Guns or Sons? David Brooks Frames the Debate on Meet The Press

While many obsess over gun control laws, the more pressing question is what we can do to better “influence” the souls that may eventually use them. On Meet The Press (NBC, July 22, 2012), NY Times political and cultural commentator David Brooks was asked by host David Gregory if the Colorado shootings may cause “some kind of national moment” to occur.  Brook’s response framed the issue clearly and poignantly. He said:

“The theme of the show so far has been ‘do we focus on guns or do we focus on the person.’ I think the candidates [i.e., Obama and Romney] are going to have to figure this out. I personally think the focus should be on the person. There are 250 million guns in this country. If someone wants to get their hands on a gun they are going to be able to. But we also have this situation where we have a lot of twenty year olds who are living in their under-institutionalized world, lonely – with not a lot of people dealing with them. At the same time a tremendous hunger for fame and you see the rise of these spectacle killings. I would like to see a debate about that.”

Your thoughts?