From Erick Erickson at Red State:
[Gun control] efforts, even if they are successful, will not stop this cycle of violence.
Discussions of gun control are easier to have than discussions about mental health. But they too are easier to have than those about the collapse of the American family. History and multiple studies show that the most stable foundation of a society is a two parent nuclear household with multiple children.
In the past year we have talked more and more about the rise of singles in this country, following the rise of single parents. Because much of the question of what it means to be single involves the discussion of choices, we cannot have a conversation about the nuclear family. The only conclusion that would benefit our society would be a conclusion that renders too many of the choices made by twenty and thirty somethings in our society today invalid.
Unless our culture shifts back toward recognizing the need for stable families with multiple children, the situation will only get worse. Coupled with that comes difficult conversations about equality and the roles young men in society must grow up to fit into. None of these horrific incidents have been committed by girls or women, but by disturbed young men — some, to be sure, in the very nuclear families most likely to help reduce these senseless acts. Nuclear families will not cure the problem and, in fact, mass incidents like this have declined over time though the 6 worst school shootings have been in the past decade.
