Why America Lets the Killings Continue

[jsr]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/14/opinion/why-we-let-the-school-shootings-continue.html

Why America Lets the Killings Continue
By GREGORY GIBSON

MY wife and I learned about the Connecticut school shootings on our way home from the cemetery, where we had just finished observing the 20th anniversary of our son’s murder.

Our son Galen, who was 18, and a teacher were killed on Dec. 14, 1992, by a deranged student who went on a shooting rampage at Simon’s Rock College in western Massachusetts. Galen was a gifted kid, and Simon’s Rock seemed like the perfect place for him. He’d never been happier. The killer had a vastly different reaction to this environment. After run-ins with college officials, he vowed to “bring the college to its knees.” He bought an SKS at a gun shop down the road, and obtained oversize clips and ammunition through the mail.

In the wake of Galen’s murder, I wrote a book about the shooting. In it I suggested that we view gun crime as a public health issue, much the same as smoking or pesticides. I spent a number of years attending rallies, signing petitions, writing letters and making speeches, but eventually I gave up. Gun control, such a live issue in the “early” days of school shootings, inexplicably became a third-rail issue for politicians.

I came to realize that, in essence, this is the way we in America want things to be. We want our freedom, and we want our firearms, and if we have to endure the occasional school shooting, so be it. A terrible shame, but hey — didn’t some guy in China just do the same thing with a knife?

[Freedomofspeech]

1. My heart aches for you and your wife.

I live in Southwest PA where camoflauge is the state color and guns are a religion. I'm so sick of these stupid, stupid people whose air I have to breathe. This country is so screwed.

[Walk away]

2. No "some guy in china" did not do the same thing with a knife!

A man stabbed 20 children in China last week. The difference? None died and only two were seriously wounded. Shall we ask the parents of the 20 dead children in Sandy Hook if it's the same? I'm sure you could answer that question yourself.

I am sorry about your son and very sad that you have tried so hard to change things for the better only to watch the world harden it's heart against the victims of gun violence. But please don't compare those two incidents without pointing out that the outcome when a gun is involved is even more tragic and deadly permanent.

[murielm99]

3. The statement about "some guy in China" was sarcasm.

And the OP did not write it, he posted a few paragraphs from a well-written column. Follow the link and read it.

We all need to get hold of ourselves and stop flying off the handle at each other without good reason.