How to end school shootings in the US? Show photos of the kids killed by guns. | Your Turn

It was only a matter of days, not weeks, when Americans received news of the school year's first mass shooting as kids across the country headed back to their classrooms.

An 8-year-old and a 10-year-old were killed in the shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis on the morning of Aug. 27. It was the latest in what has become a bleak and uniquely American ritual of mourning children lost to gun violence in spaces where they should be safe and sound.

So we asked you: Why? What can be done to address or solve the issue of gun violence in America? Is it arming teachers? Knowing the signs? What will turn this terrible tide? Readers responded in our latest Opinion Forum to share their insights, fears and frustrations. Read a collection of their perspectives below.

If Sandy Hook didn't make us take action, I fear nothing will

After the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, I realized that if a bunch of dead children couldn't get politicians to take action, nothing would. We have a sick gun fetish in this country, and I truly don't know what the answer is. No politician seems to have the courage to stand up for safety, even plenty of Democrats. Maybe if we banned all contributions from gun companies and lobbyists, we could start to break the hold that they seem to have over our politicians.

The easy availability of guns in this country is absurd. Too many kids can get their hands on guns.

We have to eliminate all gun money from political contributions. Eliminate the easy buying of guns, including the gun show loophole. Change the culture. Shooting a gun isn't glamorous, and shooting a person wreaks incredible damage on the human body. With the permission of loved ones, start showing photos and videos of shootings on TV. People have become inured to what gun violence actually looks like. Show photos of those dead children (again, with the parents' or guardians' permission). Make it real for people.

I was worried about a young relative of mine because he sometimes talked about wanting to kill animals, and both he and his father were obsessed with guns. Fortunately, nothing happened. I think sometimes parents instinctively know something is off, but they don't want to face the fact that their child might be thinking about doing something monstrous. It seems like an education campaign could help with that, but I've seen no signs of any sort of definitive campaign.

— Beth Anne Riches, South Bend, Indiana

We have to start with treating mental illness

Hearing that children have been slaughtered by another crazy person will never be a "normal" occurrence accepted by a healthy society. But commonplace? It's sadly beginning to feel that way.

It does seem shootings are on the rise. And public places are easy targets for cowards, and children are sure targets to create outrage. It seems copycats see prior shootings as inspiration for their revenge against the pain and anger they feel from their mental illness.

Perhaps if the name of the shooter weren't publicized, they wouldn't perceive an opportunity for renown. They should just be noted as another mentally ill person who chose evil over healing. Turn the focus to the heroes of the story, to the stories of those killed and the survivors ‒ and the good in them, the good that will always prevail over evil. And perhaps always include the support lines available to those suffering from depression, suicidal thoughts and other mental health conditions.

People with guns have existed in our society for centuries before the behaviors of mass murderers and lunatics threatened to eliminate the rights of the responsible. Perhaps we don't have a gun problem; perhaps we have a mental health problem exemplified by the national drug epidemic, homelessness, shooters and vicious self-righteousness that permeates our social media and otherwise.

I question the need for a family household to have automatic weapons. But evil will find its way like water into the lives of the innocent, whether through guns or any other tool they see as a potential weapon. Let's start looking at why kids are killing kids and help the sick!

An armed teacher would not have prevented the recent tragedy at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. The shooter's presence wasn't even known outside the building until shots were fired. And there is too much risk for a teacher to have a gun in his/her desk. But armed security on campus could possibly help as a deterrent.

How sad that America has to have this conversation. The question is, why did we not need armed guards at our schools when I was a child? How have our values and what we are teaching as a society changed to bring on this crisis?

— Catherine Cote, Sequim, Washington

As an educator, I've seen little progress since Columbine

We've given up on the problem as intractable, and the two sides of the aisle have polarized their stances to a position where there seems to be no middle ground.

They seem to continue at the same pace since the Columbine High School mass shooting in 1999. I am a teacher who moved to Littleton, Colorado, in 2000 and have worked in a high school since then. I see no change since that inflection point.

I don't know the answer, but I feel firmly that our addiction to guns is the culprit, and we have no reasonable stance on the Second Amendment with any limits to access. Until that shifts, and the pro-NRA side agrees to move the boundary, we remain stuck in these two camps.

Teachers should absolutely, positively not be armed. I cannot offer enough ideas of how that goes wrong, including students getting access and/or a teacher losing their temper in one place and killing a student. More access to opportunities for killing will be the opposite of safety.

I do threat assessments as a school counselor, and it's by no means an exact science. It's very hard to assess a student with violent propensities versus a student who poses a low threat.

— Brian Powers, Englewood, Colorado

Gun violence won't change until the gun lobby does

The NRA has managed to buy the Republican Party. We have normalized gun violence everywhere. Thoughts and prayers are all anyone wants to provide. It has become the Wild West. It is absurd that we are the only country with this massive gun violence problem. And the fact that assault rifles, a weapon of war, are available is a huge part of the problem.

Every step forward that we make to limit gun availability is met by five steps backward by espousing the Second Amendment. That is ridiculous. The Second Amendment was to create a militia to fight against the British, not so that everyone in the country can have a gun.

There should be no gun sales at gun shows and a waiting period of 30 days. No one gets a gun without a firearm safety class. Just like driver's ed! There should be no assault weapons. All applicants for gun permits need a background check. All applicants need to pass a mental health screening through a countrywide, connected database. No weapons should go to perpetrators of domestic violence, ever.

Politicians need to stop pandering to gun rights activists and start thinking about the good of society as a whole. And especially the lives of little children.

— Jean Grady, Conway, South Carolina

Guns have always been part of American culture. So have regulations.

Gun ownership has always been a part of American culture. That goes back to the days when most people were farmers, and they had to defend themselves against bears and Indians. Also, the country expanded West into a wilderness, where lawless bandits roamed around. These reasons for gun ownership should not exist in a modern, civilized society.

Part of the problem today is that movies and video games give young people the impression that problems are solved with a gun. Another part is that guns are so much more dangerous today than they were 250 years ago. At that time, they could fire one shot and then had to be reloaded, which took a minute or so.

I believe that law-abiding people have a right to demand that the government protect them from gun violence.

I suggest a system where all guns sold legally are sold by licensed dealers to U.S. citizens with no criminal record. The registered owner is then responsible for anything the gun is used for, until he turns it back in to a licensed dealer. The owner cannot sell the gun to anyone else. In addition, any crime performed with or just the ownership of an unlicensed gun shall carry a very heavy penalty.

I suggest that nobody needs an assault rifle, a submachine gun or a large ammunition magazine for self-defense. Military weapons belong with the military only. I also suggest that the government clamp down on movies and video games, which normalize or even idolize shooting.

From the other side, I believe ‒ but do not know ‒ that many shootings are done by disturbed individuals, who think they have been wronged by society, or by individuals with mental problems. Trying to identify and help such individuals would seem to be a worthwhile investment of public funds, even though some people will instantly call it socialism and infringement on personal freedom.

— Georg Christensen, Spring, Texas