Learn from drunken driving epidemic

Several years ago, after what seemed like an endless procession of innocents killed by drunk drivers, the nation collectively united in a chorus of “enough.” Today, while those tragedies still occur, numbers have been driven down to a level at which the epidemic is largely over. Are there lessons applicable to an ideologically driven, intractable problem pertaining to firearm slaughters? There are.

The drunken driving epidemic was not resolved by restricting or banning certain types of cars. It was not reduced by going after the manufacturers of alcohol. It was solved by going after drunk drivers!

We owe the innocents of Blacksburg, DeKalb, Colorado, Arizona and Sandyhook solutions, real solutions. This madness is perpetrated by mentally ill young men between 18 and 25. They are the drunk drivers of this plague. Identify them, prevent them from gaining access, commit them when warning signs indicate they are spinning out of control by linking the databases that will connect the dots. Get them help if they can be helped, but stop them at any cost.

Yes, games and films, intoxicants and moral relativism, the disintegration of the family and what our Founders described the cultivation of virtuous citizens (in our case, the lack thereof) all contribute. Even if we have the will and wisdom to reverse the decline we embarked upon in the ’60s, it will take years to accomplish.

In the meantime while we posture, pontificate and point fingers, we need to do one more thing. Place armed guards at the door of every schoolhouse. These monsters are indeed insane, but they are also cowards. Deny them their twisted, coveted infamy and promise instead certain death. and this will stop.

Steve Quick

Arlington Heights