And now the Fallout Begins

With so many young innocent lives lost, and the photos of the fallen, with their cherubic faces smiling into the camera, flashed across our TV screens, emotions are running high.  I’ve heard everything from a national gun ban to banning semi-automatic pistols, restrictions on ammunition sales and magazine capacity…the list goes on.  The only thing we all seem to agree on is this was a senseless act of a disturbed individual. 

My heart goes out to the families, the survivors and the emergency responders.  Their lives are changed forever.  We should mourn the loss of the many, all whose lives were cut short by this senseless violence.  But we need to remember, this person, this killer, chose a gun as his tool, but it could have been anything.  Banning firearms doesn’t stop gun violence, just look at two cities with some of the most restrictive gun laws in the country, our Nation’s Capital, Washington DC, and Chicago, Ill. 

Perhaps we should look at the desensitization to violence brought on by a culture that reveres violent films and video games.  Perhaps we should consider allowing law-abiding, trained, citizens to carry concealed firearms everywhere so that they have the right, and the ability, to defend themselves, and others, at any time.  One defensively trained and lawfully armed teacher could have made a significant difference in the outcome of the tragedy in Ct. 

Let us, as a country, look at our mental health care and ask why seriously disturbed individuals wander free.  Let us not blame the tool but blame the person responsible for this heinous act.  This is a time to come together, grieve and look for solutions, not to push an anti-gun agenda.  History has shown, banning guns doesn’t work, it merely makes us defenseless.

Don’t get caught up in the debate and lose sight of what really happened.  A mentally unstable individual, with an apparent history of violent behavior, committed an atrocity, and 20 children didn’t get to return to their parents arms.  Six adults didn’t get to go home to their families.  That is the real crime, not the tool that was used to commit the act. 

Be safe.