Hello everyone, I hope all is well with you. I’m back today after a week of writing, running, and working. All are going well, and I’m hopeful. But enough about that.
Photo credit: Elson on VisualHunt
This week has been an eventful week. We had a political activist assassinated this week and another school shooting. Both events involved guns. I send my condolences to the victim’s families on both counts. No matter what your political affiliations are, no one deserves a death like that.
Our country is hurting. School shootings are on the rise. Assassination attempts are on the rise. I’m afraid for our children. The truly innocent victims in all these situations. The thing that gets me is these shooters were young. Both are under the age of twenty-five. How did they get their weapons? Why are babies taking guns and shooting people?
These questions need to be answered. It’s a scientific fact that a young adult’s executive functioning doesn’t fully develop until age twenty-five. So, it would stand to reason that kids under twenty-five should not own guns or have the ability to purchase guns. I don’t know how much more evidence we need as a nation before we realize we need to have gun control.
I know second amendment lovers are screaming at the thought of gun control, but our country has a problem. A big one. Our young people are getting guns and killing innocent people. What is the motivation behind this? The assassination was clearly motivated by politics, but what about these mass shootings? What are the causes of these events? This question is a difficult one to answer.
Most shooters have mental health issues along with a triggering event like the loss of a job or a divorce, but there is on one profile for a mass shooter as of yet. Just trends and tendencies.
I was discussing this issue with a friend, and he pointed out that 40,000 people died in car accidents in the United States in 2023. I think this is tragic as well, but no one gets into their car with the intent of killing someone. These are accidents because someone wasn’t paying attention, or they used bad judgment.
This forces us to look at the intent of the action. When someone gets a gun to take to a school or a movie theater, their intention is to use it to cause harm. There’s no other reason. This is what needs to be addressed. We can’t go around killing people because we’re not able to deal with our lives.
So, what can we do? We can become more involved with our kids. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Disconnection is the cause of many mental health issues. We need to become more connected as a society.
How can we become more connected as a society? I’d love to read your thoughts! Leave a comment! I’d love to hear from you!
