Violence is the problem

The drums of “Gun Violence” are sounding with ever increasing volume to define the scourge that is upon us. More stringent gun control, either with stricter enforcement of existing gun control laws or more new gun control laws are being demanded as a solution to this terrible problem. As any problem solver knows, be it medical, legal, automotive, digital or whatever, an effective solution to a problem depends on an accurate diagnosis of the problem. Herein lies the rub. The problem is not gun violence; it is VIOLENCE, violence period.

Our nation, our culture has become violent. It has been violent for quite some time now. Our children play video games that are almost entirely killing by shooting or exploding. TV seems to be mostly silly “comedy” or grisly police dramas. A political opponent is not disagreed with but is personally attacked, trashed or destroyed.

A speaker floats an unpopular idea and a violent protest erupts, threatening personal injury to that speaker. Our population seems to be divided into smaller and smaller groups, many antagonistic to all, or most, outsiders. Our nation and culture has not always been violent.

It would seem that in order to solve this problem we would first have to understand it. When did this problem begin? Why? If we can answer these questions, maybe a strategy can be developed to turn our nation back into a more tolerant nation.

This could probably be best accomplished by an organization of people with the education and open-mindedness to honestly assess and understand this problem and the courage to do something about it.

Sig Siefkes

Baker City