By John Ubaldi, “Ubaldi Reports”

The horrific tragedy in Uvaldi, Texas in which eighteen young children and two adults were brutally gunned down by a mentally unstable young man has placed renewed focus on the weapon used but nothing on the killer or the culture which led to this horrific event.

After each of these brutal events and they are becoming more frequent in recent years many want to focus entirely on the weapon used, with a renewed call for more gun control legislation. The question never asked what that would look like and what type of gun control legislation would this entail. So far nothing proposed would have stopped this massacre!

Many political leader’s, entertainers, sports officials and athletes openly advocate for more stringent gun control legislation, but are eerily silent on the ongoing carnage being perpetrated across many of America’s urban cities on a daily basis.

Why in this case but not in others?

The late political columnist Charles Krauthammer penned an article in the Washington Post shortly after the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting which occurred on December 14, 2012, in Newtown, Connecticut, by writing that;

“Every mass shooting has three elements: the killer, the weapon and the cultural climate. As soon as the shooting stops, partisans immediately pick their preferred root cause with the corresponding pet panacea. Names are hurled, scapegoats paraded, prejudices vented. The argument goes nowhere.”

Let’s look at the three components Krauthammer wrote and one in which everyone focuses on one but ignores the other elements.

First everyone, including our nation’s leaders have focused entirely on the weapon that was used like the always do in every other mass shootings.

In the Uvalde massacre, focus has been on the weapon used, and now the demand has been amplified for more and additional gun control legislation.  Many advocate an assault weapons ban, modeled after the one that Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) introduced and was signed into law in 1994, and then expired in the early 2000’s.

Far too often political leaders use rhetoric instead of facts as they try to reintroduce this type of legislation again. This piece of legislation failed to produce its desired result. A report that showed its failure was issued by the University of Pennsylvania which studied that was commissioned by the Justice Department The reason was this failed wass very simple, is the nation prepared to confiscate all existing firearms, a massive disbarment of the citizenry and repeal the Second Amendment, it’s almost impossible to craft a law that will be effective.

Feinstein’s original law, for example, would exempt 900 weapons  that was only a sampling of the loopholes, as each gun that was proposed to be banned can be made legal with simple, minor modifications.

What about the grandfathering of existing weapons and magazines, this was the primary reason the ’94 law failed. During this period there were 1.5 million assault weapons in circulation and 25 million large-capacity (i.e., more than 10 bullets) magazines. This would take an immense amount of time that can take upwards of 100 years to draw down.

Much has been made of renewed focus on background checks, but nothing proposed would have prevented the Uvalde tragedy, and the system is only as good as what information is placed into it. Previous mass shootings failed because the information needed to prevent a shooter from obtaining a firearm was not properly entered in the database when one is subjected to in obtaining a firearm.

The second aspect is the focus on the perpetrator of the violence with the renewed call for addressing mental illness. Unfortunately, as was the case in the past we can’t commit individuals who are a threat to themselves or others until they commit a violent act, but then it’s always too late.

Many of our homeless population have mental illness and many elected leaders often call for more funding, but revenue is allocated but accountability often lacks one only has to examine California and New York.

Remember the Tucson shooter Jared Loughner, everyone around sensed that he was mentally ill and extremely dangerous, but the system would not allow him to be put away or forcibly treated until he committed a violent act, in this case he had to kill before he received the treatment he needed.

Decades ago random acts of mass killings were less frequent when gun laws were actually less stringent than they are today. Why is that different today, when gun laws are more restrictive?

Finally the final element that has to be examines but never is, is the culture!

The actual perpetrator in Uvalde, Texas exemplified the typical profile of all mass shooters. He was between the age of 16-25, white, had mental illness, been bullied relentlessly, but the most important fact was he came from a highly dysfunctional family environment.

Reports have shown that he lived with his grandparents, had a drug addicted mother, and nothing so far has been mentioned of his father, so it’s safe to assume he had an absent father.

At the time of the shooting he wasn’t going to be graduating with his class and would be facing meager opportunities.

We now live in a culture where many young people grow up in extremely dysfunctional families often raised in single parent homes, without a father in the home. Many can fault my premise, but my own father only had a grade school education, but he stayed with my mother and raised his children the best he could. Each of my brothers had the strength of a father in our lives to give us the direction we needed to be the person we are today.

This is missing in the lives of so many children today!

The other fundamental aspect and I know many will scream at the mere suggestion of this, is the nation currently is devoid of a strong faith in God. Remember when you were a child there were nativity scenes everywhere, today they are missing from our public square. You can’t even say Merry Christmas any more without being ridiculed for your faith.

An additional element that can’t be overlooked is that we live in a culture that is saturated with graphic, often sadistic, and violent, where the entertainment industry vilifies traditional family and faith based values. Do we wonder why our youth are so troubled today?

Today, young men will sit for hours in front of violent video-games often pulling triggers, as they systematically mow down human beings en masse without the slightest pain or consequence. Many young people today spend countless hours alone in the world of social media.  Then as a nation we are horrified that a small segment of young men of unstable, deeply deranged, dangerously isolated young men go out and commit these horrific acts.

Will Democrats and President Biden call out his Hollywood, Tech, and ACLU friends as much as he calls out the NRA?

Until we deal with the culture and the mentally ill we will continue to face the tragedy of Uvalde, Texas. America should be better than this!