As Editor of CV Weekly, there are a few topics I would like to address this week. I would like to begin by sending my heartfelt condolences to all of the families and friends of the innocent children and teachers who lost their lives in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. In times like these, there aren’t enough words to express the sorrow that we as a nation are feeling right now. I, like the rest of America, feel sad, angry, disgusted, fearful and helpless by these types of senseless acts of violence. Unfortunately there have been other shooting sprees that took place this year (such as the Portland Mall and Colorado theatre, to name a couple) that took the lives of many other innocent people who were just going on about their daily lives. Much has been said in the news and on social media like Facebook about these horrific events. Everyone has an opinion. Some want stronger gun laws and feel that is the answer while others feel it is a mental health issue. The bottom line is that there isn’t just one simple solution. As a supporter of the “right to bear arms” I believe that we have the right to own a gun for protection. I don’t, however, understand why there is a need for the average American to have an arsenal of semi-automatic assault rifles in their home. I also don’t understand why Adam Lanza’s mother would have had guns of ANY type in her home with a child that she already knew had special needs or some type of mental illness or emotional problems. Furthermore, why would she have taken him with her to the shooting range? But these are just my opinions and like everyone else I do have one. Is it our responsibility as family, friends and co-workers to reach out to those we feel are unstable and possibly capable of committing these heinous acts? And how far do we go? What constitutes us knowing if someone is “crazy” enough to carry this type of crime out unless they have actually made threats to do so. It does seem to me that as a family member or close friend, there would be signals that would alert us to this behavior, but again do we report them to the police, have them taken to the hospital for a 72 hour watch, try to get them to see a psychiatrist or get counseling? Will doing these things help the person or make them more angry and wanting to seek revenge? There are no easy answers. If you know someone who might need help, listed below are a couple of numbers for Mental Health agencies. As always, letters to the Editor can be sent to editor@coachellavalleyweekly.com.
Mental Health:
Unity Home Hotline-760-366-9663
Outreach-760-366-8835
Riverside County Mental Health-760-863-8455
47825 Oasis St., Indio ,Ca 92201
