Letter: Look in mirror

To the editor:

For several days now, I have been reading the ludicrous assertions that guns, inanimate objects, are responsible for all of the tragic deaths in the news recently. How ridiculous can we be? It is not the object, rather the person that is responsible.

There have been serial killers and mass murderers since the beginning of time, and there is little we as a society can do about it. Yet, all of a sudden, it’s only because of firearms that people are committing crimes! Generations of kids grew up with guns in the home with little abuse. So why is it happening now?

I submit it is because we have been failing our children for years. We have made life so fair and conflict-free for our kids that they do not know how to deal with adversity. Punishment for improper behavior has become politically incorrect. We teach our kids to blame someone or something else when things happen. Kids play video games involving mass mayhem and carnage and do so unsupervised. They are rewarded for completing each level of play that arguably may be desensitizing them to the value of human life.

We reluctantly identify people with mental issues. Doing so labels someone, and that is detrimental to one’s “delicate psyche.” We all want this madness and carnage to end. Blame never resolved a problem. If you want to know where to start making the changes necessary to stop it, look in your mirrors.