Real talk needed to stop senseless violence

Another spate of senseless violence in our nations schools ripped across the headlines this month. More lives lost, more children buried by grieving parents. Our president showed real anger and frustration at a press conference for the Oregon shootings. A massacre that took nine lives including the shooter and wounding nine others in a small town college in Roseburg, Oregon. Clearly he was shaken by yet another shooting happening on his watch and he wasn’t holding that frustration back any more. Can you blame him?

Well there are those that will sadly. But this isn’t about him lets get that straight right from the get go. It is not about the endless debates that rise up every time one of these incidents happen. The arguments both pro and con on the subject of firearms and gun violence rages for a spell then fades to nothing until the next shooting happens. And there will be another one. Add to the sad fact that there were 149 school shootings since 2013. Let that number sink in for a bit. Let me spell that out for you too: One Hundred and Forty Nine school shootings since 2013 that have taken young lives before their time violently.

Here is another number to think about . In 2015 alone there were about 298 mass shootings in this country. I was floored when I looked this up. They even have web sites tracking all this. Web sites? Shooting tracker? Have we really lost it so bad we just add another shooting to a website and move on contemplating our collective navels via our iPhones?

That looks about it isn’t it? How we as a nation let it happen over and over and do nothing about it. That we have given up. That we have let our young people down. We failed to find the true root cause of it all. Oh we have spent time and lots of money arguing about it. Proponents for both sides of the gun issue have only accomplished one thing with all the accusations and bluster they mustered up. Nothing. Absolutely nothing.

Nothing has changed. A maniac comes to a campus, movie theater, shopping mall or church and opens fire. Blood shed to follow ho hum another one. Nothing to see or do. It has all happened before, carry on. Well that is complete bull hockey! The call to take action was ages ago and ignored. Time to pay attention now, ignorance is far from bliss.

We need to talk people. And I do mean everybody from victims and their families, congressmen, law enforcement officials to political powerhouses like the NRA. I want them all at the table. Especially the NRA since they are instrumental for every U.S. politician cowering under their shadow. And lets face it, they are the loudest and the ugliest voice out there and frankly a huge part of the problem. Fine then, come up to the table, sit down and really begin to talk and most importantly­ listen. Listen to everyone respectfully. The last suggestion has been something unknown to the political arm of the

But first let’s all ditch the politics, the blame and the vitriol at the front door. All of blame and endless insults from across the political spectrum have done nothing to help. So they go by the way side as of now. Another thing that has to go by the wayside; the rumor mill. It needs to stop. Like the rumors that Obama is going to take your guns or ammo in an effort to “Disarm America”. It is a rumor only. A rumor that has a lot of gun store owners grinning from ear to ear with fistfuls of money as a direct result of them. Stop the rumor mill and take off the tin foil cap. We are better than that.

We need a plan of action. One that all involved can agree to and implement. But first we need to confront the problem by talking about it first. Only then can a plan be developed.

Talk first get the ideas out in the opens to hash them out. All ideas are welcome. No shouting, no rumors, no foaming at the mouth, no obstructionism, no politics left or right. Just fellow citizens taking on the senseless violence that has become the bane of the nation. We can do this, but only if we drop all the crap that is blocking any effort to combat it right now. It’s past time to break out the shovels, put on the waders and dig ourselves out

We owe all those that died a debt that must be repaid by finding solutions to the issues of mass shootings and gun violence. Because I fear the next shooting will be much closer to home and I for one don’t want be that parent burying one of my children after some mad man shot up a bunch of innocents. Do you?

Daniel D. Grota is a retired U.S. Army veteran with over 21 years in service. He is also a Tuesday morning co-host on KVRF 89.5 FM, Radio Free Palmer. Write to him at news@frontiersman.com