In the news, another mass shooting, and everyone asking, “Why”, and “How”? Our President is outraged and says this is now routine, and that we have grown numb to it. What are we to do? When the dust settles and the rhetoric cools, that is the question.

An FBI report says that in the US this year, we have had 16 mass shootings. Thousands of Americans have been victims since the Sandy Hook shooting, and that is just since 2012! If those numbers are correct, how many victims since the first mass shootings in 60’s, most notably for me, Charles Whitman in 1966 at the University of Texas. I was there, I watched it happen. Am I a victim? If so, the number is in the hundreds of thousands.

Many are pointing a finger at the mentally ill, but we are not the only nation that has mental illness in its populace. Why are our mentally ill attacking other humans with intent of doing harm, or are we looking for a scapegoat? What are we to? Do we start locking up every citizen who has ever had an episode of PTSD, or a “nervous breakdown”, or diagnosed as bi-polar, or do we limit their rights for the safety of we who call ourselves normal? What about those with radical political views, are we to lock them up too? That would be ironic for a nation born from radical political views.

If we can’t control the people without abolishing the Bill of Rights, what do we do? Do we attack the implements they use for destruction? Oops, another attack on the constitution, the Second Amendment, our right to bear arms.

There is a rising cry for gun control in this country, and not without merit, but if we eliminate guns in any form, law abiding citizens will be unprotected while only the military, police, and criminals have guns. We see how well that has worked in other countries through history. Besides, if I am a mad man, I will resort to explosives, or knives, or hammers, or anything else I can get my hands on. What are we to do?

Are we going to put metal detectors and body scanners in all places of mass gatherings? Can you imagine going to even a high school football game and having to line up to go through a scanner? You would have to arrive two hours early to make sure you got in before the first half ended.

Such measures have worked for air travel, right? I hate to fly because of the invasion of my privacy and the limitation of my rights. I can’t even carry my small pocket knife. One of my daughters was once required to remove a pistol shaped charm, only a quarter-inch long from her bracelet before being allowed through security. Are we willing to give up more of our privacy and rights to feel safe in a movie theater?

I do not know the answer to this dilemma. Maybe it is a combination of things, but none of them seem good, or plausible under our current form of government. Is that the answer, changing the constitution, or even getting rid of it?

No, that is ridiculous. We the people would never stand for that…or would we? Whatever we do, this violence has to stop, but what are we to do? It is time for answers.

David Wilson Atwood is a local writer whose human-interest columns offer a unique perspective. He is the author of Where the Mockingbird Sang, A Novel of the Civil War and I Followed the Wolf, Buck's Story, the prequel/sequel to Where the Mockingbird Sang. He may be contacted, and his other works viewed at: www.starchasers.us, or david@starchasers.us.