Again, our flags are at half-mast. Again, children are
murdered for no other reason than for sport. Again, firearms are the weapon
used to slaughter the young.
Fletcher Merkle, age 8. Leaves behind a mommy and a daddy.
Harper Moesky, age 10. Leaves behind a mommy and a daddy.
The two most recent children hunted down for sport while learning
their ABC’s in the classroom. In total,
there have been 148 children killed in school shootings since 1989. College
students at study bring the total to 212.
We are horrified. We are saddened. We are angry…And then we
become complacent.
Our lawmakers push speed dial to rush out their monthly texts
conveying their “thoughts and prayers” and then just as quickly desert the
issue, diverting our attention to the plight of the gas stove and gender
identification, for example. It seems that while our children now practice
duck-and-cover in case of a future school shooting, our politicians have
established their own form of duck-and-cover.
Our leaders’ lack of attention to mass shootings in America is
as horrific as the crime itself. This is a crisis, and yet our leaders do
nothing in what the entire world clearly sees as America’s disturbing culture
of gun violence and mass shootings unique to anywhere else on the planet.
70% of school shooters are teens who either attend the
targeted school or once had. In the Catholic school shooting this month it was
again a former student who shielded himself outside of the school, firing at his
pint-sized targets through a window. What can be done beyond thoughts and
prayers to help protect our children at school?
Surrounding the
schools with fencing and a security gate requiring visitors to request access
could become a state and/or federally funded necessity. In a survey of
America’s teachers, only 18% want to be armed as proposed by many conservative
lawmakers. However, having armed security on campus makes sense to many.
Increase the age to 21 for gun purchases. Parents who don’t secure their
firearms to prevent the youth access to the weapon need to be held legally
accountable.
Circling the wagons around our schools wouldn’t have
protected the patrons watching a movie at the Aurora Theater, concert goers
outside of the Mandalay Bay resort, shoppers at a Buffalo supermarket or clubbers
at a Miami nightclub, however. How do we
protect all of us in any situation? We start by identifying the usual
contributors: mental illness and guns.
Providing mental health care is essential, but it isn’t the
lone factor considering that the Nashville school shooter was receiving
mental care and that all countries have a mentally ill population – yet those
countries don’t experience 1714 victims mass shootings in the past 25 years as we
have had in the US according to the Rockefeller Institute of Government. So,
what stands out as a difference between us and other nations? Our gun culture.
We are only 5% of the world population, yet we possess 42% of guns in private
ownership. That doesn’t equate into cataloguing guns as bad, but when it comes
to one firearm, that weapon does need to be placed in a police lineup. 85% of
deaths in mass killings are at the barrel of assault weapons.
The statistics suggest that more lives might be saved should
this weapon favored by mass murderers be eliminated. Before proposing a ban,
outline the benefits of the weapon vs the risks, and if there are conclusive
risks, are there alternative firearms that could provide the same benefits? The
risks are obvious: in the wrong hands it kills more people in less time than
other weapons. For example, at a concert the gunman’s AR15 hit 925
people in less than ten minutes - 58 dead, 867 wounded. As for the benefits, there
are far better alternative firearms for hunting – what good is shredding your
venison -- and for home security the use of a rifle or handgun in your home is
safer for your family and neighbors.
Would a ban work? It did from 1994-2004 when a ban was
adopted and the number of mass shootings dropped 17%. When the ban was lifted,
mass shootings tripled. Countries that experienced assault weapon mass
shootings and then banned assault weapons have not had a mass slaughter since.
At a minimum, requiring universal background checks, gun
registration and denying gun ownership to the mentally ill could go far to save
lives.
There is evidence that stronger gun policies work. There is
evidence that doing nothing has failed. A recent poll reports 71% of Americans
want stricter gun laws and 62% want assault weapons banned. It is time our
legislators ignored the tantrums of the minority and the dollars of the gun
manufacturers’ lobbyists and paid attention to the death toll. Sadly, if you
think your Congressman will act by conscience without your nudging, you are
wrong. Legislation can be driven by you, if only you would make your voice
heard.
