School Shootings

“If I die young, bury me in satin.
Lay me down on a bed of roses.
Sink me in the river at dawn.
Send me away with the words of a love song.”

If I Die Young  - The Band Perry

…..

When I was in Congress, after any tragedy be it natural or man-made, the press was on me instantly for a reaction. I hated this. Obviously the first thing you do is offer sympathy and solace and, if you are a person of faith, prayer for the victims and their families. Although you have to do it, my own words rang hollow to me since I did not know these people and often did not know this place. How could my thoughts provide any comfort to anyone other than myself?

Then, the press would move right to the follow-up question, “what are you going to do to stop this?” I really hated this question. Is Congress the solution to everything? Are all tragedies fixed by passing a bill? I think congressional bills on balance cause more problems than the solve. But that media person would demand an answer.

I didn’t really want to write this blog either. But I suspect that many of you are curious as to my thoughts on this. With reservations, here they are.

I don’t know what the answer is. I do know what it is not. Our left-wing divisive president had not 2 sentences of condolence out of his mouth before he turned his attack on “the gun lobby.” These sorts of shootings did not occur at anything close to this frequency in the 50s, 60s and 70s. There were almost no gun control laws then. Now we have lots of gun control laws and the attacks have been increasing for 30 years in number and intensity. It is more logical based on the facts to argue that gun control increases school shootings than to say that more control will prevent them. Neither is so. Eighteen year old men have had access to guns for centuries. Something recently has made them want to kill multiple innocent people with them.

There’s something else at work here. Something societal. Something cultural. Something medical. I don’t think it is any one thing. But I do not know what other factors are at work. Is it the breakdown of the nuclear family or the reduction in regular religious service attendance? Is it the increasing use of prescription drugs in young children to control “behavioral problems?” Has it been affected by the lockdowns leaving many young people abandoned without guidance or hope? Is it the impact of social media turning more young people inward with “electronic friends” rather than physical ones? Is it the increasingly graphic and frequent violence coming out of Hollywood productions? Is it a failure of the public education system?

I wish we could stop trying to move unhelpful political agendas (some on both sides) as a result of these tragedies and objectively analyze the problem. These were 4th graders dammit! But, our political culture right now is too fragmented to do so.

That said, I don’t think this is a political problem nor does it have a political solution. We all should take a look at our society and our culture and try to discern what is amiss, because something is.

May God hold the victims in His loving arms and may He give comfort to those grieving their loss.