Gun arguments miss the point of the church-killer problem
A recent editorial from the Chicago Tribune, “How to help prevent the next gun massacre,” was lame from beginning to end.
It overlooked the numerous opportunities around the Sutherland Springs, Texas, assassin when he should have been removed from walking among us. He smuggled guns onto the Holloman Air Force Base, where he worked, in order to carry out death threats. There were many horrible crimes after that which he should not have been able to commit had the Air Force put him where he belonged.
When he went on to brutally assault his wife and infant son, where were the authorities? When he escaped from a mental health facility where he belonged, was a serious effort made to capture him?
There are many guilty folks who could have put a stop to this killer in the making before he wiped out the innocents at the church. When will we as Americans develop the guts to go to the police when we witness a person who is out of control? I would bet he had neighbors who could tell frightening truths about him. And I would bet that as a child, family members as well as school professionals knew he had severe problems, but no one dared to do anything.
The gun arguments are too easy. We have got to take on the very difficult task of stepping up to inform on such a person, no matter how difficult it is to do.
Mary Ann Lueckel
Bluffton
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This story was originally published November 23, 2017 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Gun arguments miss the point of the church-killer problem."