Letter to the editor: Doing nothing is not an option

Doing nothing is not an option

In a news conference following the mass murder of nineteen children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, Governor Greg Abbot described the eighteen-year-old gunman as “pure evil.” Yes, the killer and what he did are the epitome of horrific evil loose in our society. More recently Governor Abbott evaded the issue of the proliferation of guns and increasing gun violence in our culture by saying that our main focus should be on “mental health.”

Others say that the main cause of the majority of these massacres is fatherless families and poor parenting. Others say that only persons twenty-five and older should be allowed to own guns. Others affirm that the solution is more good guys with guns and the militarization of our society (more armed guards everywhere, teachers carrying concealed weapons, etc.). Others believe that the only answer is in stricter gun control, and many believe that doing nothing is best.

I suggest that doing nothing is “pure evil” in light of the tens of thousands of deaths which occur each year from the use of guns (including assault rifles) in suicides, and individual and mass murders of all kinds.

I suggest the following compassionate and common sense actions which should be taken to at least reduce some of the carnage: (1) Require universal background checks for all guns; (2) Renew the assault weapons ban; (3) Increase mental health budgets instead of cutting them; (4) Increase wages so that one-parent families will be more able to provide for themselves; (5) Increase funding for programs which help school dropouts; (6) Develop law enforcement programs which enable our officers to more easily and quickly spot individuals who are troubled and at least offer to get them help before they hurt themselves or someone else; (7) Encourage those who make movies and video games to curtail the excessive violence they promote; (8) Involve our social media giants in our efforts to be more civil in our use of them; and (9) Encourage our churches, synagogues, mosques, and other faith groups to both speak, write, and practice the love of God and man that they espouse.

Doing nothing is not an option in this crisis.

Herbert Hash, Jr.

Boone