IT is at tragic times such as this week, in the wake of the Newtown massacre, that a country as large as the United States of America seems to shrink to the size of a village. No matter where we were or are, we have all been left full of tears. We have all been left shaking for the beautiful children in our lives whom we adore. Newtown has changed our country forever.
Something about all those tiny little children and tiny coffins has shred our hearts to pieces. Newtowns pain, the lost children and those heroic adults who died protecting their flock, are now the angels of Newtown. And they have left us all with achingly sorrowful hearts for their untimely, violently ruptured departures from this life.
The stories of kindness from strangers have been the only beacon of light in this very terrifying and dark story.
In 1927, Bath Township in Michigan suffered the deadliest mass school murder in US history. I dont know what the reaction of the nation was then, but I know what the reaction is now. Immediately, extremist voices shout on both ends of the spectrum either people calling for all guns and assault weapons to be banned completely, or responsible gun owners fighting for their constitutional rights and repeating the signature phrase, Guns dont kill people, people kill people.
Mind you, as soon as I heard about the shooting, my first reaction was, Ban every gun everywhere! Forever!!
Guns did kill these precious children. They were the medium for this murder. So the NRA phrase of guns don’t kill people . . . rings hollow in the wake of this painful tragedy.
Certainly I understand it is a complicated topic. Certainly I understand, if anything, that armed guards can help prevent a tragedy such as this one. Certainly I understand evil people who want to commit crimes will somehow get a hold of guns from the black market no matter what.
Yet the power of the medium of the gun feels very menacing right now.
PERSONALLY, I have a bit of a conflicted approach toward guns or assault weapons. I grew up in Israel, an armed society. In Israel the army is a civilian army.
It could be your brother or uncle called up to the front while you are all praying at shul. Unlike in America, where soldiers are sent to a remote army base or country, in Israel, soldiers are part of the fabric of daily life.
When purchasing the ubiquitous Israeli street food of falafel, its typical to see a row of IDF soldiers plus some random citizens standing alongside you with guns and assault weapons protruding from their back pockets. You don’t even bat an eyelash. If anything, you feel safer because if a terrorist starts shooting, they can thwart an attack.
As accessible as guns and assault weapons are in Israel, gun crimes and shooting sprees are practically unheard of. So the Israeli side of me, in Israel, feels comfortable around people carrying weapons.
But here in the US guns have always made me uncomfortable. Guns are commonly used for sport here not that I am equating hunting with criminality. Yet even when used for self defense, guns carry lethal potential. Crimes committed with guns or assault weapons are sadly all too common, and frankly out of control, in the US.
I think it would be a worthwhile study to try and understand why in Israel, an armed society, responsible gun use is the norm.
THESE are sensitive issues. In light of what happened at Sandy Hook, responsible gun owners as well as the mentally ill are being stigmatized right now, which is unfair.
Yet these two motifs are central to the soul searching that we as a nation must do, because unfortunately gun violence and unstable minds appear linked together.
Funding, as well as other necessary help for mental health, must become more of a priority in our country. It will not eliminate evil. Bad things will still happen.Tragically, there will always be another sociopath who will commit an act of evil. But it is our responsibility as a society to reach out to those suffering from mental illness, and also accept our inherent responsibility as citizens to make sure we are doing our utmost to keep our society safe.
I also think the whole issue of gun-free zones needs to be revisited. These mass shootings repeatedly take place at schools a gun free zone. In Aurora this summer, tragedy walked fully armed into movie theater another gun free zone. It is one thing to come down hard on gun ownership and up the ante on scrupulous background checks prior to handing out gun licenses. Its quite another thing to limit guns in an official capacity at public places such as schools, a refuge for innocent children, or other public recreational venues.
Every time one of these horrific incidents take place, the shooter becomes a sick kind of celebrity in the media. Its time to reexamine as a nation how the media might be contributing to the unfolding narrative of these shootings. With todays instant access to news, more attention needs to be paid to this issue.
More than anything, our poisoned American entertainment culture of violent video games and books and movies that glorify blood and death seem to be a significant factor in this terrifying episodes.
Enough is enough. How many deaths and tragedies will we need to witness before we as a nation change?
Hopefully, we will have the moral strength to change.
For now, my heart belongs to Newtown.
Copyright © 2012 by the Intermountain Jewish News
