By Douglas Mitchell, Chairman, Steuben County SCOPE

Once again we grieve the loss of young, innocent lives because of an evil, unstable young man who was allegedly upset over losing his mother. These were young people who could have been laborers, technicians, accountants, doctors, attorneys, a spouse, a parent. Such a horrible and grievous waste.  Fifty years ago, school shootings were not the chosen outlet for such earth shattering relationship breakups. Pain and Frustration were directed at the individual(s) causing same, a verbal barrage or maybe a fist fight.

In the ‘50’s, Hollywood produced TV entertainment such as Father Knows Best, Leave It To Beaver, The Brady Bunch, Gene Autry, The Lone Ranger, Sky King, and Roy Rogers.  The sophisticated, enlightened critics of today openly mock this “simple, provincial” viewing favoring increased violence/sexuality.  Freedom of speech and broader community standards, they say.  The average teenager today has viewed, condoned and stored 20,000 “murders” by age 18.  Not enough action for you; let’s spend hours playing violent video games. If you can’t shoot, blowup or eliminate an adversary in some violent and spectacular way, you’re just not cool.  How has this effected today’s society compared to the “simple, provincial, puritanical and backward” folks of 50 years ago who apparently were too unimaginative to maim and kill innocent fellow students because of the anger and pain in their life? It’s time to expose Hollywood for its hypocrisy calling for oppressive gun control while “feeding the beast.”

Mental illness and mental instability need to prohibited the access to firearms but, with equal protection and due process as granted by the Bill of Rights ratified almost 227 years ago. And I trust the Bill of Rights far more than the knee jerk reaction of so many of our well meaning, hoplophobic and naïve politicians.