People need to stop making the NRA the scapegoat in this modern-day witch hunt caused by recent violent tragedies.

More gun legislation, including more thorough background and mental health checks, may be helpful, but common sense should tell us that criminals and crazies who would commit such atrocities will always have access to guns.

Tying the hands of law-abiding citizens will only make them more vulnerable.

What is needed is for folks to move away from the dramatic advertising for gun laws using heartbreaking images to influence thinking and move toward the real problem in our culture, which is a media-fed lust for violence in too many consumers.

By far, the largest numbers of TV shows, movies and video games deal with violence. It is as if they want to see who can produce the most gratuitous violence, gore and slime. If it weren’t for the consumers’ thirst for the stuff, however, the media wouldn’t produce it. They are in it only for the profit.

Responsible parents and teachers try to teach children that the use of violence does not solve problems, but the abundance of media garbage shows them otherwise. We have a two-faced culture, and few are willing to say it like it really is.

Parents should put the emotional needs of their children at the top of their list. They should put aside desires for material gain over and above what is really needed and give the extra time to your children. Parents should teach their children moral and ethical behavior, and not rely on someone else to do it. Above, parents should love their children, for they deserve that, and it will certainly help to keep them from the paths taken by those who have committed the recent horrors.

Elaine Graf

Fayette