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In the wake of the Parkland shooting, a select group of survivors toured around the nation and were showcased by the leftist media in a concerted push to ban guns. The narrative that they advance is that we should let youth be our moral guide, especially those who are victims of terrible crimes such as a school shooting. But does victimhood automatically make people moral beacons that we must obey?
Criminal Gateway?
In fact, when we review the statistics of sexual abuse, violence, and murder, victims of childhood abuse are dramatically overrepresented. In most cases, victims recover and become good citizens. However, for a truly unfortunate but significant portion of them, victimhood is the gateway to crime, abuse, and a dark path to evil.
The Parkland shooter was apparently also a victim; according to some reports and even statements made by the survivors, he was ostracized and bullied. He was deeply resentful for how the world had treated him, and his way of dealing with his victimhood was to take revenge on the world – by becoming a mass shooter. His victimhood in no way excuses his vile actions, yet if we are to search for triggers and causes, it would be foolish to ignore his history.
What these, and numerous other stories teach us is that we should be wary of elevating victims to the status of sainthood. A traumatic experience often makes people mentally unstable, or at the very least impacts their ability to make rational choices.
Notice the Imbalance
We should be careful about letting people in an emotionally imbalanced state dictate policy decisions. The survivors that are touring America did not suddenly become left-leaning due to the tragic events they experienced. They did not suddenly become anti-gun, learn new arguments and gain new knowledge and evidence about guns and gun laws. They gained the energy of anger and fear from being traumatized to become politically active.
As history has taught us, angry traumatized people can do disturbing things. The adults and the untraumatized must keep their heads calm and collected and not let the whim of emotion be a guide to morality.
What America needs now is not a crusade against lawful, peaceful gun owners. If one is truly interested in preventing gun violence, why not start a deeper and more honest conversation about the true causes of violence? It is far easier to blame inanimate objects than the complex actions and motivations of people.
Easier, but not helpful.
An honest look at the facts would put the breakdown of the nuclear family at the top of the list of suspects followed by a look at bullying and the poor state of mental health care. But an honest conversation requires something that the left often struggles with: honesty.
