Well, I guess it’s an improvement. In the aftermath of the Navy Yard shooting, two columns in the Sept. 22 Columbian actually offered something other than just the typical reaction of clamoring for more gun laws — Opinion Page Editor Greg Jayne’s column, “On guns, mental illness and the intersection of the two,” and Froma Harrop’s op-ed “Variety of factors lead to killings.” But even though both considered factors in the background of the shooter, focusing on mental illness, they still couldn’t resist the urge to make a case for more legislation.
In his column, Jayne asked if we had bridges collapsing and planes falling from the sky, wouldn’t we expect Congress to do something about it? The thing is, collapsing bridges and falling planes are accidents that can be attributable to malfunctioning bridges and planes. Mass shootings aren’t accidents caused by malfunctioning guns, but events planned by malfunctioning humans.
Jayne says of our current system of dealing with mental illness, “And it is something that must, absolutely must, be addressed before any discussion about gun control.” So yes please, quit wasting time and energy seeking feel-good legislation that does absolutely nothing and do it.
Julia Dawn Seaver
Vancouver
