LETTER: On mass shootings, blame glorified violence rather than guns

With more mass shootings, the first idea that comes up is more gun control. But that fails to take into consideration the mental state of these individuals and how they reached the point at which they found random killing acceptable.

Perhaps the first place to look is television and movies, with their compulsive, overwhelming violence. It is so pervasive as “entertainment” that young people are numbed to the slaughter. This has nothing to do with constitutional free press rights, so it needs to be regulated far more than guns do.

The second thing we need to do is return to an era in which we understand right from wrong. Any crime, particularly those involving assault, battery, robbery and other violence, should be met with incarceration, not counseling and a slap on the wrist. We have to teach our children from a young age that they are responsible for their actions and anything that harms another needs sharp consequences.

The guns do not act without humans to operate them. The violence comes from individuals who no longer understand what is right and wrong because we accept too much harmful behavior. We need more accountability and far fewer excuses to stop the violence. If we do not fix our broken justice system, which serves as a glaring example that we do not take crime seriously, we can expect others to follow suit. The path we are on is endangering all of us.