We'll Get There

As the country lurches (again) into the swamp of legislative and court battles over guns and gun control, workplace violence is down in the real world:

Mass shootings are not less common than before, but fewer are employment-related. Of 20 this year, only one killer was a disgruntled co-worker. Learning has taken place. If laws haven't changed to help corral dangerous personalities or keep guns out of their hands, at least employers, who get to see people in their everyday interactions, have become wiser about personality and risk.

Businesses turned to none other than the United States Postal Service on how to become alert to grievance nursers in their midst. Most important: Don't ignore employees who mutter threats. Police around the country teach the "Run, Hide, Fight" discipline to local businesses, developed by Houston cops with a Homeland Security grant. Half of employers now have violence prevention programs and workplace shootings are down by two-thirds since the early '90s.

It's encouraging that workplaces, both private- and public-sector, have been able to implement measures that have reduced violence. Even greater wisdom and dedication will be required to protect schools, however, given the vulnerability of potential victims and the (presumed) fewer occasions to be alerted to the behavior of killers such as the Newtown shooter. We'll get there eventually, but "there" is years away.