Sandy Hook Elementary School: This senseless gun violence must stop

It’s difficult to know what to say.

Tuesday, I wrote about the killings at the Clackamas Mall near Portland, Ore.

Friday, I listened to the radio, then watched television, as the events surrounding the mass killing at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., unfolded.

Twenty-six people were killed, including 20 children.

In my Tuesday article and an article I wrote after the murders at a movie theater in Aurora, Colo., I called for a blue ribbon panel to investigate what leads to these shootings. Then action needs to be taken to stop them.

More stringent laws on gun control are a good place to start. President Obama said Friday in an emotional statement, "We're going to have to come together to prevent more tragedies like this, regardless of the politics."

Dozens of people came to the White House Friday evening to light candles and call for more to be done on gun control, according to an article in The Huffington Post.

One woman wore a sign that said, “It Is Too Easy To Buy A Gun In The U.S.A – We need to change this!!”

I also suggested the panel look at mental illness programs, hate mongering, violent images aimed at children, youth programs, mass murders in the workplace, and other potential factors that contribute to mass murders.

Now, I’m going to bed. I hope I can think about something other then children getting shot and not coming home from school.

Can you imagine going to your child’s school and being told she is dead on the floor inside?

Copyright 2012, Rita R. Robison, Consumer Specialist

Comments

[mark andrews]

Dear Friends and Family

The pain caused by the massacre at Sandy Hook is indescribable. This is the most evil event I've witnessed in my lifetime. It makes me ashamed to be a member of the human
race....... In our pain we look for answers, reasons that this happened and ways to prevent it. My feeling is that the deeply disturbed mind of this confused young killer was catalyzed by unbridled media that makes available unspeakable violence 24/7, through motion pictures, Youtube, Facebook, TV, internet etc. I'm a believer in the brilliance that created the U.S. Constitution, but never in their worse nightmares could our founders have imagined the abuse of freedom of expression we experience in 2012. If we do not demand media censorship over violent content now, we never will.

Guns were available through our father and grandfather's lives, yet they never witnessed this level of horrific violence and unemotional carnage --even through the Great Depression when society felt equally as helpless--as they do now. Taking away a few thousand "assault rifles" is not going to fix this, especially since they're already millions in the hands of Americans who would rather use them than give them up. We must demand change at the core level now!! Please join me in writing your political leaders to express this view, and help me support this cause so that the lives of those young victims will not be wasted, but live forever in their betterment of us all.

Mark
Oregon

[rita]

Hi Mark,

Thank you for writing about your opinion that violent images aimed at children need to be regulated in an effort to stop the mindless killings that are occurring in America.

I've been writing about this for years. I agree that action needs to be taken. Cartoons are becoming more and more violent every year. The TV ads for programs such as "Grimm" are terribly frightening.

When the Aurora, Colo., killings occurred, I pointed out that at a very violent movie, a gunman massacred people. One person said he thought when the smoke bomb went off, it was part of the movie's special effects. Action that was taken? The movie didn't run for a day or two.

Yes, consumers do need to write their elected officials about violent images aimed at children. It also would be good to start a conversation about media violence in your community and form or join a group to work on it.

Thanks again for your concerns,
Rita