Guns and Communities

I mentioned a few weeks back that this blog would sometimes be political. Today is a politics day cause this past week and the weeks ahead I will be fighting the political battle of my life. But more on that next week.

This week I thought I would foray into the Gun Debate, not least of which because Congress failed to pass gun control this week. Oh BTW- I am against Gun control. Not because I love guns or hate them for that matter. I also am pro-choice so fit that in your political file folder- I don't fit in any where on the traditional political scale so hear me out before you jump all over my position on guns.

I am against further restriction, laws or anything else that fails to address the real reason why 26 children and adults are dead in Newtown. I am against the delusion that another gun law will solve the problem when so many others have done nothing to address the real reasons why young men decide to use a weapon to express their beliefs, thoughts and delusions of grandeur.

I think the real problem is mental, spiritual and social. Passing another a gun permit law is like saying we'll stop car jackings by issuing more drivers licenses. Criminals commit crimes- always have always will. The one way to predict who a criminal will be, is look at who is committing the crime. Its circular logic and making legitimate gun owners do more to get a gun just muddies the waters cause they aren't the ones doing the shootings- its the borderline personalities that permitted or not, decide one day to start shooting.

So lets stop fixing the symptom and get at the problem.

Mental health is the front line in the war against men of means who decide to kill.

If we could find out Adam Lanza's medical history I am sure you would see a pattern of behavior that pointed to the eventual outcome. But we cant see his records because of "privacy" concerns. Well what about our kids safety concerns?

Every single one of the mass-shooting perpetrators had some sort of outburst before they made their final decision. Every one of them displayed signs at some point to someone and forced that someone to say to themselves, "Something should be done about this guy."

We have this NEW campaign here in Connecticut, if you see something say something. Well I have tried. When my life was threatened last year by a person who was in and out of jail, was crazy as the day is long and clearly had a violent past, I was told by the State Police, to tell someone else.

Now I don't think the cops should run down every lead, but certainly there should be some way to raise a red flag on someone that is not going to get them  arrested? Not sure this answers the question, but its gotta be a way forward?

And what about those people who just don't fit in or have an ongoing issue that doesn't fit in a jail cell.
We have a family member in my family that is going through just that thing. They are without options now and the problem has gone on across decades and states. There is no mechanism for someone who just cant relate to society after age 18 but isn't set for jail,  if you don't have the money. Unless you can afford $30,000 a year for some private halfway house, it is just a waiting game til you get dead or in trouble. This has to change.

We need to change how we look at borderline personalities, we need to remove the stigma of mental illness, we need to fund programs that serve adults as rigorously as we fund prisons and we need to reform our views on security, freedom and morality.

A close group of neighbors is far more secure than a series of homes scattered across the hillside. Why did these things not happen with such frequency back in the day? Well because we had more communities and less housing developments.

When one family was in trouble they had a close network in the neighborhood to address that problem. They didn't leave the problem person alone at a computer festering over video games and horror stories only to emerge one day with a AR-15. Families were not just under one roof, but throughout a community. And it was the community that lived, played, worked, fed and mourned together. And by doing so they brought along the weak, ill and distraught. When people came together as a group, outsiders were that much more obvious so evil doers could be discerned that much quicker, problems could be addressed that much sooner and borderline behavior could be coaxed out into the open that much faster.  Communities are how our ancestors insured their individual safety was met and communities once again could help save lives.

Now I know this doesn't address all the problem in the Nation, but it fixes a few of them at my home. A little more conversing with the neighbors, a little more investigation into the lives of my friends and a little more together time with those I work with could make me a soldier on the front line of home security through the power of observation. I don't need a gun to keep my family safe, I just need a quick wit, open eyes and a kind heart and I will continue to be one of the 99% of Americans who never encounter a violent crime in their home. As for the rest of the time when I am out in the world, a good dose of luck, a quiet prayer and good escape plan never hurt anyone.