Theme:– Operation C.R.U.S.H. Against Gun Violence, Bias and Clouded Vision

There’s another wrongful-death shooting trial in Florida where Jordan Davis was allegedly killed by Michael Dunn who’s pleading self-defense. Dunn fired eight shots into a vehicle (says he saw a gun) after he told teens to lower the car’s radio. Now Davis’ attorney is about to put Dunn on the hot seat of justice.

It’s hard to understand the kinds of senseless violence we hear reported in the news. Sometimes it’s gang-related while other times it’s about a person in an estranged relationship seeking revenge. There are some recent cases due to mental illness but the common element is the weapon used.

Many debate if the problem is the weapon or if it’s the user of the weapon that needs to be put in check. Interestingly, that’s not a question being asked when a teenager first has to get a driver’s license. There’s a whole permit-process by which they have to get practice, get tested and get certified before driving.

Remember when seatbelts were not being used and the government realized that avoidable highway deaths were become a public health issue? Maybe the same view needs to be taken when dealing with senseless gun violence. Otherwise we’ll have a culture of repeated tragedies due to an outlaw mentality.

There are those who compare this case to the Trayvon Martin incident. While Dunn has not presented a ‘Stand Your Ground’ defense he is being seen in a similar way. The danger with over-comparing the two cases is getting caught-up looking into the forest and not seeing trees of inconsistencies in our system.

Footnote: If a teenager as a rookie driver has to go through a permit-process before driving to help minimize hazardous drivers on the road, maybe a similar process could apply with first-time firearm purchases to help minimize senseless violence in our nation. (But maybe that’s just too logical.)