All efforts to stop the violence caused by mentally unstable persons are premature thus being wasted because they are not considering the basic reasons for these violent shootings.
Some of the underlying causes that need to be acted upon before or simultaneously with other actions:
1. Violence in present day movies. These movies must be removed and destroyed. If not, someone will bring them back to public viewing in the future and the problem starts all over again.
2. All video games must be removed from the present day media that children have access to, and a law written and enforced that prohibits them from ever being shown as a means of entertainment for our young people, or that problem starts all over again.
Why not replace them with gun training sessions (NRA for example). Perhaps start some marksmanship leagues where they can form teams and have competition via their selected means of cyberspace media. A good replacement, to name one, is the “Vegas” type gambling on the internet. The guns used shall be .22 caliber 5 shot revolver and a bolt action .22 caliber rifle with a 3 shot clip. To make the program more economical, they could use “BB” guns or the “laser” type unit.
3. Gun shops will be required, by law, to put all their assault rifles, magazines and clips that are questionable or illegal into a locked vault. The key(s) shall be put in a bank deposit vault under the gun shop business name and cannot be opened without a court order. This law will not be in force for a given length of time. It shall stay in force forever.
4. Remove the TV show: “Sons of Guns.” They are creating the most impractical weapons that anyone could imagine.
I sincerely pray that gun shop owners will comply with any and all of the rules and or laws pertaining to this issue. They may be protecting their own children from being killed by some mentally unstable person.
5. When TV became a media that made our world smaller, it could have been used as a “learn at home” device. But, the industry did not screen their programs which let the bad programs in their schedule and influence our young people.
6. Background checks are a good action, providing they are extensive and accurate. The five-day waiting period is useless! It took me about 6 months to get my concealed weapons permit for a .22 caliber 5 shot revolver which I used for deer hunting, as a means of communicating with my hunting partner or to put a deer down that I had not killed with my first shot. My rifle was a bolt action 30-06 caliber with a 3 shot clip.
All applicants who show any mental deficiencies during the background check will not be given a permit. Their application will be put in a separate file so that they can be removed for review at any time in the future. All applicants must have five letters of character reference on file with their application in the town or county clerk’s office from:
1) Local Police Chief; 2) District Court Judge; 3) City Court Judge; 4) High School Principal of school the applicant attended; 5) Clergy of the Church of the applicant’s choice.
All of these files will be under lock and key and the sole responsibility of the department manager.
I strongly feel that the actions that I have stated above will, over a short time, make a substantial reduction in the problem that we are presently facing.
I also feel that if actions that I suggest are put in force the mentally retarded or those under the influence of drugs will not have weapons of mass destruction at their beck and call.
I feel strongly that with the enforcement of the above laws, our school principals and teachers will not have to be armed with a weapon. They will be able to concentrate on doing their job, “teaching our children.”
One police officer or security person at the main entrance with other entrances locked at all times.
This security measure should be all that is needed to secure our children while they learn right from wrong. We will have to be patient until any laws put into force concerning this problem produce results.
As I watch the news of the day, I get very upset with all the re-reporting of the loss of parents’ loved ones. I lost my wife of 62 years April 2010. I will forever miss her so I try not to let my loss get the best of me; life must go on. I think of these few words often: “When someone you love becomes a memory, the memory becomes a treasure.”
I feel sorry for all the parents who lost loved ones due to easy access to weapons that should not be available to the public.
Loring C. White, Sr.
Stevensville