I'm sure you've all heard by now of the tragic events that took place in Nebraska. Nineteen year old Robert Hawkins took an AK-47 along to his local mall and killed nine people saving his final shot for himself. It's horrible and it's tragic, but it's not all that shocking, not anymore. Young Mr. Hawkins brings back memories to all of us of other young men going on killing sprees, unfortunately they're becoming more and more common. Ofcourse, those that occur here in the U.S. often get the gun control crowd in an uproar. The thing is, guns aren't the problem, not really. Since the constitution was put into effect, we've had the right to bear arms. What we didn't have was kids going on killing sprees in their local malls and high schools. Banning guns would be like putting a band-aid on a festering open wound....largely ineffectual. You take away guns and that just means that somebody who's set on killing, who's thought about it and planned it out, is going to find another way. What are the chances that if some of these boys hadn't been able to get a hold of guns that they would have gone on the internet and devised a way to make a homemade bomb instead? I'm guessing, pretty good. The problem is so much bigger than the mere choice or availability of weapons. Trying to pin it on that, to me, has the appearance of grasping frantically at something, anything, that would make us feel like we're doing SOMETHING to counter the issue. Because banning firearms is do-able. It's a relatively simple goal to pass gun control laws. Much simpler than say, curing what ails society. Much simpler than fixing what we've done to families and to our children.

Take Mr. Hawkins, for example. In the four years prior to killing 9 people and then turning the gun on himself, he bounced back and forth between treatment centers, group homes and foster care. He had apparently been kicked out of his home at around 15 for threatening to kill his mother-in-law. We don't know all the details, but we can safely say he had a dysfunctional family environment. Evidence shows he was a troubled youth, harboring a fascination with violence. Evidence also shows that many people who knew him felt sorry for him because he seemed alone and in need of help. You could, and I'm sure many will, say society failed him, and in many ways it did. Obviously the group and foster homes did him little good. I have to wonder though, regardless of how the harsh, cruel world may have treated him, what his home life was like. I have to wonder if these young men, who have so little empathy or regard for human life, including their own, could have easily shouldered the trials in their lives if they had always had their family standing firmly behind them, an anchor in deep waters, a shelter from the storm. I've always felt a person could handle just about anything if they had the things that are truly important. If we have the unconditional love and support of our family, if we know we are loved, wanted and of worth to those we care about, we can handle much of what the world throws at us. I know how young men are treated in today's world. They are taught to hate themselves from grade school through adulthood. I'm sure this isn't easy for anyone, but a strong home environment would do much to counter the wrongs of society. Even if the rest of the world tells you you are of little worth, if you're brought up from infancy by a mother and father who love you and tell you you are of infinite worth, there lies all the difference. I don't think anyone bothered telling these boys they were of worth. I don't think anyone told them they were unique, wonderful and precious. I know society didn't and I sadly doubt anyone else did, either.

I think, instead of pointing the finger at guns or even at society (although Heaven knows there's much to blame there) we need to start by looking at the home. We need to wonder what effect the destruction of the nuclear family has had. We need to look at what daycare, divorce, neglect and general selfishness has done to our children. Along with everything else, children first learn their sense of self and self-worth in the home. Judging from the number of young people who feel lost, alone, and worthless, it's pretty obvious that our homes are failing our children. Until we accept this and do what needs to be done to counter it, I'm afraid we will be seeing many more incidences such as the tragedy that occurred in Nebraska.

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