Wednesday, December 19, 2012

Nancy Lanza was a victim of the gun lobby no different than her son.

She was a gun owner for its populous beliefs. I don't have to know her to know where her passion for guns came from. It is a perverse belief system outside the realm of possibility.

My youngest son was a very challenged child and young man. His strengths were very high, but, his weaknesses in learning were profound. He received significant help during all his learning years. His story has a happy ending.

When he was a young child, I would sit in front of him and spin a top to engage his attention. The top was a whistling top, very colorful and he loved to watch it. He was very challenged. His greatest gift and strength was his older brother and my insistence he be considered a normal child from his birth. He modeled his behavior after his older brother and I rewarded his NORMAL behavior with lost of rewards.

His rewards enhanced his brothers quality of life,too. We studied whales and whale song and all kinds of sea creatures during his early years. He eventually would seek a college education in marine biology, but, he would instead establish himself in a privately owned taxi service.

The boys were frequently rewarded for their behavior as wonderful sons. We went to Disney World, the Space Center and Sea World. The boys loved their trips to places of fantasy and critical thinking. They are wonderful sons yet today.

They also had a GI Joe Aircraft Carrier. It was set up in the living room every winter when playing outside was challenging because it actually got cold then and playtime was limited to what they could tolerate in their snow suits. My older son today is a successful business professional and gun enthusiast. He and his spouse conceal carry. They are sickened with what happened in Connecticut. They do not own a single assault weapon.

My younger son rejects the idea of private gun ownership even as a taxi driver that has seen the death of peers due to violence. The violence his peers have experienced wasn't with guns, it was with knives across the throat and reckless and drunk drivers on the road.

Due to my youngest son, his leadership among independent taxi owners has created a close and successful relationship with law enforcement. The legitimate taxi owners now have a safe zone in the city with a 'taxi stand.'

The tender ages of my sons were met with masculine play and tempered with compassion for life. Wildlife was valued and the outdoors were very important. What lacks in the video game industry is the way they base their enthusiasm in self defense and killing. The games are not tempered in 'real world' compassion and 'belonging.' My sons had video games like, Mario Brothers, Burger Time and games that created 'self' competition to achieve a 'personal best.' They wrecked race cars and hit baseballs and flew jets at their state of the art control console, but, they never were soldiers killing other people with a gun of any type.

My oldest son does currently own a sophisticated gaming system with fantastic panorama where his friends can log in to defeat enemies in battle. Today he is a thirty something and can discern the difference of sincere danger from fantasy. The chat that goes on when he and an online friend fail is interesting. They blame each other and joke about inefficiencies to victory. He never views himself as powerful as a lone wolf or successful without his friends. He practices alone to be a better partner 'online' to his group(s). He is not obsessed with online gaming either. This is recreation that has time scheduled when his friends can participate.

Both the boys are social creatures. My youngest have my four grandchildren. He is a great and dedicated father. Those children simply love him and celebrate him everyday.

Do I think Ms. Lanza did it "W"rong. Yes. But, she paid the ultimate price for her loyalty to the gun lobby and right wing extremism.