Well, Bob Beane got part of it right (“Death reduction via sensible gun control is possible,” AFN, Aug. 15). Current and former gun controls have done little to curb mass violence.
But instead of blaming the tool, why not get to the real root of the problem. We are a society of Band-Aids and aspirin. Nobody wants to deal with the root cause of the disease. Just put a Band-Aid on it, take an aspirin and it will be better tomorrow.
Let’s take a look at, as Beane puts it, “the actions of a lone individual of questionable mental stability.”
Why are these individuals walking among us? In almost every recent case of mass violence, as the facts come out, we find that the perpetrators have a known and often documented case of mental instability. They are a danger to themselves and in several cases others.
Why have the professional mental health folks and law enforcement that knew about their instability not taken them away? Well, we wouldn’t want to violate their civil rights. Do their civil rights include performing acts of violence against their community?
I don’t blame Beane or many in our society for this view. They’re just ignorant. Some poor misguided Ahwatukee mother wants us to sign her petition to bring back the Clinton assault weapon ban. We fear what we do not know. Lack of knowledge is ignorance.
Oh here he goes with the NRA (National Rifle Association) talking points, where is the outrage and the talk of bans when cars kill thousands of people each year. If we want to talk about real problems, automobiles cause more deaths annually than any other tool.
I am sure if we dug deep into the statistics we could prove certain high-powered performance cars are more deadly. Should we ban those models? We cannot deny the facts.
But the reality is, how many cars do each of us own? My family has three. I see multiple cars in every driveway in my neighborhood. We use cars every day. We are comfortable with cars. We know cars. We know they kill people and they could kill us every time we drive out of our neighborhoods, but we do not fear them. Knowledge truly is power. Fear is the enemy.
Nice try Mr. Beane. Next time you aim, hit the real target. That’s gun control.
Scott Lanham
