So afraid she needed to buy guns, and shoot guns, go to target practice, and buy ammo. And low and behold, the fears she had came to be fulfilled by her son, from the inside. And is this not what we, as a country are doing, have done, continue to do? We get afraid, we stock up, we load up, we practice - and when we least expect it (ha!), we get it done to us from the inside.
Can't we learn that violence and gun ownership and mayhem are self-fulfilling? Can't we put one and one together and see that we are doing this to ourselves - by the violence we perpetrate within our society and on one another - be it heartless capitalism, or covetous consumerism, or callous disregard for the living conditions of the weak, or the miserable failure to provide medical care to the poor, disadvantaged, and helpless.
We are such a rich society, such a healthy country - and we let this happen in our midst out of our selfishness, our ignorance, and our pride.
We don't need teachers with guns. We don't need National Guard patrolling the halls of elementary schools. We don't need to make our schools look like our airports. We need to wake up to the fear that stalks the land and we need to face it with reason and calmness. We need to confront the miserable mix of guns, hatred, distrust, financial meltdown and begin to talk to one another - not on the internet or in the press - but face to face - to find ways to deal with anger and sadness with tools other than guns. Unlike the way our country acts on the international stage. Maybe we can teach it, and the world, a lesson.
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