we do? That’s a pertinent question. There’s no way to predict when someone’s going off the deep end. We need to educate people and where there’s a disconnect create a connection. We can do this by community outreach programs and through our schools. I hate to put any more responsibility on our schools, but it is a place where kids come together and a place of connection for them.
We need to study other countries that don’t have a mass shooting problem and emulate them, then go above and beyond to create avenues where victims of domestic violence can go and be safe. Next we have to take a hard look at domestic violence and stop tolerating it as a society. It has to be punished and not swept under the rug.
I don’t like to get political on my blog, but there is another reason the United States has so many mass shootings and that is we have an astronomical number of guns. In a study conducted by The New York Times, Americans make up 4.4 percent of the population but own 42 percent of the total number of guns. We need to change this. Kids don’t need assault weapons and neither do adults. The only people who really need this type of weapon is someone in the military. I know there are some second amendment people out there, and I agree with you. We do have the right to bear arms, but the constitution was written a long time ago, and I can guarantee you, they weren’t even thinking about assault rifles when they wrote that amendment.
So there you have my action steps to the problem.
- Create connection through our communities
- Stop tolerating Domestic Violence as a Society
- Limit access to guns and assault weapons
- Emulate other countries who don’t have a mass shooter problem
What are your thoughts on Mass Shootings? What would you do to stop them? Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
For more information on Mass Shootings, check out these links:
It’s truly shocking
It really is. This issue really has me worried.
Understandable
The shocking thing is that so few people are making the connection between the loss of fear of God and the fact that mankind no longer values life. People make bad choices and the worst one in the USA has been turning away from God and making godless choices. BTW, there were two other shootings last week, one at UVA and one at Bridgewater College in VA. I stand by the truth that guns can’t kill people unless they are in the hands of someone who uses them for murder. One of the weapons used was a pistol (at the Walmart). Banning guns doesn’t solve the problem of lack of morality and values.
Good point! But we can’t really police morality can we? We can’t make people believe in God and the 10 Commandments, but we can limit who can buy assault rifles. That’s the only thing we really have any control over.
Valid point Lisa. But we really have not control over who gets a gun even IF laws were changed. If someone wants a gun they WILL find a means of gaining access to it. Plain and simple. Crack is illegal and well we all know about that one.
I don’t disagree with you. An assault rifle is a stupid thing to sell to non military personnel. But people can also modify a 12 gauge shotgun to have more than 3 shots as well.
It’s not a gun issue though. It’s a heart problem and you gave very good pointers on how that could change with the right resources given to the schools, therapists, pastors, etc.
Good post.
You voice some valid points, too, Stuart. There are just no easy answers to this one. I agree it is a heart problem though. We’re all so disconnected. We have to somehow bring back the community feeling we used to have before the internet, when people looked out for their neighbors. Thanks for stopping by, Stuart! I appreciate you sharing your thoughts with all of us.
Seems to me all shootings are hate crimes.
it is devastating
It is, Beth, and unfortunately there are no easy answers. Thanks for stopping by.
Good action steps, Lisa, and a well written post. This is getting to be an epidemic in America. The politicians need to work together, not apart, on finding a solution.
You are so right! I appreciate you stopping by and sharing your thoughts. Have a great week!