{"id":113488,"date":"2016-01-04T09:23:10","date_gmt":"2016-01-04T16:23:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=113488"},"modified":"2016-01-04T13:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-01-04T20:00:00","slug":"we-must-discuss-guns-without-rancor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2016\/01\/we-must-discuss-guns-without-rancor\/","title":{"rendered":"We must discuss guns without rancor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Is<\/a>

kcdsTM \/ flickr<\/p>

Over 35,000 were killed or injured by firearms here in 2014. Is this the country we want to leave to our children and grandchildren? No. (photo cc info<\/a>)<\/p><\/div>\n

COMMENTARY:<\/strong> Man\u2019s inhumanity to his fellow man grows.\u00a0Is\u00a0a father screaming at his\u00a0son\u00a0just a beginning?\u00a0What level\u00a0of inhumanity\u00a0is defined by massacring 20 little angels at Sandy Hook — pure evil?\u00a0Does all such outrage\u00a0stem from the loss of understanding of the value and dignity of life?\u00a0Who can truthfully and scientifically report on the reasons\u00a0for\u00a0this loss of life?<\/p>\n

\"Jerry<\/a>

Courtesy photo<\/p>

Jerry Nachison<\/p><\/div>\n

Some\u00a0say\u00a0that it\u2019s\u00a0mental\u00a0illness\u00a0in part due to the occurrence of film violence and video games played by our young men. Others\u00a0say\u00a0it\u2019s a result of empty pews in churches,\u00a0living in\u00a0poverty, broken\u00a0families or terrorists. Perhaps it\u2019s a combination of any of these.<\/p>\n

The killer of the children and their six teachers\u00a0at Sandy Hook played violent games incessantly, suffered\u00a0major mental illness,\u00a0came from a broken home\u00a0and was aided and abetted by his\u00a0mother. The many college students we\u2019ve lost in the last few years will never know the pleasure of accomplishment\u00a0in their lives.<\/p>\n

Even small children\u00a0kill: One recently reached under the driver\u2019s seat,\u00a0retrieved a gun\u00a0and shot the driver, a relative. Another killed a playmate.<\/p>\n

\"Roberta<\/a>

Courtesy photo<\/p>

Roberta Gran<\/p><\/div>\n

These\u00a0tragic\u00a0accidents\u00a0will haunt these\u00a0children the rest of their lives. Now, targeted California and Colorado Springs killings add to similar slaughters in the United States.<\/p>\n

Many of us have been or may be affected\u00a0in\u00a0our wider community or even amongst\u00a0(in)\u00a0our own families. Look at our current statutes and policies. Over 35,000 were killed or injured by firearms here in 2014<\/a>.\u00a0Few make the news.<\/p>\n

Is this the country we want to leave to\u00a0our children and grandchildren? No.\u00a0Thoughtful consideration\u00a0and respectful dialogue are sorely needed without more\u00a0rancor. We must bring our communities together to address this\u00a0issue.<\/p>\n

Nachison is a 10-year Las Cruces resident who is\u00a0active in local politics and nonprofits. He’s a retired social\/housing gerontologist. Gran is retired from Dartmouth College and the Tuck School, Dartmouth’s Graduate School of Business, and NMSU’s International Relations Institute. She is a retired international business owner and\u00a0founder of the Kathleen Kent Endowed Scholarship, supporting qualified\u00a0Native American nursing students at NMSU’s School of Nursing.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We must bring our communities together to address this issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":113500,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192,16],"tags":[2109],"class_list":["post-113488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","category-guest-columns","tag-guns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/113500"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}