Columbine, Virginia Tech, Tucson Arizona, Aurora Colorado, Portland Oregon, and now Newtown Connecticut…Another mass shooting, but this time the victims were elementary school children.
As the nation grieves for these latest innocent victims, the issue of gun violence in the U.S. has produced outrage and frustration with the lack of willingness of our country’s legislators to take up the policy debate. The gun control advocates raise their voices for a while but as the headlines wane, the issue goes away until the next senseless tragedy occurs. Our country’s leaders, reluctant to tackle this controversial subject and risk re-election, return to their political ideologies and gridlock-producing behavior. Nothing gets accomplished.
So what does this have to do with wellness? Everything. Our sense of well-being has a lot to do with feeling safe and secure, despite the knowledge that there will always be unanticipated dangers in the world. We want to believe that going to a movie theater, a shopping center, a school, or a workplace, is safe and well-protected. Sure there are mentally ill people in the world who will obtain guns no matter what laws we enact, but can we minimize their access with background checks, bans on assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons, and purchases of massive amounts of ammunition?
These violent attacks traumatize not only the survivors, the families of the victims, and the first responders, but also an entire nation, as we lose trust in the institutions meant to protect us. We become cynical and skeptical that anything can be done to stop this from happening again. Already convinced that our elected leaders cannot come together to resolve our country’s economic woes, we wonder how can they possibly have a rational debate about the amount of gun violence in our nation?
So instead of optimism and hope for a better tomorrow, an unhealthy cynicism and skepticism grows. We become hardened and resigned to a government that is incapable of getting anything done. We shake our heads and shrug our shoulders in futility.
However, I believe that hope is possible and that our country is resilient. History will show that we can work through this issue in a collaborative and reasonable manner. Although still wrestling with the fiscal cliff, immigration reform, and other important matters, the time is ripe to debate this issue and ensure the safety and security of our nation. Let’s act now!
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