Another day, another mass shooting in America. More hand-wringing and grief counselors and vigils.
I have a suggestion for Congress: Enact laws to prevent the identity of the killer from being revealed.
This country is awash in guns and I don’t see any way out of that one. But, for the disturbed, angry young men who seek the notoriety in death that eluded them in life, the prospect of not getting any credit for their vicious crimes might be a disincentive.
The media will cry foul, but I think, in the interest of public safety, all details of the killer must remain undisclosed. We have laws that protect the identity of minors in many legal contexts and I think the same restrictions should apply. The public does not need to know anything about the perpetrator.
The reasons for the obscene gun violence in this country are many: ubiquitous firearms and the paranoid ramblings of the most strident Second Amendment supporters, mental illness and the twisted need for recognition after the collapse of someone’s version of the American Dream. The guns and mental illness will always be with us, but maybe a future killer can be dissuaded if he can’t get what he is really looking for.
Michael Duff, Auburn
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