Which is really to blame?

If you’ve been following my blog for quite some time, you probably know that I use this blog as my personal outlet and stress reliever at times. This is one of those times.

As I write this, I’m traveling up to my home state of Massachusetts. Yesterday afternoon, I had no idea that I would be packing up my family and hopping in the car.

I would have left earlier, but I had a 10AM meeting with the ATF that I couldn’t miss. Nothing exciting – just standard procedure for opening up our new location in downtown Inverness. (If I hadn’t been there, we might not be able to sell guns at that location for another 2 months. Had to be there.)

Tragedy struck in Massachusetts

There was a violent shooting that happened in Massachusetts yesterday which involved the father of one of my closest friends. Two lives were lost in this horrific event.

My heart breaks not only for the families of the lives lost, but also for the Massachusetts Community as a whole. The unfortunate reality is that the media, masses, and legislature is going to blame the gun.

It’s not the spoon that makes people fat, and it’s not the gun that causes this incident.

Sadly enough, this isn’t the first time I’ve experienced a loved one’s death by firearm. My own mother took her own life with a firearm in June of last year. Neither my mom’s nor my friend’s father gave any indication that they were planning to use their firearms to harm themselves or others. There were no clues.

The ignorance of blaming the gun

The leading theory in Massachusetts (and some other states), is that the solution to gun crime is to either:

• make guns unavailable for purchase
• and/or confiscate guns that are in the community
• and/or making new regulations for (or banning) the concealed carry of firearms

Why don’t people understand? Criminals don’t follow the law. They won’t follow the first, or the second, or the third. They’ll take what they want, when they want it, and guns are the only thing that make us good guys have a level playing field.

Blaming concealed carry (even though statistics prove safety!)

Focusing on the gun makes them lose focus on the real issue: mental health and predicting violence

Here’s what we REALLY need to start looking into:

• What percentage of these active shooting events involve killers who are on one or more prescription medication for antidepressants? (I’m not saying anti-depressants are bad – but I do believe that they are over-prescribed and require more understanding and research)
• Could the medication have been misused, misunderstood, or mismanaged?
• What sort of mental health history do these shooters have?
• Were there noticeable red flags that are all similar that we can look for in our friends and family?

There’s a definite correlation between antidepressant pills and mass murders or active shooting events. Go check out SSRIstories.org and see just how many violent stories are linked to these types of pills.

Sometimes, prevention just isn’t possible.

I believe that Massachusetts will now install metal detectors in the major hospitals across the state. In a panicked (but intentioned) move, they’ll enact laws that ban the legal carry of firearms in hospitals (if they’re already not banned).

I don’t care what laws they make, or how many metal detectors they buy – they would never have been able to stop this awful crime from happening.

Not only was prevention impossible in this case, it is most likely that the doctor still would not have survived had HE been carrying a concealed firearm while at work. This wasn’t a gunfight – this was an assassination.

What’s the lesson we all will learn from this?

There are a couple of lessons I’m taking away from this situation, and I feel you, reader, should take from it as well.

1. Always be prepared for anything. You have no idea what tomorrow will bring.
2. Love passionately, speak openly when you’re struggling, and be confident that you can overcome any situation life brings your way.
3. When life calls, drop everything in your life and be there for your loved ones when they need you most.

I mourn for Massachusetts. Take a moment with me and send warm thoughts or prayers up that way. Leave some warm comments below, and remember: this is the greatest country on earth.