Earlier this week, I shared the experience of discovering a bullet hole in the window of my downtown office at the Akron Beacon Journal.
Though Akron police said the bullet strike was most likely random and unintentional, it still brought home the dangers of what can happen when people misuse or mishandle firearms.
I asked you to tell me your experiences with gun violence, as well as your ideas for combatting the problem.
Here’s what you had to say:
Possible solutions: universal background checks, age restrictions, red flag laws
Jeff Mittiga of Kent said gun violence “is a nationwide problem that needs to be addressed” and offered several ideas for how to combat it.
“Universal background checks are essential,” he said. “All handguns and semiautomatic weapons must be registered. This would help prevent the weapon from being sold and transferred without a background check. If someone has a misdemeanor conviction for a crime involving violence or threats of violence, they should be prohibited from gun ownership for 10 years.”
Mittiga also suggested only selling guns to people who are 21 or older and enacting red flag laws that remove firearms from individuals who pose an imminent danger to themselves or others.
“More counseling and positive activities are needed for young people who are at risk for juvenile delinquency,” he said. “These policies could save thousands of Americans each year.”
America’s de-evolution
Craig Erskine of Stow said the subject of guns in America is a “complicated and contentious topic, and a thorny issue.”
“How do we balance random acts of violence, accidental killings, targeted shootings, self-inflicted harm and firing a gun as a way of celebrating against a citizen’s ‘Right to Bear Arms’ because that is what is in the Constitution?” he asked.
“I don’t have an answer to that,” he said. “But it does look like we are rapidly ‘Devolving’ back to the ways of the Old West.”
People, not guns, are responsible for violence
Paul Carris took issue with the concept of “gun violence.”
“Guns aren’t responsible for gun violence,” Carris said. “The person pulling the trigger is responsible.
“Blaming a gun for violence is like blaming a fork for someone’s obesity − the tool isn’t the cause; the person using it is.”
Remembering the ‘good old days’ in Akron
Robby Leary shared memories of growing up during the “good old days” in Akron, back when there were “no sounds of gunfire anytime of the day” and front doors were left unlocked.
“How things have dramatically changed,” he said.
When he stayed overnight with his mother, who has since passed away, to help out in the family home on Akron’s east side, “you could hear the gunfire,” he said. “You could count the rounds − sometimes 14-15 consecutive shots.”
“Your fear was that one of those would come through the walls,” he said. “There were times the random shots were even just houses away, being shot up for some ungodly reason, maybe payback. Who knows?
“No one’s names are on those bullets,” he said. “Those bullets do not know any racial barriers, either. You stand a chance of some kind of disaster no matter who you are − the wrong place, the wrong time.”
He’s moved away from the area but still comes back from time to time to stay with siblings who remain in Akron.
Every visit, he said, “seems more of a lesson in survival, rather than a warm, contented feeling of a safe home.”
Blame lack of personal responsibility, not guns
Tom Adante said the lack of personal responsibility among some gun owners is the real problem, not the weapons themselves.
“A stray bullet fired randomly in the air penetrates your office window,” he said. “When I read this my first thought, unlike yours, had nothing to do with gun violence.
“I couldn’t help but wonder who in their right mind would randomly fire a gun in the air? Why aren’t we asking where is the personal responsibility to lawfully carry a weapon?
“Until we address taking personal responsibility for properly owning and carrying a firearm the finger pointing at guns as the source of violence is laughable.”
Absentee fathers are part of the problem
James Lunsford of Cuyahoga Falls, who worked at the Department of Youth Services in Highland Hills for more than 20 years, said the vast majority of the youth offenders reported that there were no father figures in their homes.
“One major problem that is too often avoided is that too many young men avoid their responsibility as fathers,” he said. “Too many young men are raised by single women with no father in the house.”
Solutions to gun violence often met with opposition, tough to implement
Ed Arida of Stow said many ideas exist for addressing gun violence, but they’re often met with strong opposition.
“For example,” he said, “eliminate all guns, and cries of ‘Second Amendment right infringement’ will be heard, along with the virtual impossible logistics of implementation. Enact ‘stop and frisk,’ and cries of ‘Fourth Amendment right infringement’ will be heard.”
He said the random bullet that struck the Beacon Journal “is merely a symptom of the escalating cultural battle that is raging within our nation.”
“Nevertheless,” he said, “not only I am profoundly sorry that you were exposed to this ‘symptom,’ but also fearful of it coming to my ‘sphere of existence’ as well.”
Cheryl Powell is executive editor of the Akron Beacon Journal. Drop her a line at cpowell@thebeaconjournal.com
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Is America ‘devolving?’ Your thoughts on gun violence | Powell
Reporting by Cheryl Powell, Akron Beacon Journal / Akron Beacon Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Cheryl Powell, Akron Beacon Journal | USA TODAY Network
