Republicans say “thoughts and prayers.”
Democrats say limit and regulate guns.
I say: all of the above, and more.
America suffered yet another mass shooting today, this one at a Catholic school in Minneapolis, and partisans are already sifting through the autopsy of the killer's life for facts and assumptions they can weaponize for their political wars. This ideological masturbation is not what we need today.
We need thoughts. We need to think critically about the root causes of mass shootings, including a broken mental health system, broken families, social agitation and isolation, and cultural nihilism.
We need prayers, not just for the victims and their families, but for potential future perpetrators — that they find the peace and grounding that comes with Faith.
We need gun limits and regulations. Military weapons designed only to kill humans belong only in the hands of military personnel. We should license and regulate guns and gun ownership at least as strictly as we do cars and car ownership.
The 23-year-old Minneapolis shooter who killed two children and wounded 14 others posted rambling videos to YouTube showing reverence for other mass shooters, gun magazines scrawled with racial slurs and “Kill Donald Trump,” and messages apologizing to family members.
“I don’t expect forgiveness,” the shooter wrote in a journal shown in one of the videos, adding later in narration over images of guns and ammunition, “I’m sorry to my family but that’s all I’m sorry for.”
Empty words from an empty soul. But no more meaningless than what we’re hearing again today from politicians and partisans who will let these two children die in vain.
The blood-soaked status quo is avoidable. We know how to radically reduce gun violence. It’s been done in other countries. It can be done in the United States with some combination of thoughts, prayers, and gun control that abides by the Founders’ conception of the Second Amendment.
But too many of us and too many of our leaders would rather have a fight than a solution.
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Perfectly summarized. Thank you for writing this.
Today we are hearing a lot of “it’s not the guns, it’s mental health” or “what about just addressing safety?”
I report on the KY state legislature. Numerous mental health and firearm safety bills are proposed each year but never considered. What follows is a partial list of bills that were filed during Kentucky’s 2025 regular session.
NONE of these bills ever received a hearing.
House Bill 330 — Prohibit firearm possession by convicted domestic abusers.
House Bill 409 — Require a 5 day waiting period.
Senate Bill 235 — A re-filing of 2024 Senate Bill 13 (CARR) to temporarily remove firearms from a person in mental health crisis. Neither bill received a hearing.
House Bill 55 — Hold adults civilly liable for minors accessing their guns.
House Bill 93 — A person shall not target shoot carelessly, recklessly, or without regard for the safety of any person.
House Bill 20 — Prohibit unlawful storage of a firearm; establish elements of the crime as recklessly allowing access to an unsecured firearm by a minor.
House Bill 124 — Require background checks for private firearms sales; require reporting to law enforcement of firearm and ammunition thefts and losses; require the safe storage of firearms and more.
House Bill 214 — Tax credit for taking firearm training.
Senate Bill 92 —Require destruction if the firearm was used in the commission of a violent offense.