The Bigger Picture - And Response

When tragedies happen the media seems to want to interview everyone in town as they have several personnel on the scene. People like Blitzer and Cooper. In this case, of the many children killed, the media will ask such great thought provoking questions as "How are the families doing?'

What usually happens is the emotions are played on for several days until something else happens. Should there be solid common sense solutions sought to better prepare for the future? Certainly. We have to keep in mind the bigger picture. 

In 2011 there were 14,612 homicides in the U.S. according to the FBI. Also in 2011 there were 32,310 killed in traffic accidents of which many were children. Question: What will drastically reduce the number of deaths? Maybe tighter controls on individuals before they can operate.

What happened in Connecticut is terrible and should never happened. But consider this, how many 16-year-old kids are permitted to get on the roadway and operate a 3,000 pound auto, sometimes at very high speeds, without much thoughts given to the danger to themselves and others. When tragedy strikes we call it an accident. Just my thoughts and trying to understand.

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About five years ago I read an article where national mental health institutes compiled their data and found the following: the vast majority of handgun related deaths is not homicide. It's suicide, which relegates mass murders such as Columbine and Connecticut from a gun control problem to a mental health issue.

Gun control will not save anyone. Zero. Zip. Nada. Goose egg. Gun control has been globally demonstrated to be one of the least effect means for deterring gun-related deaths. Better parenting would be a better start. But you can't legislate evil or insanity. This will not be an instant fix by taking away all the guns. This will take a generation of truly concerned parents where good role models are employed instead of the latest video game killer-thriller. Where honesty and responsibility is imprinted on every youth from birth.  

Let's look at an even bigger picture: 50,000+ Americans will die on our nations highways and byways this year. And every year. Should we take away everyone's car to prevent this?  Do we re-institute prohibition to prevent drunks from driving? Stop manufacturing box cutters because they are used more than any other edged weapon in knife fights? No more gravel driveways because the stones can be turned into deadly projectiles? America has gone overboard to become politically correct. Homeland Security should have been your first clue.