So-called gun violence is one of those terms many of us hate. It’s implied that it’s somehow worse than “knife violence” or “bat violence.” The truth of the matter is that if you lose someone you care about to violence, you’re not going to spend a whole lot of time focusing on what weapon was used.

“My daughter is gone, but at least she was stabbed to death instead of shot,” said no parent ever.

But a Cleveland mother knows that better than pretty much any of us ever could. She just lost her third child to “gun violence.”

A mother prepares to bury her 13-year-old son, another victim of senseless gun violence.

Euclid mother of seven Anita Deal tells 19 News through tear-filled eyes she feels dead inside as she struggles to wake up from the nightmare of losing her 8th-grade son, Maurco Toler who was shot and killed in a drive-by.

“I love him and I’m sorry I wasn’t able to protect him, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there to hold him. I’m sorry my child, I’m so sorry,” Deal said.

…

The Euclid mother has lost three sons in four years to guns.

With that, though, you’d expect her to have a message about gun control or something, right?

I mean, while I’d disagree with such a message, I can fully understand where it would come from. After something like this, it’s not unusual to try and blame the weapon. After all, that’s what the media keeps telling us to do, right?

But when she spoke about what she thought people should do, she had some words people really need to listen to.

This grieving mother calls on other parents to raise their children to respect themselves and to respect life, “Be a mother, be a father. What the hell, what happened? Since when do we have to worry about kids going to visit their best friend and never coming home.”

Damn.

That’s precisely what we should be pushing for and should have for the last 40 years or so at least. Maybe then we wouldn’t be in some of the mess we’re in now with regard to violent crime.

Instead, we have entire segments of our population with zero respect for human life. They see any signs of disrespect as a killing offense. They can’t handle disagreement or anything else.

In short, we’ve got large swaths of the American public who are emotionally stunted and can’t cope with the world around them. Couple that with a culture that celebrates violence and what do you think is going to happen?

I can’t imagine what Deal is going through. I’d be absolutely beside myself if I lost one of my kids and probably be a basket case for the rest of my life. But losing three to so-called gun violence?

Again, I could certainly understand if she blamed the gun, but she’s not. She’s clearly blaming the tool using it, not the tool itself. That’s as it should be.

If more people would do that, not only would we have a handle on violent crime, we wouldn’t find our rights constantly threatened.