U.S. must address its gun problem
The United States began with guns. It seems determined to end with guns. One can still hope that it will find a way to prevail and decide to revise its otherwise predictable, but preventable collapse. We should remember that in many of life's situations one's history does not imply one's destiny. Furthermore, we have been told, lamentably, that what we learn from history is that we do not learn from history.
Dallas, Orlando, St. Paul, Baton Rouge, Ferguson, Baltimore, the South Carolina church, and Chicago. Could any of those atrocities have happened if knives were the only option? Are we willing to review, and perhaps even amend, our "freedoms" in order to survive?
Who has gained in recent years through the use of guns?
One cannot destabilize a city by using a knife. Or slaughter numerous people with a knife. Or kill people at a distance with a knife. And no one has yet invented an automatic knife.
We know about the two primary causes of impulsive behavior, which is America's greatest problem - not gun control, but impulse control.
One is the breakdown of the intact family as we have known it (meaning two effective, on-duty parents in the home).
The second is the move away from a committed connection to an organized belief system or religion.
Without those two involvements, the predictable resulting behavior of many people will resemble that of untrained pit bulls off a leash. This has little to do with race, religion, ethnicity, socioeconomics, etc.
Finally, we should all remember the "Four Freedoms" speech in which FDR he described the four freedoms to which all people are entitled. They are: freedom of speech, freedom of worship, freedom from want and freedom from fear.
Americans, you choose the way to go. Suffering is optional.
Leon J. Hoffman
Chicago