By Brooklyn Brown
Writer, Contributor

Obviously, this is totally a touchy subject, and people really don’t know what side of the fence they belong on. In this case, I gravitate towards the side that is considered the protectors. I totally agree with having the license to carry a concealed weapon. However, as society grapples with the specter of more mass shootings, many will say there’s only one solution: get rid of the guns. Never mind such an approach is what led to much of this violence in the first place. Without an effective, immediate way to answer such destruction, it has continued.

Yes, gun free or as I like to call them “free fire zones that do not work”; in fact,  invite such predators.  However, my question is, what is The LONG -TERM solution to minimizing this in the future? We have to look at ourselves as a society and understand that the SHORT-TERM solution is stopping the bloodshed as it happens suddenly and without warning in the most unexpected locations.

On and off-duty officers, and good civilians that actually stand guard against active shooters, hold responsibility in these cases. They have intervened in the past to save lives. Further loss of life in these instances can only be stopped by a gun. Time is spent discussing the decision to intervene using the major and current mass school shootings as an example; it may not be so cut and dry. However, for the immediate and effective answer to a rampaging gunman, the gun is necessary and it will need someone with courage, training, and skill to run it.

However, the media and many politicians will ignore this stark fact and have concealed instances where a concealed carry permit holder stopped mass shootings. Instead, their “solutions” to mass shootings will be predictable: a call for more restrictions, more government scrutiny and approval for citizens to have guns, universal gun registration, bans on gun types and accessories, and eventually severed curtailed ownership or even confiscation.

As I have mentioned before, “protectionists” are people who’s actions will have the same result but who’s motives may very different. They truly want to stop the carnage and will support anyone and anything that promises (though fails) to accomplish this. These protectionists don’t comprehend the US Constitution, its wisdom in preserving us a free nation, the importance of remaining an armed, free people and maybe don’t even care. They just want to end the violence in public places, to stop these murders. We do too and always have. How can we prevent the bloodshed, the carnage of these murderers who choose the gun as their killing tool?

Millions of gun owners rightly do not accept blame for the actions of these few, often deranged individuals. Within millions upon millions of homes exist all kinds firearms with impressive firepower and yet their families, their communities, and they themselves live peacefully and happily. No, it is not the gun that brings this violence to us. It is something else more deeply rooted in how these shooters are being created. For a LONG-TERM solution, we need to look at something else entirely. Lastly, this is a more meaningful and very important solution to stopping these murders. The solution is at the core of our nation and of how we turn out as human beings.