THINK ABOUT IT EDITORIAL: Baseball and bullets

TUCSON, AZ (Tucson News Now) - EDITOR'S NOTE: The following is commentary by Joe Hengemuehler, Vice President and General Manager of KOLD News 13. Viewers with responsible opposing views are welcome to respond by clicking HERE.

It's still hard for me to get my head around what happened last week -- when a gunman opened fire where Republican lawmakers were practicing for a charity baseball game.

The shootings were an attack on all Americans. And, the incident was yet another reminder of the ever growing lack of civil discourse in our country.

After the Jan. 8th shooting here in Tucson, a lot of us felt the very same thing.

There's feeling something and then there's doing something about it. And that's just what happened at the University of Arizona.

After the Jan. 8th shooting – a new organization came to life here in Tucson. The National Institute for Civil Discourse set out to set a tone for healthy debate in politics.

Today, their work is needed more than ever.

The gunman in last week's shooting had posted anti-Republican messages and images on Facebook.

I'm not sure it's time to crack down on social media.

But think about it, we can all be a part of the solution by following the lead of the Tucson organization and think before we post, choose our words carefully, and avoid memes and messages that do more to inflame than inform.

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