Sikhs in Eugene: 'We're not going to let something like this tear us down'
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EUGENE, Ore. - Sat Pavan Khalsa said the unspeakable violence Sunday at a Sikh temple wasn't just about Milwaukee, Wisc.
"It's emotional as a mother, as a woman," she told KVAL News. "It's emotional as a Sikh."
She said the violence could have happened anywhere.
"This wasn't just about Sikhs," said the member of the Eugene Sikh Temple. "It was about somebody misunderstanding and having hatred or having anger and taking it out on a group."
"I feel sad for them and for those families and for people who really don't understand our culture," said Saibhang Khalsa, another member of the Eugene Sikh Temple.
Sikhs have been a part of the Eugene faith community for at least four decades.
Members of the community told KVAL News they feel safe here.
Flowers were left at the doorstep of the local temple early Monday. One card read, "Let there be peace in the hearts of men. Our thoughts are with you," signed "a neighbor."
A shocked nation still doesn't have all the answers on what happened in Wisconsin or even a motive for the gunman, but Khalsa hopes that somehow through this tragedy comes a teachable moment.
"One of our thoughts was to just put out an invitation to the greater community to come to our services and see what we're about," she said. "We're not going to let something like this tear us down."
Sikhism is about peace, at it's root, which makes this mass shooting all the more tragic.
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We have another mass shooting nearly every month now, in America. Â How many does it take to enact real changes to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people?
 @Baldr Odinson What laws specifically would have prevented this guy and say the one from Colorado from committing murder? Obviously they have no respect for the law... Laws banning guns would not have stopped these people from these horrible acts, they would have either gotten the guns illegally or used something else.
@Bender @Baldr Odinson No, they would just build an IED, tamper with buses or railroad or subways. There are thousands of ways to kill people and a gun is just one of them. Use some common sense for a change. If someone is going to kill, they will find a way. Guns do not kill if the correct person is in possession of it. If you ban guns, then only criminals will have them, and that is the worst possible scenario. Think!
I know what you are alluding to when you say "enact real changes to keep guns out of the hands of dangerous people". The only way that's going to be is if all guns just disappeared, but that will never happen. So wouldn't your time be better spent working on ways to keep dangerous people out of society instead?
@Panzer Very well said, but that requires too much "common sense" something that gun control advocate do no possess.