When tragedies occur, it’s natural to look for someone to blame. The danger, however, is in compounding the tragedy by fingering the wrong culprit. Last Friday, an unspeakable tragedy took place in Connecticut when a lone gunman murdered 26 people ”“ 20 of them children at a school ”“ before committing suicide. The loss that each of these people’s families have experienced will be with them for the rest of their lives, and the entire nation is grieving with them.

Amidst the candlelight vigils, the clusters of teddy bears and flowers, and the remembrances of the victims being shared, however, there is unfortunately also a whirlwind of angry commentary, political posturing and punditry going around. Much of that centers around the blame game that so many of us, from Facebook users to national media commentators, are all too willing to play.

Depending on who you ask, the senseless murder of so many children, their teachers and the killer’s mother are the fault of: The news media, video games, lax firearms restrictions, violent television programs and films, lack of school security, or a myriad of other reasons.

The media’s been blamed for supposedly glamorizing mass murders by covering them and using the photos and name of the alleged killers, despite the fact that they’re just doing their jobs of making public as much information as possible.

Video games and other entertainment media meant for adults are being blamed for promoting violence and gore among children ”“ whose parents shouldn’t be allowing them access to such media in the first place ”“ thereby desensitizing an entire generation to violent images.

Firearms enthusiasts say teachers or school security personnel should be allowed to be armed and trained to defend themselves, so schools aren’t such an easy target, while those who support tighter gun control say no civilian should have access to automatic weapons.

But let’s be honest with ourselves. There’s only one entity that is to blame for the horrible events of Dec. 14 in Connecticut: The shooter himself, 20-year-old Adam Lanza.

He’s the one who stole his mother’s guns, murdered her, loaded up hundreds of rounds of ammunition, and proceeded to use it to end the lives of 25 more people and then himself. No one else aimed the gun or pulled the trigger.

Lanza is dead now, and no evidence has yet been found of a motive for his murdering spree. That’s what makes this terrible event so hard to come to terms with, and makes it so tempting to point the finger elsewhere. These mourning families, and indeed the entire nation, will continue to ask, “Why?” and there will never be a sufficient answer.

The real culprit here is the unstable, violent mind, just as it has been throughout history, no matter the weapon. And that’s a much, much more difficult problem to address than any media restriction, security measure or gun ban. Time and time again, it’s been proven that if someone is determined to kill others, it’s nearly impossible to stop them.

The only way to address this problem is to reach these people before they’ve made up their mind to commit an atrocity ”“ and that is certainly where we could improve as a nation. A new way of addressing mental illness must be developed to meet the needs of those who are at risk of becoming violent toward others, before they commit a crime.

We agree with President Barack Obama ”“ who said he would use “whatever power this office holds” to engage with law enforcement, mental health professionals, parents and educators in an effort to prevent more tragedies like Newtown ”“ that something must be done. But the nation must be careful that we do not condone the loss of our rights in favor of feeling more safe.

Let’s focus on grieving together and keep the blame where it belongs ”“ on the killer ”“ and seek to help others who have his same potential for destruction, before it’s too late.

Ӣ Ӣ Ӣ

Today’s editorial was written by Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Kristen by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.