Tougher gun laws will accomplish two laudable objectives: they will reduce the availability of guns, and they will restrict the types of firearms that may be sold to the general public.
But, stricter gun laws alone will not put an end to gun violence, for the problem is far more complex than that.
According to a study published by the Washington Post, few mass shooters were under 21 years of age, and many used low-tech weapons. No large-capacity or semiautomatic weapons were used in the Santa Fe shootings: the shooter used a .38-caliber revolver and a shotgun. But what many of the shooters seem to have had in common is that they felt bullied, alienated and rejected.
Perhaps it is time that we ask ourselves what it is about us that makes us — the land of the free and the home of the brave — the most violent industrialized nation in the world.
Regardless of one’s political leanings, many of us can agree that having a name-calling, Twitter-happy POTUS is not a good example to our children about how we should be treating each other. Nor is it helpful to place students under unrelenting pressure to succeed and excel in order to meet the demands of a corporatized educational system.
And, for all of our many blessings, how can the richest country in the world lead developed countries in the rate of children living in relative poverty, as noted in a study by UNICEF?
The richest country in the world fails to provide universal health care; seeks to reduce entitlements such as Social Security; and tells our children that unless they graduate from a top-ranked college, their chances for upward economic mobility are in peril.
For all of its greatness and for all of the liberties we celebrate, America also has a mean-sidedness that may contribute to the violence that touches too many of its most vulnerable citizens.
There is abundant research available regarding the state of our society, including the negative impact of corporatized educational “innovations.”
What we need now is a place where we can come together to discuss what type of a society we want to embrace for our children.
Jim Palermo
Southampton