My Sad Lament About Another School Shooting

One of the events that makes me feel sad, angry, frustrated, outraged, and fearful at the same time is school shootings. 

We know there are answers to resolving the issue; however, gun manufacturers have more say over gun laws than American citizens. I am not talking about banning shotguns, rifles, hunting gear. Those are not the guns I want taken out of the hands of people.

Instead of assault gun legislation, people talk about arming teachers, installing metal detectors in schools, and clear backpacks. We know these are not working as school shootings in which people have died continue to increase.

The most recent shooting happened in Apalachee High School in Georgia yesterday. A fourteen-year-old boy took the lives of two students and two teachers and injured nine others. The boy surrendered when confronted by the school’s two resource officers. The weapon, according to law enforcement, was an AR-platform-style rifle.

In the days to come we will hear heartbreaking stories of the people killed and injured. We will hear more about how the boy got the weapon and perhaps what motivated this child to kill other people. We will hear the same people calling for more gun controls and still others denying that guns kill people. People kill people. We will hear this tired old refrain from people I love.

I find it ironic that we can limit access to certain over-the-counter medications without outcries because they can be used in the manufacture of illegal substances.

I find it ironic that we want to ban video games because they may be an influencer to children’s indifference toward violence.

I find it ironic that we would expect teachers to carry guns (making more money for the gun manufacturers). In 2022 there were 3.2 million full-time teachers in America. I am wondering what a gun-toting teacher looks like? What gun will they carry? How will they keep the gun out of the hands of a student?

I am not opposed to any of these bans. I simply cannot understand why we have made the right to own an assault weapon off-limits for a ban.

Years of policy writing for businesses has made me a “what if” thinker. So, when someone makes a statement about how to solve a situation, my brain automatically goes to questioning all of the possible scenarios. As a result, I have learned that most recommendations for policy need to be looked at from different perspectives to analyze effectiveness.

Bottom line, I have no answers, only a ton of questions about what we can do in the United States to protect our children while they are at school.

Meanwhile it feels like the ‘no gun control’ advocates are more interested in protecting their perceived constitutional right to have automatic rifles than they are to protecting children. They argue that someone out there wants to take all of their guns away. This is simply not true.

What needs to happen for people to look for common-sense approaches?

One thing that needs to STOP is to make this a political issue. This is not a political issue. It is a human survival issue.

Thoughts and prayers are not working.