Change community cultural norms

This column is the last of a three-part series taken from the article, "A Quarantine on Killing," by Dr. Gary Slutkin. The three parts are to interrupt the transmission, to reduce risks and to change community cultural norms.

Two of the largest manufactures of the iconic AR-15 have announced that they will only sell their products to the military and to law enforcement agencies. An interruption in future commercial sales.

By considering the possibility of being thrust into a gun violence situation, we can reduce the risks by "Being Prepared."

To change the community's cultural norms, may seem impossible; but fear not, it has and will continue to happen in our part of God's kingdom.

I have spent two-thirds of my priesthood, 22 years, in Northwest Arkansas. We learned that from the beginning of the 19th century our region has been the second "melting pot of America." We have experienced significant population flows from many parts of America and the world.

There were the Western movement settlers that discovered our region and they stayed. The Trail of Tears converged at Pea Ridge before moving south and west. People from Germany, Italy and Eastern Europe arrived and liked what they saw. There were the Orphan Trains that originated in the Northeast and made stops in our region. Instantly families grew in size. Decades later, the Cooper retirement community vision spread and Americans speaking all kinds of English came with their regional customs. Then the Vietnamese arrived after the fall of Saigon. Our industrial complexes brought people from all over the world to be an important part of us and, of course, there is the University of Arkansas that has attracted students from all over Arkansas and the world.

The current political talking points name the Southern Gun Culture. I am a southerner and hunted with my family. The linguistics of these debates are important. We hunted with "guns." When we went duck hunting, our "shotguns" were required by law to have a "plug" that prevented us from using more than three shells per loading. We had no need for weapons.

My older brother and I served in separate military branches and were trained to use military weapons. There was a war and we were armed accordingly. These weapons of war have migrated to the general public and the body count of our civilian war is escalating. A large commercial sporting goods chain just sent their five-million-dollar inventory of weapons to the metal shredders. This is one way corporations can pave the way for us to talk about the mass murders and the use of weapons.

On Nov. 9, from 10 a.m. until noon, we are invited to Old High Middle School for the kickoff of the "Choose Love Curriculum" that will be included in the Bentonville school system. Scarlett Lewis, from our region, the author and the mother of Jessie Lewis, one of the 20 children murdered at Sandy Hook Elementary School will be here. Come and see.

Ken Parks is the former rector of St. Theodore's Episcopal Church in Bella Vista. He can be reached by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.