A possible solution to mass shootings in U.S.

Dear Editor,

There seem only three uses for guns that rapidly fire multiple shots: insurrections, criminal gangs, or mass shootings.

Anyone imagining fighting with their guns to liberate America from a future (or present) despotism should consider the recent Armenia/Azerbaijan fighting. Azerbaijan’s Turkish drones easily defeated Armenia’s better trained and armed soldiers. So future rebels might want to get friendly with Turkish President Erdogan rather than worrying about rapid-firing guns.

The roots of our mass shootings run much deeper. Clearly something is different from the past.

The person voted most likely to succeed in our high school had succeeded, but so had almost everyone else, sometimes on the second or third try. Possible then because we had a complete, balanced economy — many kinds of jobs and skills. Having sent many of those jobs overseas (e.g., machine tools, autos, steel, TVs), it is harder these days for young people to find their place, and much tougher to support a family or buy a house. In the 1960s, one breadwinner could support a family, buy a house and educate children.

A second problem is acknowledged by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC): One of every six children has some developmental problem. The resources to address that disaster are a tiny fraction of COVID-19 funds. Little progress has been made understanding causes, even less on healing or prevention.

Address our unbalanced, unequal economy, and the tragedy of developmental problems, and we may find many benefits besides reduced mass shootings.