This is an opinion column

“Somebody has got to start thinking about Momma,” said Alabama Law Enforcement Agency Sgt. Jeremy Burkett. “We’re tired of going to the mothers and having to tell them that these kids are not coming home.”

As the father of four boys, I hope law enforcement never shows up at my door to deliver such a horrific message to my family. We can’t engage the issue of senseless violence trapped between meaningless mentions of common sense gun control and mental health.

Stop telling me that criminals will always commit crimes or that we live in a broken culture that’s gone off the rails. Video games are violent. China wants to usurp America’s role in the world. Joe Biden and Donald Trump are old. Simply describing a known problem isn’t a meaningful contribution to the conversation. We cannot and should not accept that high rates of violent crime and countless twisted minds are American inevitabilities.

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The recent school shooting at The Covenant School in Nashville and the birthday party shooting in Dadeville, Alabama demonstrate something is deeply wrong with us. The shooters didn’t fit the same profile. They didn’t use the same firearms. Each of them possessed a blatant disregard for life and a willingness to take it indiscriminately.

I know gun-related suicide, homicide, and accident data like the back of my hand. Ever since my own brother became a gun violence statistic, I’ve paid attention. My family also has direct experience with serious mental health challenges. Nobody likes to talk about such heavy topics, so we resort to empty political platitudes instead.

Common-sense gun control ranks near the top. It means everything and nothing. It’s a slogan Democrats love. President Joe Biden has repeatedly called on Congress to enact these mythical measures.

Activists can shout “No justice, no peace!” until the cows come home. Legislators like Rep. Justin Jones of Tennessee can engage in the theater of carrying around small caskets. Protesters can assail Republicans as racist authoritarians. The brutal reality is that if Democratic gun restrictions were as widely accepted as common-sense requires, then majorities in Republican states would enact them.

Democrats are directionally loud about their demands and regularly short on specific legislative ideas that have more than a snowball’s chance in hell of becoming law. Imagine that I moved to New York and demanded that firearm safety training be taught as an elective in public high schools. It would undoubtedly reduce accidental firearm deaths, but I’d be laughed out of the state legislature in a heartbeat.

It may come as a shock, but most of us find our own ideas to be brilliant and well-justified. Building a majority that agrees with us is a different matter entirely.

On the other hand, Republicans routinely pivot to ambiguous concerns over mental health to avoid any discussion about firearms. “We don’t have a gun problem,” goes the common refrain. “We have a mental health problem.”

This is the Republican version of the inspired Democratic slogan, “It’s the guns.” For Republicans, “It’s mental health.”

In Dadeville, two teenagers blew away a room full of kids. The accused aren’t even old enough to vote. Reaching the conclusion that there was something off about their mental health doesn’t exactly require a doctorate degree.

But when it comes time to actually enact legislation to support mental health, success is hard to find. Measures such as expanded counseling resources in schools, clearer information about insurance coverage for mental health services, or even options to help alert and educate parents on mental health challenges facing their children struggle to gain traction.

Too many of us are mentally sick with a constitutionally-protected right to keep and bear arms.

Instead of continuing to be self-righteous blowhards who can’t imagine anything other than our own views being correct, we should find some common ground.

Start with clear tax incentives or grants for gun safes, gun locks, and other firearm safety gear. Their core function is to keep children from accessing firearms and injuring themselves or others. They also slow rash decisions.

Not a year goes by that I wonder if a gun lock might have been enough of a distraction to stop my brother from killing himself. So many gun deaths happen because emotionally charged individuals make poor decisions. At a minimum, a gun lock or safe changes an individual’s focus for even a brief amount of time.

Congress can and should create a liability shield for individuals who voluntarily complete a background check for a private gun sale. Legislators could modify the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) to make such checks easy. It’s not the mandate that Democrats want, but it’s a useful addition that private gun sellers would be foolish to ignore.

Should Americans prescribed anti-psychotic drugs be allowed to possess firearms? My grandfather became violent and wildly unstable because of dementia. He hadn’t committed any crime, but he was under the influence of some of the most powerful mind-altering medications allowed in America. If there was ever a case for an individual with a condition or medication who shouldn’t be allowed to possess firearms, it was him.

Maybe anti-psychotic drugs aren’t the correct threshold, but we should at least have a reasonable discussion about what psychological conditions, behaviors, and medical treatments might result in firearm restrictions consistent with the Second Amendment.

If Republicans are concerned about the influence of psychologists and counselors at our public schools, introduce legislation offering a tax credit for out-of-pocket spending on mental health services. Giving families options and resources to improve their own mental health is an excellent idea. Politicians from both parties rail against the government sitting between patients and their doctors. What better way to improve mental health and get the government out of the way?

Stop the talking points. Use the legislative process. Track the results. Stick with what works and repeal what doesn’t. Too many mommas are getting that dreaded knock at the door from law enforcement. We’re not without options. We must help each other, protect our families, and respect our God-given rights. If our leaders can’t work through such a challenging balance, we should find new ones up to the task.

Smith is a recovering political attorney with four boys, two dogs, a bearded dragon, and an extremely patient wife. He’s a partner in Triptych Media, a business strategy wonk, and a regular on talk radio. Please direct outrage or agreement to [email protected] or @DCameronSmith on Twitter.