Gun Control: Handling the Heartache and Problem Solving

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If all we do on days like yesterday is call each other names, assume the other side is wrong and stupid, or "unfriend" those with opposing views, we will never make any progress in this country. Can we mourn as a community, recognizing that at some point (hopefully sooner than later - and yesterday was not too early) we'll need to work together to achieve meaningful change? 

There is a web woven through every aspect of our popular and transpersonal cultures, which winds up leading individuals to commit these horrific and tragic acts. We are all caught up in this invisible and cryptic web. Like angry spiders fighting against one another, if we fight without paying heed to the sticky gossamer maze that's holding us up (and holding us down?), we'll just keep getting more and more tangled in our own mess. None of that will help the next set of victims. 

Is there a way to begin to unravel this cultural web together? If not, I fear that all of these issues facing our nation today (not just the gun issue) have very little hope of being resolved. If all it's about is a political debate, we all know that won't get us anywhere. If, on the other hand, it's all about how we can save some lives while maintaining personal freedoms and the integrity of the Constitution, then there is hope.

Here are a couple of really good articles that have been published in the wake of yesterday's tragedy:

NYT: Looking for America - By GAIL COLLINS

In the Wake of Another Mass Shooting, Let's Talk About America's Dangerously Gutted Mental Healthcare System - AlterNet / By Lynn Stuart Parramore

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