Some want to say it is 100% a mental illness issue.

Some want to say it is 100% guns.

Some want to blame the Democrats.

Some want to blame the Republicans.

I want to be open-minded, have adult discussions, and find a solution once and for all.

As I see it, human behavior is rather complex, there is never a 100% cause for behavior.  Unfortunately that means there is never a 100% solution for a common issue.  Each case if a little different while sharing attributes.  Those little differences may well be what will send a person over the edge while the attributes provide an avenue or excuse.  We don’t know.

I have had people give me the example that it CANNOT be mental illness because they themselves are mentally ill and have not gone on a shooting rampage. It must be ONE cause and that is guns.

I have had people give me the example that it CANNOT be guns because they own or have owned guns and have not gone on a shooting rampage therefore it must be mental issues.

I have a mental illness (actually a couple) and I have owned and used many guns and other weapons.  I have never gone on a shooting rampage, mass killing, or taken a weapon into a school.  Therefore, to use the logic of the one person example it CANNOT be EITHER of those causes.  One person examples are not reliable samples.

I offer an idea that PERHAPS the cause of such things is more complex than one attribute.  Perhaps we can stop defining the incident through the lens of our own cause and realize that nothing in human behavior is that simple. Abnormal behavior is abnormally complex and I don’t think it gets us anywhere by sticking with our cause and ignoring factors which potentially contribute to the situation.

This is not to say that your cause will be ignored because it is not the ONLY factor.  I want reasonable (we can debate that word later) gun control laws, I want mental illness to be treated by insurance companies the same as any other illness, I want universal health care, I want to put an end to bullying, I want to stop hate groups from influencing others, and I want to stop this senseless violence as much as possible.

I have a “cause” in this fight, mental illness.  I do not agree with Drumpf that this is the 100% cause; I don’t think he does either but that is another topic.  I do not agree with my friends who say that gun control will stop this violence.  I believe we need a comprehensive solution involving both of those and much more.  I do not want my cause to be ignored because someone is saying it is 100%.  I don’t want gun control to be ignored because others say it is the only causal factor.

I want to live in a world where we address BOTH mental health and reasonable gun control laws, where every school has a bullying program that works, that we find a way to stop foreign countries from meddling in our elections (plays a role in my mind), one where the President’s tweets are not part of the problem, one where we have differences but address those as adults, one of relative peace.

Relative peace, I say this purposefully because there will be no peace on earth, not 100% because we are humans and have emotions.  As I see it the reason we incarnate on this level of mind is to come to UNDERSTANDING (not believing) of things and to understand a thing sometimes takes conflict.  Conflict is not peace so no peace on earth, sorry.  I would trade that for decent conflict resolution.

I ask, (not demand) that you think outside the box, put the emotions about your cause aside for a while.  No mater your causes, be it, enacting gun control, treating mental illness, putting some love and truth to the message of hate groups, coming up with solutions for bullying that reach beyond the classroom, voting Drumpf out of office, being Democrat, being Republican, or any other cause you champion please consider that there may be many factors involved in a solution to violence that involve your cause but may involve other factors.  Reach across isle and work with others.  Do not unfriend them, work with them, listen to them and you may grow, share with them and they may grow.  As we grow in our belief we can then put action behind that and eventually come to an understanding.

Unfortunately there will be those who do not want to be part of the solution.  There will be those who cannot separate themselves from their cause enough to consider alternatives, those who have already told friends and family their ideals and must be right and will not change no matter the facts.  My hope is that those are the exception and that together we can make a change and improves the situation.

Keep in mind that as we work for a solution the incidents will continue, they will not stop with talk or limited action, they may never stop.

NEVER Stop? I am 64 years old; it has been years since I was in high school.  There was a lot of bullying in my school.  I was a victim and so were others.  I used to hang with a kid who was bullied a lot too.  We were not close, we hung together with others in Forest Park (St. Louis, MO.) to listen to music, inhale, take trips to the moon etc.  I knew him.

One day he showed up at school with a loaded shotgun.  He intended on killing as many bullies as he could along with some teachers who had looked the other way.  This was around 1969 or 1970.  The police came, they disarmed him, they did not shoot him, they took him into custody and we never heard from him again.  There was NO news story on TV or in the paper, no social media to flame the situation and we went on with our lives.  THIS IS NOT A NEW PROBLEM the situation has been around forever.