The Pew Research Center released a survey today (December 10, 2014) detailing that gun-rights supporters are the highest in two decades. When the shooting happened in Newton the numbers were not nearly as high and this event seemed to have marked a dramatic turnaround in the nation. Mind you this was not the first school shooting that splashed across television sets from newsroom throughout America. We had Columbine and Virginia Tech. As I thought of school shootings – public and private school – colleges and universities – I decided to do a bit of research. Not what I expected. The data was overwhelming and some of the shootings I had no knowledge of. I suppose the news giants decide what is really news and if that news should remain within the confines of a community or give way to the entire country.
My question is looking at the dynamic of increased support of gun rights – Is the country more violent now thus escalating fear or have we simply become a  gun-totting society with our fingers on the trigger? Did we become more gun-rights conscious after the shooting of the those innocent babies in Newtown by another child (young person) who needed help he didn’t get? I cannot answer a definitive yes or no to either question. The killing of young innocent children is not new in our history – in our country. My research informed me that the killing of children in schools dates back to July 26, 1764 – the Pontiac Rebellion School massacre – now Greencastle, Pennsylvania, where it is reported that three men entered the school killing the school master and 10 children. The number of children actually killed seems to vary but not less than 10.
So, has the country gotten more violent or are we more aware because of the advances in communication. Our newsletter weekly asked the question – if the country is safe for retirees. If the country is not safe for children who have no political clout and are not in and of themselves a lobbying group, then the country would surely not be safe for any of the rest of us, including retirees. Do guns make us safer and is that why so many of us are supporting gun-rights. Yet, does supporting gun-rights really mean that you advocate buying and owning a gun? I don’t know the answer to those questions. I do know that guns do not create a safer nation, a safer community, a safer environment. I also know that if someone is angry and a gun or other weapon is available, the anger might propel him or her to grab a gun and shoot as opposed to resolving the conflict in a non-lethal manner.
Unfortunately, having enough money to outlast you is apparently not the only issue retirees will have to worry about in our new world filled with too much violence. There used to be places in America we thought was off limits – schools – we thought schools were safe for our children. There was also a time when we thought older people were also off-limits.  Research also showed that there has not been a single decade where violence and killing did not take place in our nation’s schools. When violence takes place in our schools, it means it takes place in our country. Retirees are challenged by not living in a world that is necessarily safe for them, worsened by the frailness of old age. Is the country safe for retirees? What is your answer to that tough question?
P. S. Always Remember to Share What You Know
Dianna Tafazoli
hat there are more Americans who support gun ownership than ever before.
