After a tragedy, when is the right time to talk about the issues?

One of the things I learned in the wake of the horrible shootings in Las Vegas is that passing stricter gun regulations won’t stop bad folks from killing others. I’ve heard it over and over. Indeed, a law will not prevent a bad guy from doing bad things with a gun.

Now that I know this, I suggest we legalize burglary because people are still burglarizing even though it’s against the law. Indeed, no matter what laws may be against them, such crimes as child abuse, drug trafficking, speeding, murder, animal cruelty and kidnapping continue in America. Now that I know that new laws won’t do anything to curb gun violence, I guess we don’t need those old laws, either. Obviously, laws don’t help.

Another thing I’ve learned is that now is not the time to talk about the issue of guns.Now is the time for thoughts and prayers.

Not only is now not the time, but it won’t be long before folks forget the issue about which it was almost time to talk but not quite. Maybe that’s the idea. If you don’t ever have the right time to talk about an issue, you can bury it underneath all those thoughts and prayers until the next event it also won’t be time to talk about.

I’ve decided that “now is not the time to talk about …” is going to be my new catch phrase. I can only imagine the things it might be able to get me out of. Hmm …

“I’m sorry, doc, but now is not the time to talk about the dangers of double-chili-cheeseburgers. As you can see on those lab results, what I need are thoughts and prayers.”

“Yes, officer, I know I was going 70 in a 55 zone, but now is not the time to talk about speeding. You should be offering thoughts and prayers for my trip home.”

“Yes, I realize my pit bull has your child’s tibia in its mouth, but now is not the time to talk about how I handle my dogs. I’ll give you some thoughts and prayers — that’s the best I can do.”

“Of course I smell the smoke and hear the fire alarms going off, but now is not the time to talk about the safest exits in the case of a fire. And, don’t worry, thoughts and prayers are fireproof.”

“That little tropical depression turned into a Cat 5 hurricane in just 24 hours while moving over abnormally warm water, but now is not the time to talk about climate change. Science ain’t got nothing on thoughts and prayers.”

“I don’t care if I’ve gotten more speeding tickets and had more wrecks than you, now is not the time to talk about my driving. You’re behind the wheel and you have no idea how many thoughts and prayers I just used while you were trying to find a parking space.”

“I agree with you that we probably should have grabbed that parachute before leaping from the plane, but now is not the time to talk about whose responsibility that was. Now is the time for thoughts and prayers — preferably short and fast ones.”

If there’s anything I’ve learned recently, it’s that if something is difficult to address, now is not the time to talk about it. Then again, in today’s America, nobody listens to anybody anymore, so, indeed, now may never again be the time to talk.

This story was originally published October 9, 2017 at 5:19 PM with the headline "After a tragedy, when is the right time to talk about the issues?."