Auden Schendler: In Aurora, Enough Platitudes and Lies

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Auden SchendlerAuthor, 'Getting Green Done'

GET UPDATES FROM Auden Schendler   Like 3 In Aurora, Enough Platitudes and LiesPosted: 07/30/2012 11:23 am React Amazing
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As a major Batman fan and the father of two young children, I'm sick of the platitudes we hear after every mass shooting. "Our hearts are broken," read the headline of the Denver Post. And they are. But should it end at that?

As James Fallows pointed out in an interview last weekend: "Mentally disturbed people exist around world, and they do horrific things, and they claim lots of victims. But what is impressive is that every place else, this has led to some kind of control and restriction, which has prevented recurrences."

But not in America, where both presidential candidates can't touch the question of how to fix the problem. Here, instead, we cling to the big lie that more freedom of weaponry will eventually solve the problem. But how free are the dead in Aurora? What about their rights to life, liberty, and happiness? Some day, we are told, a trained person with a concealed carry permit will cut the violence short. There is much talk about that in the rural Colorado valley in which I live. But that never happens. Very few people have permits. Most don't carry their weapon to a movie theater or a school. And typical gun owners aren't trained as commandos to deal with the incredibly tricky task of 1) figuring out what the heck is going on in a shooting, and then 2) killing the right person with a hard-to-aim handgun.

There have been 22 mass shootings in 2012 alone. After Aurora, platitudes can no longer salve our wounds and heartache, and empty and clueless NRA jingoism about freedom can no longer guide our future. It's time America had a public conversation, fostered by governors and the president, both of whom we elected to lead, not talk, geared at finding and then implementing a solution. The discussion should be civil, friendly, bipartisan, open, courteous and fierce. It should have a policy end goal. All options should be on the table, from gun control, to arming everyone, to better helping the mentally ill. Given this state's past and tragic present, Colorado might as well be the place to start. This act of seizing our future is the one thing we can do to ease the pain of victim's families. If our leaders genuinely believe, as they say, that this must never happen again, then let's make that hope reality.

 

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FOLLOW CRIME Like 36k   Get Alerts #ad_bottom_article_text {margin-bottom: 15px} Gun ControlAs a major Batman fan and the father of two young children, I'm sick of the platitudes we hear after every mass shooting. "Our hearts are broken," read the headline of the Denver Post. And they are. B...As a major Batman fan and the father of two young children, I'm sick of the platitudes we hear after every mass shooting. "Our hearts are broken," read the headline of the Denver Post. And they are. B...   1stCitizenKane I have no opinion on the Aurora shooting. The only comment I have is that people need to think before they start railing about gun control. 59 minutes ago from web globaltvnews Aurora shooting has not shifted public's view on gun control: study http://t.co/Jit4K0HJ 4 hours ago from HootSuite latimes Politics Now blog: No shift in opinion on gun control after the Aurora, Colo., shootings, poll finds http://t.co/jiSFbccq 1 day ago from HootSuite HuffPostPol Support for gun control unchanged after Aurora shooting http://t.co/rBInV7qp 1 day ago from The Huffington Post NYMag Aurora shooting had zero effect on opinions about gun control. http://t.co/WoXVQV84 1 day ago from Stream Publisher latimesmuskal Poll: No shift in opinion on gun control, post-Aurora shooting http://t.co/rxfddSd7 1 day ago from dlvr.it USATOnPolitics Views on gun control vs. gun rights haven't changed after #Aurora theater shootings, Pew poll says. http://t.co/j9kYYPkv 1 day ago from Tweet Button kthalps Really sad. RT @pewresearch Just released: No signif. change in public views on issues of #guncontrol, #gunrights after #Aurora shooting #FB 1 day ago from web Show more results TOP INFLUENCERS ON THIS TOPIC 74 70 57 57 53 TOP LINKS ON THIS TOPIC 1 of 5

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The Aurora Massacre: Coping With the Precariouness...James Holmes Charges: Aurora Shooting Suspect Faces...Alexander Olivieri Accused Of Killing Bridgett Frisbie...Mitch Murch Hears Gunshot While Reading, Finds...    Comments6Pending Comments0 View FAQ Previewing Your Comment. This comment has not yet been posted You have exceeded your word limit by    words. Please click the "Edit" button and shorten your comment.

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Post to Facebook. Post to Blogger. Post to Twitter. Post to WordPress. Post to TypePad. Post to Tumblr. Post to Yahoo! Blogger login: Blogger password: Select blog: refresh list Remember me: Wordpress host: Wordpress login: Wordpress password: Remember me: TypePad host: TypePad login: TypePad password: Select blog: refresh list Remember me: Tumblr login: Tumblr password: Remember me: Community Notice:  We've made some changes to our badge program, including the addition
of our newest badge: Community Curator. View AllFavorites Recency |  Popularity HUFFPOST SUPER USERColoradoTaxpayer1st generation American...auf gehts523 Fans 6 hours ago ( 1:53 PM)I have been home since last Wednesday. I came home for my HS eunion. On my way to the last event which was in Lowrey, my car started heading to Aurora. I did not know any of the dead. My son did.

I parked almost 2 blocks away because of the cars and began to walk the path to the memorial. No one spoke, the silence was deafening. I started to take pictures of all the posterboards covered with signatures. The one constant theme written on every board was the mention of God. Black, White, Mexican, Yellow, red and pink...all alike....all standing there with heads bowed. I did okay with the tears until I came to the memorial for Veronica, the 6 yr old. I couldn't hold it back and to tell the truth, I didn't want to. I didn't cry enough after Columbine, That was so painful that many Coloradoans pushed the emotions down. This brought everything back for me and my children.

God bless Aurora. The PD, the first responders and most of all the wonderful dispatcher who was amazingly calm in the midst of terror. The aftermath shows man's HUMANITY to man. Bless us all.ColoradoTaxpayer: I have been home since last Wednesday. I came homehttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/ColoradoTaxpayer/in-aurora-enough-platitud_b_1710295_173089962.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… Telemachus4489 Fans 05:52 PM on 07/30/2012This is really a subset of America's problem with corruption in politics. If there was no special-interest lobbying group like the NRA able to hold legislators over a barrel with cash contributions and negative ads, the problem would go away.Telemachus: This is really a subset of America's problem with corruptionhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Telemachus/in-aurora-enough-platitud_b_1710295_172871395.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… AshPlus0 Fans 04:00 PM on 07/30/2012Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.AshPlus: Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/AshPlus/in-aurora-enough-platitud_b_1710295_172841059.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… HUFFPOST SUPER USERMorgan Kell24 Fans 03:58 PM on 07/30/2012Ok so we take away the tool the last wackjob used, when the next one drives a hummer through a school yard at recess will we ban H2 hummers next? Or like with this last one and his home made explosives how will you stop that ban the sales of chemicals? Sadly this kid had a clean bill of health because the shrink did not see or report this kid as a danger. Banning guns will not stop this, you are just trying to push the easy button for a feel good fix. What happens if the next one uses a hunting bow, or a sword. How many people do you think will risk their lives for a stranger and charge a dude with a sword. Switizerland is full of assualt rifles and it hasnt had a problem, england banned private ownership of guns and the murder rate doubled. So maybe we should look at the real issue as why are humans he11bent on killing each other. 9000 americans die from gun violence a year out of 300 million, 1 million die per year from heart disease.Morgan_Kell: Ok so we take away the tool the last wackjobhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Morgan_Kell/in-aurora-enough-platitud_b_1710295_172840348.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share it Telemachus4489 Fans 05:48 PM on 07/30/2012Please let me know when someone manages to kill or maim 70 people in one minute with a bow or sword. And the drive-a-car-through-a-crowd stunt has been tried. It doesn't work all that well.

So, no, there's really no merit in your slippery-slope argument.Telemachus: Please let me know when someone manages to kill orhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/Telemachus/in-aurora-enough-platitud_b_1710295_172870243.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments…This comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments… AmrcnWmn15 Fans 02:41 PM on 07/30/2012Finally, someone says it like I feel.AmrcnWmn: Finally, someone says it like I feel.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/social/AmrcnWmn/in-aurora-enough-platitud_b_1710295_172817557.htmlHistory |Permalink |Share itThis comment has been down-ranked into oblivion. View comment You have not right to carry out this operation or Error this operation. Loading comments…    new comment(s) on this entry — Click to refreshLoading comments… FOLLOW US Connect with your friends Check out stories you might like,
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