March 08, 2018
Thursday PM

Letter to the Editor:

I do get the concerns about guns, but I don’t believe guns are the only thing that can cause harm to others in society. If I remember my history correctly, governments have posed a significant risk to life as well. Does this mean all governments are bad or that we should get rid of all governments? Of course not! 

However, it does seem we need to address the problem of school shootings. Maybe we should raise the age to purchase firearms as it does follow the logic that if a disturbed teenager is unable to purchase a gun, then such a gut-wrenching school shooting will never take place again. While we are at it, we should raise the age of murdering someone to 21 as well. Oh, wait! That’s right! Murder is already illegal, yet that didn’t stop the young adult from killing and harming others. It should be pointed out that raising the age to purchase guns only targets law-abiding citizens, to begin with, and, if someone lacks self-control and has the intent to kill or harm someone, there are other ways to follow through with the evil in his/her heart regardless of our law. 

Sadly, there are cases where some people have victimized others by skirting the law without actually breaking it. There are also cases where people have followed the law, and it has harmed others too. Rules are not adaptive. If you look at history, it seems it is easier to establish then abolish bad regulations. The one take away from this should be that the more regulations and rules, the harder for the Titanic of bureaucracy to change when it is faced with a challenge. 

There are no easy answers, but it seems our society has become more reactive in general. We are on the prowl for a scapegoat. While we are establishing our zero-tolerance policies, we are unable to see how we are contributing to the loss of love, peace, and understanding in our society that fuels such drastic, desperate measures. We are escalating the division, labeling and targeting anything that may be different then we are. We are dismissing our ‘slow brain,’ and the solutions it could offer, for our reactive ‘fast brain,’ that fills in and tries to minimize the potential horrors that we think might befall us (whether from a valid experience or not). Allowing our fears to rule our nation has brought out the worst in us and I hope that our politicians can see us for what we are: Scared. 

Each time we pass new legislation born out of fear, we confirm that we should be scared and it also creates a valid outlet for those seeking to use that fear. We lose sight of the good in life and others. We lose respect and trust for others. The whole world seems like a scarier and darker place that needs to be controlled more and more. Is this really the kind of society we want? Where will it stop and is there any safety or relief for individuals that may not fit into the definition of government-sanctioned perfect?  Should we really exchange individual freedom and rights, because of the poor choices of a few? 

It’s at least worth pondering.

Sincerely,

Amanda Mitchell
Fairbanks, AK 

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The text of this letter was NOT edited by the SitNews Editor.

Received March 06, 2018 - Published March 08, 2018

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