As tragic as it is to have one shooting, let alone two in less than 24 hours, let’s not lose sight of the root cause. As hard as it may be for some to believe, it is not the guns, it is not the magazine capacities, it’s not how scary the guns look to some people. But it is absolutely how those shooters were raised. Parents need to start raising their children to be responsible adults, not as catered-to centers of attention.

This is what happens when you raise your child to be the center of attention of their known world, and then they get in to the real world, some snap when they come to the brutal realization that they are not, and never will be. It doesn’t hurt to have love and security in the upbringing either. These shootings didn’t start happening until about 40 years ago. This is about when the first generation of the “Dr. Spock” children were coming of age, whose son committed suicide. It will be a long road to recovery, but if you raise your children to understand rights, responsibilities — and most importantly — consequences, these shootings will stop happening.

And it will do no good to pass more laws making it illegal to use a firearm in an anti-social manner; we already have over 20,000 such laws on the books at local, state and federal levels. Banning guns will not stop it either. There are so many guns out there that will never be turned in.

Richard Quint

Lake Stevens