Like most Americans, I have been shocked and devastated by the tragedy in Newtown. Who can ever forget the death of 20 innocent children at the hands of an unbalanced young person?
As I listen to the discussion these senseless deaths have engendered, I am appalled at the suggestion that the solution to gun violence is more guns. America already has an unhealthy obsession with guns. With 5% of the population of the globe, we have about 50% of the guns in private hands. There are more guns in the US in private hands than in the Russian army. Does this make sense?
I believe in the second Amendment whose purpose was to prevent oppression by another unjust government, such as the one that the colonists had experienced.
That does not mean that assault weapons should be in private hands. I remember when I was young and TV was young, there was already dismay at the violence on TV and its possible effects on children. The violence then was tame compared to the violence now in computer games, films, and TV.
It is time for us to pause and reflect on what we are doing. Is this a nation bent on suicide? Is this a nation bent on self-dsstruction? No one needs an assault weapon.
We need to have more than a conversation, the euphemism one hears again and again on television news. We need to take leadership in solving a problem.
In this season of healing and peace, let us take a giant step forward as a nation and show leadership in facing our own problems and solving them so that there are no more Newtown tragedies in your town and my town.
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