EDITORIAL: Murder, mayhem & 3 major issues

Mass murder and mayhem in Arizona shine a spotlight on at least three issues vital for the future of America—mental health, gun control and public speech.

Most people would rather ignore mental health care in this country, and it seems we cannot discuss gun control and civility without shouting. But for the good of our nation, let’s try to rise above base impulses.

Jared Loughner, the alleged shooter, apparently suffers from mental illness, according to reports from high school friends, college classmates and a teacher, and neighbors. Even before the shooting, a fellow student at Pima County Community College told friends she expected to see Loughner featured on the evening news after a mass murder. She said she always sat by the class door so she could escape if he ever started shooting.

America needs a preventive mental health system that can help people before they harm others. “This … calls for a better mental health system that can identify and deal with these human ticking time bombs before they go off,” noted Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. “Why do we have to wait until after they cause mayhem to deal with the problem when they are readily identifiable to anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear?”

Unfortunately, mental health treatment has been pushed to the back of the budgetary bus for decades. With federal and state governments facing huge deficits, that’s not likely to change. But we can hope, pray and advocate for a better system—for the sake of the mentally ill and society, too.

The disastrous consequences of mental illness can be multiplied when mentally disturbed people carry easily concealed handguns with high-capacity magazines. Although numerous people around him worried about his mental state, Loughner purchased a Glock 19 pistol with an expanded magazine. Police say this enabled him to fire 31 shots into 20 people before he had to pause to reload.

Gun control is one of the most volatile issues in America. Many citizens believe a “well-regulated militia” may be necessary one day, and so they defend a broad interpretation of the Second Amendment, which guarantees, “… the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.” Can we find a balanced response? Should protecting citizens’ rights to bear arms to hunt, protect their families and even join militias be construed so broadly that we cannot keep high-capacity handguns, automatic weapons and “cop-killer” bullets out of the hands of criminals, terrorists and the dangerously mentally ill? We need a sane and sensible national discussion about who has a right to bear arms and the kinds of arms they can bear. Surely, we can find a solution that protects freedom and maintains the Second Amendment without escalating the national arms race and making our country increasingly dangerous.

We also need a sane and sensible national discussion about how we talk to and about each other. Loughner obviously is troubled, and I won’t join the chorus that says others’ political speech drove him to hatred. But his story is not the entire story. The volume and rancor of our political speech continually escalates. This is beyond dispute. We cannot hope to solve our serious problems—involving economics, education, health care, defense, international relations and others—if we’re shouting at and vilifying each other. We need to talk; we need to listen. We need to seek the good of the whole, not grab for the whole of the goods.

You may wonder why an editorial about mental health, gun control and public speech appears in a Christian newspaper and website. Well, Christians are citizens of this nation and world. The issues that plague society should concern us. We should lead by example—talking softly, listening intently, thinking creatively, seeking win-win solutions.

—Marv Knox is editor of the Baptist Standard. Visit his FaithWorks Blog.