What Can We Learn from the Tragedy in Tucson?

It seems difficult to escape the fallout from the tragedy that occurred in Tucson a week ago. While in some ways this horrible event has brought people together, in other ways it has sparked even more controversy. I need to stop reading the online comments to various news stories; many of them make me lose all hope for the future of this country.

The far right is claiming that they share no blame for this violence because no clear motive can be determined. I think it is ridiculous to try to assess a motive from someone who is clearly irrational. Somebody who is off balance mentally can possibly be led to violence by incendiary language while a more rational person may not be influenced at all. Words do matter. If they didn’t, why would our politicians spend so much time talking? Isn’t it possible to be civil to each other while disagreeing? The hate and vitriol spewed by politicians and loudmouth talk show hosts have contributed to the divisiveness in our country. How we speak to and about each other matters. If we truly love this country, we must all work to tone down the rhetoric and learn to talk to each other.

I am so tired of hearing “guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Give me a break. Nobody needs an automatic or semi-automatic weapon. They are meant for one thing and one thing only—to kill as many people as quickly as possible. AND people who have known mental health problems, like the shooter in Tucson, can go out and buy these weapons. Now that is totally crazy. This guy would not have been able to kill and maim so many people if had been wielding something like a knife. These weapons allow a disturbed person to inflict a lot of damage. I actually heard a guy being interviewed the other day who said that it was too bad that there wasn’t another person with a gun present. Then that person could have taken out the shooter. The interviewer somewhat incredulously asked if he meant a shootout. This guy was convinced this would have been a good thing. Incredible. I don’t even know what to say to somebody with that kind of mentality. Maybe he’s been watching too many cowboy movies.

I hope and pray that we can take away some lessons from this tragedy. I understand that for the President’s State of the Union address, members of Congress will not be separated by party this year but will sit together, Democrats and Republicans as one. Maybe that’s a start.