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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 2012)
St. Johns Return Police move traffic division to former precinct See Local News, page 3 The Grotto’s Christmas Gift o f music makes Festival o f Lights shine See Metro, page 9 1ortTaub ©bserucr 43 Volum eXXX XI ‘City ^/Roses’ Number 48 www.portlandobserver.com f l i f l ItS Wednesday • December 19. 2012 Established in in 1970 1970 Established Committed to Cultural Diversity Committed to Cultural Diversity ■J •'community service Unfathomable Acts Tragedies spark discussion of gun laws, prevention C ari H achmann T he P ortland O bserver Unfathomable acts of violence last week which began at the quick pull of a trigger and ended in the death of countless innocent people has stirred emotion among Portland residents. The first shooting fell close to home Tues day when 22-year-old Jacob Roberts of south east Portland rushed into the food court at the Clackamas Town Center mall around 3:30 p.m. wearing a hockey-style facemask and opened fire on a crowd of holiday shoppers. Armed with a stolen AR-15 rifle and sev eral fully-loaded magazines, witnesses heard Roberts fire close to 60 shots. Two were dead and several injured, including a 15-year-old girl still in recovery, before the gunman shot and killed himself, authorities said. The tragic rampage in Portland was fol lowed by another senseless killing spree Thursday in Newtown, Conn. Adam Lanza, 20, killed his mother before driving her car to Sandy Hook Elementary School. Wielding two semi-automatic handguns and an as sault rifle, Lanza shot 20 first graders multiple times at close range inside their classroom along with six school staff members before committing suicide. “We can’t tolerate this anymore,” said President Obama at a candlelight vigil for Newtown’s victims. “These tragedies must end. And to end them we must change.” Solving gun violence is complex, he admit ted. No single law or set of laws can eliminate evil from the world or prevent every sense less act of violence in our society. “But we can do better,” he said. The question is how? “To save another child, another parent, another town, we surely have an obligation to try,” said the President. Northeast Portland resident Edith Smith was surprised and deeply saddened by both shootings. Her opinion has always been the same. “I don’t own a gun,” she said. “I think they should ban them. They are killing too many kids with them.” Berkeley Moore, 23, has never been a supporter of guns and thinks there should be by A young mourner attends a candlelight vigil to remember the 20 children and 6 adult educators killed in a school shooting Friday in Newtown, Conn. (AP photo) stronger guards on those who can obtain guns. “I’m surprised that people would as sume that it is all safe in the first place,” said the Portland Community College student at north Portland’s Cascade campus. “This isn’t the first shooting,” she said. “It seems we should have taken a closer look the first time it happened.” “I’ve always thought there should be a lot more gun control,” said Marti Lituczy, an other local resident. Lituczy says she’s owned a gun before, but she threw it out when her husband and his children moved in. She believes people with guns should have them locked up bet ter. “If you get one, you need to keep it safe.” Laura, last name anonymous, 38, says there needs to be more enforcement on the distribution and availability of guns. “They should extensively check someone’s back ground and hold liability to that person for keeping it safe and secured,” she said. As Obama said, the issue is complex. Congress reported more than 310 million privately-owned firearms in our country in 2012, the highest gun ownership rate in the world. While many people believe we need stricter gun control and regulations, others believe the root of the problem is a less material condition, the human psyche. “I really think that every one of these individuals had some kind of psychotic break,” said Tom Martin, 43. "And that’s not abnormal.” Both shooters were young men emerging into adulthood, he said, and needed to have a support network that validates them. “Every single guy has been through that,” said Martin. The issue of gun violence goes far be yond the sales and regulation of guns, says Martin in considering the reasons why nei ther young adult got help. He argues indi viduals need better access to social and mental health services. “If we saw a person crawling around on bloody stumps, most of us would do any thing to get that person a wheelchair,” said Martin. Why should helping a person heal their mental pain be any different? “Just because we don’t see it, we ignore it,” he said. “It’s sickening.” Martin mentions a friend currently under going a mental health crisis who is attempt ing to get the help, but says she still must pay continued on page 5
