One Small Voice: Better to act on than react to gun violence

When I walked into the house Saturday morning after a routine trip to Wal-Mart, it was just before 11 a.m. AZ time.

I turned on the old laptop to check my e-mail, and there, once again, was breaking news, from The Hill and NPR, of another mass shooting.  It had just happened within the minutes prior to my sitting down.

It is just a week since the shooting at the Garlic Festival in Gilroy, CA.  Three were killed in Gilroy:  two children and a young man in his 20s.  As of this writing six hours after the news of the El Paso, TX, Wal-Mart shooting first broke, 20 are confirmed dead with 26 injured, and updates will continue, giving us the grim news of ages, sexes and races of those victimized.

Before I could attempt sleep last night, word came that another horrific mass killing had happened in Akron, OH.  It might have been the mayor, or the police chief, or any of the many officials who make first pronouncements when things like this happen, who said, and I paraphrase as closely as possible, “We will bring swift and certain justice in this matter.”

I say, how about swift and certain attention to those who suffer mental disease?  How about swift and certain commitment to swift and certain finality to the heartbreaking agony of those left in the aftermath?

It is difficult to find joy or hope today.

After only six short hours after El Paso, there was a lot to report. When you get around to reading this column you’ll likely know all there is to know, but for now the story is, as they say, fluid.

The El Paso Chief of Police gave a glowing report of the preparedness of the El Paso Police Force and all agencies that sent first responders.  According to the chief, responders were on the scene within six minutes.  There were many dozens of law enforcement personnel, and an equally impressive number of EMTs to treat the casualties.

The Mayor of El Paso reported that the local citizenry also responded rapidly to the situation.  Residents were lined up around the block at a blood donation center, within a couple of hours of the news breaking, to provide life-saving blood for the victims.

Law enforcement has already ascertained the identity of the shooter, his use of a military-type long gun, and that he was armed with lots of ammunition.  It has also been reported that a “manifesto” of sorts has been recovered which might be connected with this person.

Legal eagles are already putting together the chain of investigation and the possible charges to be filed.

All the pertinent officials, from El Paso law enforcement and the mayor, to the Governor of Texas, agree that protocols for active shooter incidents and rapid response teams were followed to perfection, and that planning and practice resulted in the very best of possible results in this situation.  They expected this would happen.  They planned for it.  The planning paid off.  Everyone is to be congratulated and commended for jobs well done.

So……done and done.  Right?

No, not right.  There is something horribly wrong with this whole wretched scenario.

Can you see it?

Look closely.

There it is.

Twenty people are dead.  Dead.  More than 24 are wounded.  More than 24.  Wounded.  A 19-year-old white male had a rapid-fire rifle, enough ammunition to choke a horse, and, apparently, a personal agenda that involved wreaking havoc on an innocent populace.

For this nightmare, and too many others like it, there has been no proactive mitigation of the problem of gun violence in the United States. There has been only reactive mitigation.  Only the creation of an army of well-trained, well-prepared first responders whose job it is to clean up the carnage after the fact.

We have put all our energy into responding to the crisis after it happens, when the damage is already done, instead of putting our resources into preventing the violence in the first place.

Don’t misunderstand me.  I fully appreciate the work done by first responders in our country.  They provide intervention on an epic scale when humans are in need.  When natural disasters strike they are right there risking life and limb to rescue and resuscitate, bind wounds and transport patients.  When a terrible accident occurs, the same applies.

But should they also have to clean up what is the equivalent of the carnage of war?

Americans cling desperately to their Second Amendment rights in the face of the increasing public health threat of guns.  But they don’t seem to put equal effort into demanding that legislators enact laws that intervene as safety valves where gun ownership is concerned.

Knee-jerk reactionaries may call me names for my continuing diatribe against this epidemic, but I’m only the messenger.

Americans own enough guns for each person in the country to own at least one.  That includes children.  Guns can be bought at Wal-Mart, the same place where 20 died today, along with ammunition.  Gun shows can sell arms without background checks.  In Arizona I can sell my personal weapon to my neighbor without any paperwork at all.

Unlike cars and dogs, guns don’t have to be registered unless one has a permit to carry concealed or to carry openly.  Laws are not consistent state to state.  Guns cannot be taken away from persons who are deemed to be dangerous to themselves or others without their consent.

Mental health in the United States is eroding year by year due to a wild variety of causes, and mental health care is a great big joke.  Too expensive, too hard to find, and too much stigma attached.  There is no nationwide database that tracks gun owners, gun crimes, or any relevant information that could be useful to law enforcement regarding our armed populace.

Gun violence and mass shootings are so common now we barely register them in our consciousness.  An event as awful as today’s in El Paso draws a deep sigh, maybe a tear, and an overwhelming sense that none of us has any power to make a difference.  And then we go on about our business.

When this news cycle is over and we have forgotten about 20 dead human beings in El Paso, the more than two dozen survivors will still be dealing with the nightmares connected with getting and affording the medical interventions needed to heal the physical damage done by unforgiving bullets.

They will certainly be dealing with PTSD, but will they be able to afford the mental health interventions they need to overcome the long-term effects to their psyches?

It is crystal clear to me that we need to advance a massive, proactive approach to enact a cure to the madness, because reacting just isn’t getting the job done.

Keep those knee pads handy, folks.  Your thoughts and prayers will continue to be needed on a regular basis (even though they don’t have any concrete effect) because no one in Washington has the courage or desire to get down to the real business of accomplishing what polls show consistently are the wishes of more than three quarters of Americans, that of writing and passing sensible, sane gun control.