The power of prayer shouldn’t be underestimated

The Minnesota Catholic school shooting was horrific and, as with other similar events, raises many questions about gun laws and who should be allowed to own guns.

I grew up in a household where my father hunted and made extra money selling animal furs. We were taught about gun safety and knew full well the dangers of handling guns.

However, I do believe that background checks should be conducted on people buying guns and that mentally ill people should not be allowed to obtain weapons.

What I don’t agree with is that the words “thoughts and prayers” are detrimental when it follows mass shooting incidents.

For some reason, rather than discussing the shooter at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis, the media decided to make “thoughts and prayers” the topic of their discussions.

The first thought that came to mind when I read this was, read the room. The shooting happened at a Catholic school. Telling those people that prayer is futile is not the best messaging.

What really makes me angry about these school shootings is, when the subject comes up about having armed guards in schools, many people object because they say it makes children scared. In my opinion, it would be scarier to have an armed, potentially mentally disturbed intruder in a school, than an armed guard that is hired to protect students.

Also, many people object to institutionalizing people with mental illness even if it keeps them from harming themselves or others.

As for people offering thoughts and prayers, that’s what people do when that is the only avenue for their grief over such a horrific event.

And, praying for many of us who believe in a higher power, is comforting and helpful in many situations.

I also believe that the shooter, who obviously had mental health issues — why else would someone open fire at innocent children and adults — probably would have found another way to kill those people if he didn’t have access to guns.

If you research mass killings in the U.S. and around the world, you will see articles about these killers also using fire, knives and in some instances vehicles to carry out their homicidal acts.

I admit that guns are probably used more often in mass killings but let’s not fool ourselves into thinking that these people would not find other means if they were hell bent on harming others.

I personally will continue to use prayer when I believe it’s warranted because I believe it does help. And I think it does more good than yelling and screaming at Vice President JD Vance and his wife Usher, who went to Minneapolis to comfort the families of the shooting victims.

In the future, we need to keep our focus on the mass shooters and their mind set and on gun ownership issues and not devolve into petty arguments over religion.