First of all, let us get our terms correct. When someone uses a gun to kill en mass, they are not active shooters; this is for two reasons. First, anyone that is engaged in shooting a firearm in a safe and legal manor is an “active shooter”, that is about 99.999% of gun owners and shooters. Secondly, quit desensitizing these sick acts! Call it what it is! MURDER, HOMICIDE and so on; by creating light weight euphemisms, we take away what the victims went through, while simultaneously removing the severity of the heinous crime. These sick, hate filled people who go in to an area, to take children from parents and parents from children are murders not shooters.
Now that we have that settled, we can move on to the intended topic.
Every time we have a mass murder emotions run high, which is understandable; especially regarding those that were directly affected by the event. This is a time for healing and grieving; not political conversations. To take such a tragedy and politicize it is both disgusting and revolting. A serious, well informed, and intelligent conversation cannot and should not take place until the investigation regarding the incident is complete, understood, and the event is not a fresh wound.
The conversation, typically in the hours that follow, after such an atrocity is committed using a firearm, turns to “gun control”. For some reason, many elected officials and uninformed citizens say that banning guns would make these kinds of shootings go away (see The Paris Shooting that took place in 2015; the guns used are highly illegal and monitored in France).
This writing is not about gun control, I could write quite a book on that topic, I will say two things on the matter: 1) Let’s make drugs illegal that would solve the drug problem, cause, you know, that has worked… ha! False! 2) Guns are tools, inanimate objects, not capable of making decisions. To ban guns addresses a symptom, not the cause. Would you continue to go to a doctor who kept treating a seeping, infected wound by just putting a bandage on it? I certainly hope not! A good doctor looks for the cause and treats to cure. The seeping wound is simply a symptom of a larger, much more serious problem.
In actuality, this is what no one seems to be talking about. The root cause. Elected officials know that the best time to get stuff done, is when people are emotional. This is when they can push their agenda. Instead of talking about the problems that lead to such a tragedy, they ( being media and politicians) talk about what they want, not what needs to be said.
Abuse can be found in most every single mass murderer, and serial killer. Physical, verbal, sexual; victim or perpetrator, in any combination, typically multiple. Why are we not addressing this!? This is one of a very few common denominators among killers. The recent Pulse Orlando murderer ( I refuse to lend to mass murderers’ fame by using their names) physically abused his first wife.
Root causes are the true concern regarding such incidents. There are too many to discuss with any depth in this venue and truly warrants a book on the matter. Root causes are however, the true topic that needs to be addressed and fixed. When the infection is stopped, the wound can heal, but not until then. We have a serious heart problem in this country. We have strayed from God for so long, man has been allowed to go his own way, which leaves us where we are today; in a dark, dismal place that will only worsen. We desperately need to look at the heart and start our work there. Once a murder has happened it is too late, for every one. We can prevent violent crime, not only that, we can predict it.
They (again, media & politicians) say these kinds of things are “unpredictable”. That is bogus. No one just all of the sudden decides to go on a killing spree. It takes time and a series of events. There are many people who make a living by predicting violent crime, and successfully I might add. (That is a service we offer at Strategic Defense Group by the way.) After every mass murder, some neighbor, or friend of the killer gets on camera and says “he was a really nice guy, he was quiet and kept to himself, never bothered anyone” and so on. HELLO! Those are signs of a sociopath with antisocial personality, a major component to an individual predisposed to mass murder!
If you think “banning” a tool will solve a problem you are terribly mistaken. It is a half-hearted attempt to cure an infection with a bandage. Mass murder can be, and is often done with any array of tools. just look at the data below taken from the FBI. As you will see, getting rid of a particular style of rifles will not stop murders…
FBI Uniform Crime Report Table 8
In 2011 (the most recent year provided by the FBI for this data) the following tools were used to commit murder:
- Rifles: 323
- Shotguns ( the type gun that Vice President Biden recommend you buy ): 356
- Edged weapons: 1694
- Blunt Weapons: 496
- Personal Weapons ( hands, feet, etc.): 728
Why do we as a nation, as states, and as citizens always seem to look to make major changes by addressing a symptom? If you want to see a major change in culture, go for the roots! Think of it this way: Your flower garden is plagued with weeds. You constantly are cutting them but they seem to come back, in even greater numbers! Then, one day you decide to dedicate some real time to treat the problem. You get on your hands an knees, grab the base of the weed, and pull hard and slow to ensure you get the whole root. After a little time, your garden is lovely and thriving! You have no more weeds, and with a little maintenance, your garden in continually beautiful!
When we as a culture are truly ready to end mass murders, we will begin to address the root cause and not the symptom. Let me know when you are ready to end this tragedies, we are ready and waiting…
What can we learn:
- Not active shooter, Mass Murderer! Do not negate the victims, and certainly do not desensitize the crime!
- We should never make decisions based on emotions. Emotions are temporary, decisions typically are not.
- Treating a symptom will only cause us to die from infection. We cannot heal by treating symptoms.
- Root causes. This is how we can effect an entire generation, and generations beyond.
- Violent crimes can be and typically are predictable. For a crime such as mass murder to be truly unpredictable, is a phenomenon.
Stay Sharp,
Adam