Monday, August 29, 2020
Last evening, here on the east side of town and in our local Safeway, an active shooter murdered shoppers. That shooter, soon found dead in the store, apparently committed suicide. Everything about the event is heartbreaking, the same for every mass shooting, whether in our backyards or seemingly distant.
Ever-increasing episodes in public venues are alerting citizens and weighing our minds. Since the mid-1990s, mass murders have occurred in schools, crowded streets, and inside shopping destinations. It’s ugly and unfortunate that Americans today anticipate probably of similar incidents.
The critical sources of this violence are mental health and weapons availability issues. The world’s increasing population burdens public mental health providers. Getting large-scale mental health up to speed requires lengthy and complex processes. Those would begin with the almost impossible question, “What is “public mental health” anyway?”
Americans recognize that the most direct and immediate way to reduce incidents of mass shootings is to increase control over weapon sales. A tough job but likely more doable than addressing public mental health challenges. However, in the end, mental health issues are giants that cannot be ignored.
I’ll vote for anyone who’ll pledge to take on shooting issues, promise to work toward outlawing weapons sales and reduce current large ownerships.
Dear Friends: America must ensure public safety in social venues. Diana
Diana's Morning Blog 
I don’t believe that outlawing the sale of weapons is the answer. Sadly, someone with a mental illness who wants to go out and kill people will find a way to do it, whether they use a homemade bomb, a knife, a vehicle or an illegal firearm or something else.
The highest percentage of gun sales in the last two years has been by women. The Redmond Gun Club, Ladies of Lead in Redmond and Shooting Stars in Crooked River Ranch have been packed with women who want to legally learn how to protect themselves in a responsible way. A lot of them are first time gun owners concerned about the lawlessness that is growing in our society and the lack of Police Officers available to help. We should not deny them the right to self protection because of a few mentally ill individuals who create mayhem in a community of thousands of law-abiding, responsible gun owners.
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