Response to "Talk of the Town"

To be frank, this essay horrified me with college only two years away. The pernicious purpose of one hurt, mentally unstable youth with a gun left the world in horror. The murders that took place at Virginia Tech could have been stopped by acting on the signs that were there. The essay by Adam Gopnik startled me many times, but one point he made hit especially hard:

It is wrong to ask why when things go badly.

This was like an axiom among many people in the aftermath. They simply walled off why. Boxed up like that though, they were unable to seek the answers, let alone resolve the problem. It really surprised me to know the incidents were talked about, but “much of the conversation was devoted” to subjects that danced around the true question.

The faux-logic that rules America is detrimental. Saying all will be fine if swept under the rug is not true. We know it isn’t. Ignoring the problem is not an end to the problem. It angered me throughout Adam Gopnick’s article. The United States is stuck on rerun of shooting after shooting. The worst part is that we do have the power to keep such tragedies from recurring so frequently and violently.

I was also irritated with the ease of obtaining a gun—one made for killing people no less—and how everyone played blind. Not only that, but trying to understand why it happened, what caused him to carve bullet holes into a community, made me stop and think, “Maybe this is the reason people were told not to ask why. It could drive you crazy.”

However, not everyone played blind, and certainly didn’t sit there asking why. When similar incidents sparked throughout other countries, laws tightened. I admire how different countries tore down the ease of gun access. Laws were upheld and people were safer. While this did not stop every attempt, the same level of harm has not been met again—unless, that is, you happen to be the U. S. of A.

The next part by Susan Sontag brought back memories from 9/11. I found it strange then, even at my age, how TV commercials and the news were talking. It was like America was trying to convince itself that everything was fine and dandy, and to just ignore the heaping pile of fire and fear and rubble.

One line I really loved by Sontag was this: “Let’s by all means grieve together. But let’s not be stupid together.” For much of my life after 9/11, I knew next to nothing about the war. My school and church supported it, supported the killing and trouble without telling us any history between America and the Middle East or why we were fighting. Sontag’s proposal of searching for truth was impressive. It’s hard to find people who are willing to do just that. Not only that, but she’s right. America is strong, but is that all there all there is to our nation?

Someday, though, I can see America arriving at a solution. It’ll take time, several more unanswered phone calls perhaps, but we’ll get there nonetheless. It is unnecessary to propose total denial of any weapon to citizens. Selling a rifle to a hunter is one thing, yet another matter entirely when someone suicidal asks for the same deal.

A little sensibility can go a long way.