Many hold the National Rifle Association, a private organization, accountable for the proliferation of guns that kill people. Should we also hold the American Automobile Association, a private enterprise, accountable for auto accidents and vehicular deaths? If a drunk driver hops in a car and drives carelessly down a boulevard killing an elderly lady, does an attorney sue Budweiser or Coors? If the Black Congressional Caucus watches out for the rights of Black citizens, should we also have an LGBT Congressional Caucus, a Hispanic Congressional Caucus, a Ladies’ Congressional Caucus and a Caucasian Congressional Caucus to protect the rights and privileges of those they represent?
Our government jumps on the bandwagon of gun control whenever the ubiquitous multiple murder scenes are cordoned off by flashing lights and police perimeter tape. Reporters and cameramen appear almost as if they were cruising around looking for a crisis or deadly event. Suddenly TV programs in progress switch to the scene; in many cases we are told that the photos to follow may be too graphic for children. Millions of us burn the breakfast toast or singe the grilling burger because we become obsessed with gawking at the TV crime scene that repeats digital footage of the carnage and crouched police officers every 2 minutes.
Government and news agencies are adept at reporting crimes and deadly incidents. In most cases, our President makes a cogent speech from the White House or even from Poland about the tragic event. In spite of zero progress on congressional gun control the President reminds us that a responsible congress would take action and pass more laws. Do we need more laws or do we need to stop mass murders?
One of the basic tenets of legislation at local, state, federal and international levels is that laws, statutes, ordinances and regulations are written for law-abiding citizens of all ages, colors, ethnicities, religions and sexual orientation. People with criminal minds do not obey laws. People who plan criminal activities do not read books to learn how to break the law, for obeying the law is singular, breaking the law is plural. The bullet shot from a gun killing a person is innocent; the person who pulled the trigger is guilty. The bottle of Coors Light that put the reckless driver over the alcohol limit killing the lady does not expose Coors Brewing to a lawsuit.
Some of our tragic mass shootings may be preventable by surveillance of potential terrorists and criminals, but people like Harris & Klebold, student killers of 13 in April 1999 at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO might slip through the cracks. Twenty year-old Adam Lanza may have been protected by a doting mother, but he evaded notice by teachers, neighbors and friends before killing 20 school children in Connecticut in 2012. The tragic killing of 32 students and faculty on the Virginia Tech campus in April of 2007 was caused by a loner named Seung-Hui Cho, age 23, who suffered from mental illness that the state’s mental health profession failed to recognize. Two parents sued university president Steger and the U.S. Department of Education sued Virginia Tech $55,000 regarding the event.
The United States has become an armed camp and nobody seems to know why. U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch was heard making an appeal on TV that went something like this, “Let’s not let this (Dallas police murders) become the new normal.” As she finished speaking, other shootings were reported in Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee.
Daily shootings somewhere in the United States have become the new normal. Through July, 2,050 people have been shot and 364 lives have been terminated in Chicago. (Which, by the by, has the toughest gun laws in America on the books.) What is Mayor Rahm Emanuel doing about that terrible record? Are crime researchers able to determine how many of the victims and perpetrators had jobs? How many should have been in school? How many victims and shooters were from fatherless homes?
President Obama and government in general seem to be fixated on taking guns out of the hands of law-abiding citizens. Let’s study the demographics of people, neighborhoods and cultures. When we uncover the root of the problems, we can make progress toward solutions. If we are truly the greatest nation in the world, then we can solve the problems. Continued next week.