To the editor:
Like buzzards, our culture’s mainstream media has descended upon Orlando to report on the latest all-too- frequent gun-related carnage. The tragic story has the three main ingredients that the media loves: fear, violence and deviant human behavior. As the pools of blood dry, the very painful shockwaves of this random violence make us all feel less safe. And quickly the latest chapter in America’s gun debate is rekindled. In one corner comes the cry for more gun control; in the other the familiar talking points of the NRA. As I listen to the various heated arguments over the definitions of assault rifles, terrorism, etc., etc., it feels like I’m watching people rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.
It is way past time for all the stakeholders in our ongoing crisis with guns to step up as responsible Americans and begin talking, listening and searching together for meaningful ways to find far safer relationships with guns. Among other things, representatives from the NRA, gun makers and gun users need to sit in a room and really listen to people like the parents of Sandy Hook, the Carolina churchgoers, Congresswoman Gabby Gifford, the survivors and first responders of Orlando, and the SWAT team member with a bullet hole in his helmet. Likewise, the gun makers and owners need to be really listened to.
Basically every human being is a fellow passenger on little spaceship Earth. We all breathe the same oxygen. We all want a safe place to live and the freedom to pursue diverse interests. In the past we humans have been clever at coming together and solving many complex problems. The big challenge now is to find ways to have guns and be far safer with them.
For more than 60 years I have enjoyed hunting and shooting. However, I realize along with the freedom of gun ownership comes social responsibility. According to a June 12 Time magazine cover story, since 1976 there have been 19 mass shootings (four or more gunshot deaths per incident) that killed 3,712 Americans. Thus about two dozen troubled people expressed their Second Amendment rights at the expense of more than 3,700 people who suddenly lost all their rights. It is the combination of guns and people that cause this carnage, and as a gun owner I find this extremely upsetting.
Like the Berlin Wall, which was built on fear and intimidation, the current position on guns held by the NRA eventually will crumble. In the meantime, I remain very concerned because this certainly is not the America I want to live in.
Mike Beebe
Lyndeborough