The Remedy

Six days after, I’m still unable to wrap my mind around the horrific event that took place last Sunday evening in Las Vegas.  I am still so far from resolving this in my mind that for now,  I’ve resorted to categorizing this event as something more akin to a plane crash, or perhaps a natural disaster….something that couldn’t be helped, an accident…just an unforeseen tragedy that couldn’t possibly be anyone’s fault.  For now, that’s the only way I can comprehend the staggering loss of innocent lives.  How could any human being on this planet be so filled with evil, hatred, craziness, or “psychopathy” (a new word I learned this week), as to gather up an arsenal of extremely powerful automatic weapons and fire down upon a crowd of innocent people, killing 58 and wounding over 500 more?

In even the darkest of times, we humans remain perpetually hopeful.  We’ve listened to countless stories this week about the heroic and selfless actions of survivors at the scene who, at their own peril, swung into action to help save others.  While the bullets were still raining down, lives were being saved by the actions of Good Samaritans, first responders, and just strangers who felt a duty to step up and help other strangers.  Much like in the days following the Harvey floods, I’ve been moved and brought close to tears more than once this week as I listened to these incredible stories.  The worst of tragedies truly does bring out the best in humans.

I wish I could feel more satisfaction and more joy from those stories.  But for now they are all still overshadowed by those lingering questions….How does something like this happen?  Why?  How could this have been prevented?  What about the 58 lives lost…their families…their friends…their co-workers.  Mothers. Fathers. Wives. Husbands. Sons. Daughters.  Is our American society really this sick?  What is the remedy for this?

I don’t own a gun.  Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know.  I probably should, in this day and time.  With a father in law-enforcement, guns were always in my house growing up.  I was exposed to them from an early age, but mostly from a distance.  I’ve been hunting maybe four times in my entire life.

Despite of my lack of interest in guns, I am an unwavering supporter of the Second Amendment.  I think it was a good idea.  I like what it means for Americans to be able to have guns to use for sport and hunting.  Guns are part of our American culture and heritage.  I also like what it means for Americans to be able to protect themselves and their families by having guns in private possession.  More importantly, the presence of that “armed militia” that the framers of the Constitution desired serves as a strong deterrent to any enemy that might want to attack from the outside, and an equally strong deterrent to a tyrannical federal government that may try to overrun our constitutional system, if it ever came to that.  As I said, I probably should own a gun.

After this week’s event, the outcry for further gun control has already started.  There will be renewed calls for limiting gun ownership by private individuals, prohibiting certain types of guns and ammunition, and outlawing the production and ownership of certain types of gun accessories, like the “bump stock” attachment used in Las Vegas.  I think we all would agree that some changes need to be made, but unfortunately we are way beyond the point for any new legislation like that to have any real effect on events like this.  The private ownership of firearms, and the associated growth of the firearms industry, has been uncontrolled and unchecked for so long, that trying to reign in the ownership of firearms at this point would be like trying to put the toothpaste back inside the tube.  

Americans own about half of the world’s guns, while making up only 5% of the world’s population.  By pure numbers, there is almost one gun per person in America.  But only 1 in 4 Americans own guns, which means that many American gun owners have more than one gun.  The average is three guns per owner.  

However, 14% of American gun owners, or 3% of the U.S. population, own anywhere between eight to 140 guns.  The Las Vegas shooter had 47 guns in his possession, either with him at the scene, in his car or in his homes.  There are people all around us, from all walks of life, who feel the need to own multiple high-powered, fully automatic or even automatic firearms, mountains of ammunition, and even caches of military-grade explosives.  Many of these are seemingly normal folks, leading normal lives who happen to have a passion for guns and other things that go bang.  Many of them are strong American patriots, military veterans, and strong Christians.  They also have strong beliefs in an individual’s right to bear arms of any sort they choose, and separating them from their weapons at this point through legislation would be a futile effort.

As we’ve seen this week in Las Vegas, and in so many other mass-shooting events (Orlando, Virginia Tech, Sandy Hook, Fort Hood, San Bernardino, Columbine….), there are some extreme gun owners out there who also happen to be very sick people.  The guns are there and we can’t seem to control them responsibly.  The sick people are there and in most cases nobody seems to know them.  So….what is the remedy?

Stephen Paddock in Las Vegas was an unknown person, by all accounts.  According to reports, he was a retired accountant, a loner not really connected well to anyone.  Even his “girlfriend” didn’t seem to know him that well.  He was disconnected from his family.  The evil that infected his brain and set in motion his desire to kill innocent people seems to have gone totally unnoticed by anyone around him.  Could he have been known better?  Could this evil have been prevented, or countered, by social connections that were just never developed?  Could a family member, separated from him by some past difference or argument that went unresolved or unforgiven, have known him well enough to see the hatred that was developing in him?

I believe there may be many Stephen Paddocks out there who are suffering quietly, unnoticed, and unknown.  As Henry David Thoreau said, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation. What is called resignation is confirmed desperation.“  How many people do we watch come and go in our own lives who are starving for connection, relationship, and love?  Was Stephen Paddock dropped by society and those around him, forgotten, overlooked, unloved and uncared for?  Are there people around us that we just don’t bother to get to know, who are quietly desperate for a true, knowing connection with other human beings?  The answer to this, in my own life, really bothers me.  Do I really know the answer to this?

Which brings me to “The Remedy”….

The remedy is just simply, love.  We already have just the law we need, and it came from Jesus Christ, when he said, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  There will always be evil in our world until goodness overcomes, but I can think of no other way to combat evil than with love.  The love I’m referring to here is what God intended….for us to truly care for and reach out to our fellow man, regardless of differences, prejudices, past events, anger or biases.  To truly know the people around us, as much as we possibly can.

Would I have been able to discern the evil in Stephen Paddock’s mind if he had been my close friend, known well?  I don’t know.  Perhaps.  Could someone have, if they had known him well?  I believe so.  Those that have spoken of him say he was normal.  What he did last Sunday says he was far from normal, filled with evil.  I find it difficult to believe that both extremes can co-exist in a person, without some sign of the abnormal evil being noticed.  He was obviously a complicated, sick person, but surely that duality that existed within him would have been revealed if the curtain had been pulled back by someone who took the time to know him and engage him in a loving relationship.  

Now is a great time to evaluate our relationships with others in our own circles.  What happened last Sunday has made me think that I have relationships I need to develop more, friendships I need to strengthen, and people around me that I need to love more.  Who knows if stronger ties, bound by love, in that man’s life could have smothered the evil in it.

Love is the remedy.