( CNN ) -- At 9:40 a.m. on December 14 , America 's attention was turned to Newtown , Connecticut , where 20 children and six adults were gunned down in an elementary school . The nation was grief-stricken . President Barack Obama arrived two days later operating as consoler-in-chief , and the dialogue immediately commenced on what steps should be taken to prevent another Newtown . Shortly after 9 p.m. on December 27 , Chicago police found the body of Nathaniel T. Jackson outside a convenience store , marking the 500th homicide of the year in the Windy City , most of them due to gun violence . As far as I know , no pictures of Jackson were shown on national TV . Flowers and teddy bears did n't populate the scene . His death has largely been ignored by the national media , except for the basic acknowledgment that he represented the city 's 500th homicide . Think about this for a moment . Our world stopped in the wake of the Newtown massacre , and rightfully so . Those killed , including the gunman 's mother , were innocent victims , gunned down by a madman . But in Chicago alone , residents have experienced the equivalent of 19 Newtowns this year . And we move about our daily lives as if Jackson 's murder does n't mean a thing . It is because of this that I 've been angered to watch TV , listen to radio and follow these senseless , emotional and one-dimensional debates about gun control in the United States . Newtown and Aurora and Chicago did n't happen just because of guns . There were conditions that preceded these heinous acts that deserve our attention . Instead , the tragedy has allowed the usual suspects to declaim from one side or the other . It 's either pro-Second Amendment or restrict guns . Very little else has broken through to put this gun violence epidemic into the proper context . Opinion : Freedom Group , a gunmaker ripe for an ethical takeover . Dr. Cornel West and Rush Limbaugh sounded stunningly similar notes by suggesting that because the victims of other gun violence did n't look like the Newtown victims , the national media essentially did n't care . I personally know West has tried to address the issue ; nothing tells me Limbaugh really cares other than to score a point against `` the liberal media . '' That 's a reasonable issue to confront and analyze , but it 's not the only one . Mental illness has been discussed , but it has been a distant second to the loud voices championing a ban on assault weapons , background checks or closing gun show loopholes . Very few media sources have done extensive reporting on mental illness budgets in their cities and states . Yet we ca n't examine Newtown without dealing with `` stand your ground '' laws in Florida and other states . We ca n't say reinstate the assault weapons ban and not talk about whether strict gun control laws actually work . The gun violence issue is multilayered . Access to guns is one thing ; what we do with guns is another . We take solace in the FBI saying overall crime is down , but according to GunPolicy.org , 14,159 people were victims of homicide in 2010 . It is true that most people who possess guns do n't go around shooting people . But the thousands of homicides due to guns should be alarming to anyone , even the most ardent Second Amendment advocate . Opinion : Our dad did n't let evil get the last word . If we are going to keep saying , `` let 's have a conversation , '' then by God let 's do it . Right now , we are seeing advocates against guns and for guns try to score points and demonize one another . That 's not a conversation . It 's an exercise in futility . Issues such as education , poverty , income disparities , anger , violent video games and images , and many others must be looked at if we want to come to grips with America 's deadly infatuation with guns . Again , not everything is a direct cause . But any psychologist will tell you that a variety of factors lead to someone killing one person or 20 . For my media brothers and sisters , we have done a weak job at making this conversation broad and in-depth . We ca n't give it short shrift and think that a seven-minute panel will do the trick . We ca n't put so much attention on Newtown and ignore Chicago . It 's not just about what happens in Washington , but also in state houses , commissioners ' courts and city halls across the land . If we continue at this rate , Newtown will be an afterthought , thus becoming another missed opportunity to address a major epidemic in America . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Roland Martin .
19 of people have been killed by guns 2010 in Chicago , says Aurora . But Aurora , Newtown and Chicago did n't happen just because of guns , he says . We must deal with `` stand your ground '' laws in Florida and other states , he says . Issues such as education , poverty and anger must also be dealt with , he says .