Readers respond to last week’s Feedback Friday topic, which was:
Memorial Day Overshadowed by Gun Violence
This past Memorial Day weekend, which is our nation’s special time to remember our brave soldiers who laid upon the blade of service and died for our country, we are also crestfallen with last week’s news of yet another mass murder. This one at the hands of an insane man (nee child)—just 18 years old—who took 21 lives at an Uvalde, Texas, elementary school with legally-purchased AR rifles and 375 rounds of 5.56-caliber ammunition.
It's an amazingly sad situation that overshadowed this past weekend’s holiday. We mourn those who died for our nation during the span of many wars, tours, and service—many of whom were 18-year-olds, themselves, firing guns until the day they died.
And now we mourn those who died at the hands of an 18-year-old who fired guns into an elementary school. This incident occurring just one week after the horrific mass murder at a Buffalo, New York, supermarket. All of which hits home in Annapolis much, much too hard.
Clearly, something must be done to prevent mass murders in which the weapon of choice is firearms. The question is, how and what can be done? How do we respect safe-practicing gun advocates and owners and ensure guns do not end up in the hands of another mass murderer? If you think this is solely a gun issue, please explain your solutions. If you think this is a mental health crisis, please explain what you think can be done. Both? Something must be done.
Here’s what you said:
The only way to stop or prevent gun violence is if more good people with guns outnumber bad people with guns. If just one of those teachers was able to have a gun there would be a chance to stop the shooter. Taking guns away from law abiding people is the worst thing that could be done. Then we are even more vulnerable to mass shootings by people that can get a gun legally or illegally.
Julia Jones, Edgewater
Ban automatic rifles across the board. Raise age of gun ownership to 21. Make gun owners carry insurance. Make gun manufacturers liable. Expand background checks. Fund social media tracking teams.
Jean Tullier, Annapolis
This is not a very difficult equation. Young men should not have access to guns ( nor should any young individual) and no-one should have access to any type of military weapon using multiple rounds unless you are serving in the military. Proven methods are gun buybacks, stricter age limitations and full background checks. How perplexing to now be reading articles about whose fault it is, why did the school do this, why did the police do, or not do that. Does every small town police force really have the training to handle this type of situation? Should our country focus our efforts on training police forces, parents and children how to best survive a mass shooting? It's not feasible to place every young person in this country through a mental health counseling program, train every police force in every town counter-terrorist maneuvers and expect kids today to be practicing school shooter drills. Preventing the problem is the solution. Gun control is the obvious solution.
Gail Hulme, Annapolis
First, strictly enforce ALL gun laws already on the books. Enforce mandatory sentencing for ALL gun crimes. Strength background checks at all points of sale and lengthen waiting period. Better education on the Red Flag law.
Joe Peterson, Annapolis
Gun violence in the US is brought on by many factors and there is no simple solution -- no one law or policy will address all aspects of the problem. We could start with a review of the facts and some simple questions: Why are young men the ones who commit these horrific acts? How is their socialization different from that of women of the same age? How many shootings are black on black, white on black, black on white. How many shootings are drug related? How many shootings are mental health related? What impact has the video game industry and the popularity of games such as Call of Duty had on desensitizing gamers to mass shootings? If discussing a ban on assault weapons, should we also ban violent games that serve as training videos for mass shootings? How many mass shooters telegraph their attacks in advance on social media? Can we get the social media platforms to apply the same protocols they use to quickly identify "disinformation," to expose the threats of violence that are often discovered after the fact? I believe we need: 1) mental health providers in our schools -- COVID exacerbated mental health challenges and teachers have seen an escalation of violence which they are not equipped to handle. 2) sensible gun reform that doesn't punish law abiding citizens in an effort to control criminal behavior. 3) activities for young males that involve positive male role models (police, business owners, clergy, athletes,) 4) a responsible media campaign that involves the movie industry, rappers, games manufacturers, etc. to stop glorifying and monetizing gun violence.
Linda Kohler, Queenstown
If the Supreme Court is going to roll back precedent ( Roe ), it should also roll back the various gun rights cases which were based on a faulty reading of the 2nd Amendment.
Eric Peltosalo, Annapolis
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