Why gun tragedies? We’ve lost our moral compass

he recent tragic shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., has brought out the gun control advocates as predicted. The loss of innocent life is senseless and surely angers all of us. We wonder how someone could become so lost and evil to enable them to do this horrific act. What we need to do as a society is to take a deep look at why this happened and not react in an ill-informed, reactionary, baseless manor.

Providing legislation to eliminate guns, as many demand, will get us no closer to an answer or solution we are looking to achieve. Chicago is known for having the highest number of homicides in the United States by gun while having the toughest gun restrictions. This is not an isolated example as many “gun-free” zones are targeted by these evil people to do their harm. Common sense says if a group is unarmed, evil people will target them over a well-armed population. We even have people calling out for the repeal of the Second Amendment. This is a dangerous and ridiculous statement and immediately shows the lack of understanding of this specific issue and even more dangerous the lack of understanding behind the Second Amendment. A group of kids get in a car and the driver has been drinking, plows into a tree killing all seven people in the car, do we call to eliminate cars? That would be ridiculous and would not address the issue at hand. There are approximately 11 teens that die from texting and driving per day, do we try and eliminate cell phones from our country? While the drum beat of eliminating guns is loudest after this type of tragedy, a very important question should be asked, how many crimes or deaths are prevented by responsible armed citizens.

The answer to this issue is not in Washington. Our country was set up with the understanding that the closer representatives are to the people the more efficient the system. The federal government was to be extremely limited in its power with its focus on international issues and an emphasis on protecting our borders and citizens from foreign invasion. The individual states, as spelled out in the 10th Amendment, are given the bulk of the domestic power. Federal governments have few, limited and defined powers as spelled out in Article 1, Section 8. Where then are we, as a society searching for answers, to look for help in stopping these horrible acts of evil. To answer this question we need to look in the mirror and ask where we think we are as a society. Everyone is looking for a quick fix with some type of legislation or further restriction of our basic rights. Please understand that this will not solve any issue but only give our elected officials something to hang their hat on to say they did something.

The answer is very simple, yet not the flashy and quick reactionary response many are calling for. We have lost any sense of a moral compass and have forgotten how and why America was established and became the most charitable, giving, and prosperous country in the history of the world. We are all born and blessed with the innate understanding of right and wrong. Our society has continuously been attacking this survival instinct, demanding its suppression and even ridiculing anyone that tries to rise above the wave and talk about having morals. This loss of common sense and values has pierced every aspect of our society and has become extremely dangerous.

We now have 58 gender options as noted on Facebook, any type of personal responsibility is no longer a viable belief, and we somehow believe legalizing marijuana is a good idea. A very powerful tool used to shape ideas and a great indicator as where we are as a society is to take a look at any one of the hundreds of channels on cable television. You will see story lines that do nothing to build us up as a society but does quite the opposite. The depictions of every kind of violence, sex, alternative living and basic lack of any morality is not only prevalent but the norm. This enormous form of media, which includes the social media, is where so many of our youth spend much of their time.

Additionally, our government has disrupted the family unit by establishing so many programs to discourage the all important family structure and the greatest example is the “War on Poverty” as described Johnson.

Until we, as a society, understand the extreme importance of a strong family unit with the understanding of morals as well as right and wrong and where these ideas are generated, we will continue to have these horrible events. We need to stop blaming other people for our circumstances and take ownership of our lives and the children we bring into this world. We can’t stop all evil, but these common sense ideals will surely go a long way and start us down the path of healing.

Before the cases went to trial, the county made a non-disclosed settlement. The plaintiffs couldn’t tell me what was paid. How many other settlements have there been in the last 40 years since we have had one-party control of county government ? How many millions of dollars of taxpayer money have been paid out because we didn’t have checks and balances with by President Lyndon no transparency?

Now that Delaware County has two-party representation, I urge council to end this abuse of taxpayers’ money and allow for the disclosure of any more out-of-court settlements from now on. The days of back-room deals and hiding these pay-outs from the public must end.