By: The CNM Chronicle Editorial Board
Something is very wrong.
A sort of decay is spreading throughout our society, rotting good people from the inside.
On Monday, an unknown assailant placed four explosive devices near the finish line of a marathon in Boston, killing two people at the time this editorial went to print.
On Dec. 14, 2012, a gunman killed 20 children and six adults at Sandy Hook Elementary.
On Aug. 5, 2012, a gunman opened fire on a Sikh temple, killing 10 people in Oak Creek, Wisc.
On July 20, 2012, a gunman walked into a theater and killed 12 people in Aurora, Colo.
Why?
Why do people kill people?
These events have driven a conversation about gun violence. One side claims more guns are needed to protect ourselves. The other is certain that we need to ban guns.
We have to face the fact: the genie is out of the bottle. We can no more ban guns than we could ban alcohol in the 1920s.
However, violence begets violence. More guns will not cure violence any more than bloodletting cured disease more than 200 years ago.
Our society has an undiagnosed illness that goes far beyond a single individual.
We are a sad, angry, powerless bunch. We hurt the people around us because we need to feel better than someone, anyone.
Punishment is not the answer. Of the seven mass shootings documented by the mass media in 2012, five of the shooters committed suicide.
These are acts of desperate defiance.
We need to stop talking about gun laws, about mental illness, about religious extremism, about terrorists.
We need to listen to each other. We need to stop worrying about being right, and start worrying about rebuilding what is left.
