A Tragedy in Arizona

I'm waiting for yet another snow storm to lock me into this house on a hill. And I've been listening to pundits and reading facebook accounts about how so and so met Congresswoman Gifford, and how could the shooter in this horrific tragedy pass an FBI background check? And all I could think about, post the VA Tech shooting which was closer to home, was "Guns!"

But first, if we must, let's talk about the young man who 'ran amok' in AZ. From all accounts he should have been flagged and hospitalized when his schizophrenia-like jargon was spilling out of his mouth and his journals and his 'you tube' videos. When will his mother go on a talk show and say she had no idea what he was up to? How many different ways will this story spin out in American life? Will more members of congress carry guns and/or hire security? Will we go back to our frontier way of life? One of the first things I heard from VA Tech students was that many wanted to get a license to carry a concealed weapon.

In my mind, the abundance and ease of acquiring guns is our national tragedy. We let the assault weapon ban run out, so now a Glock can be purchased almost as easily as a bow and arrow. And why would a hunter need such a gun? When the Bride was little and her brother was in pre-school, I carried a bunch of toy guns into a Congressman's town hall meeting in NJ. His reps didn't want to call me., but finally I said my piece, scolding him for his pro-gun lobby vote. I dragged a friend with me for moral support and we dropped the bags of toy guns at his feet. I had run a "Toy Exchange" at the local Peace Fair. I got Proctor and Gamble to donate boxes of the Snuggle Bears for my booth where I encouraged children to exchange their toy guns for bears. It was wonderfully succesful...then I wrote an OpEd about this Rep (R-Zimmer) voting to allow assault weapons to be sold. I asked how he could look at himself in the mirror. It was one of the most personally scathing articles I'd ever written. But I was proud of it and like to think I helped to unseat him in the next election, where an actual Princeton rocket scientist was elected (D-Holt).

But back to AZ. We can try and help the mentally ill, who will always be among us, by early identification and treatment. However, ask any doctor in VA if there are enough hospital beds for the mentally ill and they will say, "No." Ask any parent if mental illness is covered by their insurer. These are policy issues we can address as a nation if we see fit. As a nation, we regulate where and how our children can sit in a car...but we can't seem to regulate guns.

Gun violence is our largest public health enemy. Will Congress and our President wake up to that?