Last week, an editorial appeared in this space that addressed hunting, and its place in the greater realm of outdoor enjoyment. The purpose was to build off of a story we ran regarding adverse hunter-hiker interactions, and point out this can be an emotional issue that is best approached with a hearty dose of empathy, good data and above all else, an open mind.
Just a few days later, we all went to bed and woke up in a much different world.
We all know what happened. A young man for reasons that are still not understood, might never be fully understood, walked into a Connecticut elementary school with a rifle and committed a crime that even in the year 2012 — the bloodiest year on modern record for mass shootings in this country — is simply incomprehensible.
In the days that followed, it became increasingly apparent this tragedy shook the nation to its very core in ways that a litany of other senseless disasters known in collective memory only by the towns and cities they occurred in, could not. It is inevitable in following weeks there will be much discussion regarding the role of guns in our country, and what must be changed to better protect all our citizens.
We might have woken up to a different world on Saturday, Dec. 15, but we don’t think our approach to addressing it should be any different than how we might decide how hunters and hikers can get along: with a hearty dose of empathy, good data and an open mind. And we think that analysis demands change.
What has been discovered in the days after the Newtown tragedy is gunman Adam Lanza perpetrated his crime using almost exclusively a Bushmaster semiautomatic rifle. It’s a .223-caliber weapon equipped with a pistol-style grip, which makes it easy to control recoil when firing rounds in quick succession, something that’s quite possible when the rifle is fitted with a standard 30-round or extended 40-round magazine sold by the manufacturer. It fires a bullet similar to the 5.56 NATO round our troops use in combat. It even includes an attachment rail featured on military weapons so different sights and accessories can be changed in and out.
It is a military-style weapon designed to deliver an incredible amount of damage in the shortest time possible. And it has no practical use. Hunters do not need to spray their targets with 30 bullets. We likewise struggle to imagine a scenario in which this type of stopping power is needed in a self-defense scenario outside of events appearing in a popular AMC action/drama television show.
Stemming the tide of mass shootings (13 this year alone) will not involve a one-hit solution. It must involve a frank discussion about many topics — our mental health system, security protocols in public places, our cultural mores and, yes, gun control. Let this debate be one based on fact and aimed at producing solutions.
We would encourage our readers to get involved sooner rather than later, and to do so in a forum outside of the din of social media. You can easily find and contact your Congressional representative here: house.gov/representatives/find, and contact Sen. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand at schumer.senate.gov and gillibrand.senate.gov, respectively.
Many of us were touched by the Newtown tragedy and sought in vain for something to do. Making your opinion known, no matter what it may be, is a good first step. A second is to send your prayers not to Facebook, but to Connecticut. The post office in Newtown has set up a PO box to accept such mailings, which will be handed over to community groups for distribution, at Messages of Condolence for Newtown, PO Box 3700, Newtown, CT 06470.