Following every mass shooting, since Sandy Hook Elementary, over a decade ago, we have had to listen to empty rhetoric. Starting at the top of the food chain, with whomever was currently in office as president, down the food chain to more politicians and celebrities we’ve been force-fed the same drivel, the same canned speeches. Responses usually begin with expressions of sentiment for the survivors, shock that it happened again and the need to make changes so the tragedies will stop. Guess where we are? Another nightmare, this time in Texas. And we heard the same canned speeches again. Who has stepped up to the plate to initiate some seriously needed changes? No one. Have we stopped the stockpiling of guns and ammunition? No. Have any laws been changed or new ones been written? No.
My question and the question on the minds of millions ... why not? How many more innocent people must die, how many more families will have their lives ripped apart because some individual sees the only way to fix their life is to kill others.
The continuing debate over the owning and use of guns has let us down a very slippery slope. We are taking away the rights of innocent people to justify the so-called rights of others who feel bearing arms is acceptable. It’s time for politicians to stop worrying about losing votes and be more concerned with saving lives.
Perhaps we can start ensuring each school has at least one, if not a team of armed officers and perhaps we can allow teachers who are comfortable with firearms to carry them. The idea is not to disarm responsible folks so a school is an easy target but to arm responsible folks to make schools a hard target. It’s time to stop worrying about gaining votes and restricting constitutional rights and to be more concerned with saving lives.
Terence - In the last two school shootings there were armed police guarding the schools. More guns is NOT the answer. When you talk about constitutional rights please remember that "a well REGULATED militia....." That means the founders expected there to be some REGULATIONS! The "originalists" on the Supreme Court claim that the founders could never have imagined gay people getting married. I'm pretty sure they never would have imagined AR-15s and thousands of rounds of ammo being bought by teenagers. Let's have common sense gun control in this country, restrict access to automatic and semi-automatic weapons, required licenses and training for all fire arms, limits on ammo, biometric gun locks, restrictions on who can carry what weapons and where.
Agree! And what an absolutely insane idea to arm teachers! Sure, great for gun manufacturers, but imagine the blood baths! That might even attract suicidal shooters! My goodness!
I'm not so sure Terence is calling for more guns... maybe he is more in line with your final comment about "who can carry what weapons and where." Terence...?
Two years ago, Gallup reported that more than 40% of Americans have a gun at home, and about that same number are satisfied with US gun policy. The real bad news? About three quarters of respondents were against banning handguns, however, half of them were OK with prohibitions against assault rifles. That’s a good place to start. Plus, Gallup data showed that 90% favored background checks for gun sales... all gun sales.
Hey, Congress… background checks and mandatory waiting periods NOW.
I agree with your statement, “Let's have common sense gun control in this country…"
Let's get on board with treating this as a national health issue. Let's get some science-based guidelines to improve gun safety and protocols especially for persons with mental issues… 60% of gun deaths each year are suicides. Let’s get requirements in place for gun manufacturers to use technology to make firearms safer. Let's address why so many in our cities turn to gun violence, i.e. hopelessness and poverty, and start working to solve those problems.
Craig, thanks for your response. Let’s look at the other side of the coin. How many shootings occurred at schools without an armed presence? How many shootings did not occur due to an armed presence at a school? How many shootings lasted longer and were made worse because an active shooter knew there would not be a swift armed response?
Instead of attempting to make political points on these tragedies by bellyaching about taking away guns (talk which is mostly ignored since attempting to take away an estimated 400 million firearms in this country is not feasible nor a winning proposition - there’s a much greater chance of Roe v. Wade being overturned in the Supreme Court than firearms being restricted from law-abiding citizens), what is being done to make schools harder targets - now? If you don’t like my proposed solutions, ignore the rhetoric about taking away guns and propose a few solutions we can implement now and in the near future. Or get bogged down in rhetoric and repeat after the next tragedy.
Craig, it sounds like there were NOT armed police guarding the school at the Uvalde shooting. Now would we have had less fatalities or injuries due to armed officer(s)? Or armed teacher(s)?
The notion of armed teachers in our schools frightens a lot of folks. However, maybe a starting point for such a discussion should include the Federal Flight Deck Officer and Federal Air Marshal Service programs. We have to find some solutions that will start gaining some traction. It's not a Biden thing or a Trump thing. It's everybody's thing. Schools should be safe 24/7 365.
Agreed Ray. People not comfortable with firearms should not be forced to handle them (I prefer they didn’t). But if they are comfortable handling firearms, these teachers can add that feature to their list of qualifications. This may provide a degree of comfort to parents and students. I'd like to hear more ideas and potential solutions instead of the usual rhetoric. Folks may learn something from Andy Pollack, who lost his daughter in Parkland, Florida (https://byrna.com/pages/schoolsafety).
Gun control hasn't and won't stop mentally de-range people from killing others. Criminals and people who want a gun will get one our use a knife, bomb, etc. Mental illness among adolescents got worse with mostly unnecessary school lock downs. Parents and teachers should be better trained to recognize the warning signs so symptoms can be treated before they get worse.
Ed: You don’t know the difference between a gun and a knife? With a knife, you have to be up and close, attacking one at a time, with a gun many can be taken down, quickly and at a distance. I am a survivor of a knife attack. If the attacker had had a gun instead of a knife, in all likelihood I would have been killed. My defense, and the only thing that could save me in that situation, was a very fast and hard right hook! Thank you, Dad, for teaching me self-defense at an early age!
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(10) comments
Perhaps we can start ensuring each school has at least one, if not a team of armed officers and perhaps we can allow teachers who are comfortable with firearms to carry them. The idea is not to disarm responsible folks so a school is an easy target but to arm responsible folks to make schools a hard target. It’s time to stop worrying about gaining votes and restricting constitutional rights and to be more concerned with saving lives.
Terence - In the last two school shootings there were armed police guarding the schools. More guns is NOT the answer. When you talk about constitutional rights please remember that "a well REGULATED militia....." That means the founders expected there to be some REGULATIONS! The "originalists" on the Supreme Court claim that the founders could never have imagined gay people getting married. I'm pretty sure they never would have imagined AR-15s and thousands of rounds of ammo being bought by teenagers. Let's have common sense gun control in this country, restrict access to automatic and semi-automatic weapons, required licenses and training for all fire arms, limits on ammo, biometric gun locks, restrictions on who can carry what weapons and where.
Agree! And what an absolutely insane idea to arm teachers! Sure, great for gun manufacturers, but imagine the blood baths! That might even attract suicidal shooters! My goodness!
Hello, Craig
I'm not so sure Terence is calling for more guns... maybe he is more in line with your final comment about "who can carry what weapons and where." Terence...?
Two years ago, Gallup reported that more than 40% of Americans have a gun at home, and about that same number are satisfied with US gun policy. The real bad news? About three quarters of respondents were against banning handguns, however, half of them were OK with prohibitions against assault rifles. That’s a good place to start. Plus, Gallup data showed that 90% favored background checks for gun sales... all gun sales.
Hey, Congress… background checks and mandatory waiting periods NOW.
I agree with your statement, “Let's have common sense gun control in this country…"
Let's get on board with treating this as a national health issue. Let's get some science-based guidelines to improve gun safety and protocols especially for persons with mental issues… 60% of gun deaths each year are suicides. Let’s get requirements in place for gun manufacturers to use technology to make firearms safer. Let's address why so many in our cities turn to gun violence, i.e. hopelessness and poverty, and start working to solve those problems.
Craig, thanks for your response. Let’s look at the other side of the coin. How many shootings occurred at schools without an armed presence? How many shootings did not occur due to an armed presence at a school? How many shootings lasted longer and were made worse because an active shooter knew there would not be a swift armed response?
Instead of attempting to make political points on these tragedies by bellyaching about taking away guns (talk which is mostly ignored since attempting to take away an estimated 400 million firearms in this country is not feasible nor a winning proposition - there’s a much greater chance of Roe v. Wade being overturned in the Supreme Court than firearms being restricted from law-abiding citizens), what is being done to make schools harder targets - now? If you don’t like my proposed solutions, ignore the rhetoric about taking away guns and propose a few solutions we can implement now and in the near future. Or get bogged down in rhetoric and repeat after the next tragedy.
Craig, it sounds like there were NOT armed police guarding the school at the Uvalde shooting. Now would we have had less fatalities or injuries due to armed officer(s)? Or armed teacher(s)?
Hello, Terence
The notion of armed teachers in our schools frightens a lot of folks. However, maybe a starting point for such a discussion should include the Federal Flight Deck Officer and Federal Air Marshal Service programs. We have to find some solutions that will start gaining some traction. It's not a Biden thing or a Trump thing. It's everybody's thing. Schools should be safe 24/7 365.
Agreed Ray. People not comfortable with firearms should not be forced to handle them (I prefer they didn’t). But if they are comfortable handling firearms, these teachers can add that feature to their list of qualifications. This may provide a degree of comfort to parents and students. I'd like to hear more ideas and potential solutions instead of the usual rhetoric. Folks may learn something from Andy Pollack, who lost his daughter in Parkland, Florida (https://byrna.com/pages/schoolsafety).
Gun control hasn't and won't stop mentally de-range people from killing others. Criminals and people who want a gun will get one our use a knife, bomb, etc. Mental illness among adolescents got worse with mostly unnecessary school lock downs. Parents and teachers should be better trained to recognize the warning signs so symptoms can be treated before they get worse.
Ed: You don’t know the difference between a gun and a knife? With a knife, you have to be up and close, attacking one at a time, with a gun many can be taken down, quickly and at a distance. I am a survivor of a knife attack. If the attacker had had a gun instead of a knife, in all likelihood I would have been killed. My defense, and the only thing that could save me in that situation, was a very fast and hard right hook! Thank you, Dad, for teaching me self-defense at an early age!
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