Gun murders: Conservatives should talk to the NRA; liberals should talk to Hollywood

In my latest column I tried to extend an olive branch to the National Rifle Association in the hope that the NRA news conference Friday would bring news of a new willingness to limit military-style assault weapons, and I also tried to make the point that gun violence is a complicated problem that also requires Hollywood, the music business and the video game business to reduce their contribution to the cult of violence. And I called for a dramatically upgraded commitment to mental health research and care for both civilian and military life.

I do have various opinions I deliberately omitted in the hope of advancing an open-minded spirit and less partisan dialogue, and advancing some real action that must involve guns, must involve entertainment and must involve mental health research and care.

All of us are horrified by the mass murder of wonderful children. Please: I would urge everyone to seek the broad and open-minded discussion and multifaceted solutions the problems of violence and mass murder demand. There is something wrong when mass murder becomes the new norm in American life.

Let’s do this for the kids. Let’s take a view that we adults should consider the notion of in locus parentis where the actions of us adults can do great harm, or be of great help, to the children.

This requires an intelligent and broad discussion, diverse solutions and open minds.

This is why I wrote the column as I did, and would welcome ideas in a discussion where the left, right and center all have something to contribute and all have things we can do better.

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