Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Do you really want to know the reason for the violence? As that old movie line goes, “You can’t handle the truth.” I hope that we will try to understand why hatred, violence, and misunderstanding is rampant across our world.

Fifty years ago, I was still a teenager. Springfield was a much calmer community. Murder was almost unheard of here. St. Louis and Kansas City had high crime rates. Nothing like they have today.

Our population has increased by over 65,000 since then. That could be one explanation for the higher number of murders and assaults in Springfield, MO since 1960. What about the rest of the country and the world?

The wars in the middle east, Europe, and other places around the world have varied causes. I am going to boil it into a simple statement that many will disagree with. Wars are caused by people who feel that they have a reason to attack other people groups. My simple idea is that violence increases because we do not care about others.

Doesn’t this work for shootings, car accidents, and acts of aggression of any type? Most of us don’t intentionally hurt those that we care about. When we do not have compassion for someone else, we may harm them through accident or intention. I’ve been at scenes where the person who caused the problem states that they are sorry. Even though their direct actions inflicted pain. Others show no remorse.

A question that seems to be asked again and again is why? Is it because it is to easy to get a weapon? It is easy when weapons are as easy to put your hands on as rocks, scissors, or even your hands.

We need to look closely at what motivates those that attack. They may hate the victims. They may want something that their victims have. Would it be easier to help with the have nots. One case I heard years ago was of a teenager that was murdered for his tennis shoes by another youth that collected shoes and had over a hundred pairs.

After mass shootings there are always those that think we should strengthen gun laws. I believe the gun laws we have should be enforced heavily. If you own legal firearms, lock them away safely. I wrote a story a few years ago where I photographed over a dozen vehicles with unlocked doors that had visible weapons.

Once a person is inside of your home, make it as difficult as possible for them to steal not just weapons, but anything of value. Criminals want stolen items, and, in some states, they have made it extremely difficult to sell stolen items.

I have advocated for years that the news media should withhold the names of all accused of shootings or other violent acts. My belief is that there are times when they want to become famous or even infamous. We can’t remove the means; however, we might be able to remove some of the motivation. It could be worth a shot.

©Copyright 2025 by Charles Kensinger