Gun laws play politics with lives of the innocent
The United States of America: A country that places more emphasis on gun ownership than the lives of children. As the school year began, students of all ages were required to go through emergency drills in order to prepare them for the event of a school shooting, a situation which should be a rare aberration, but is tragically all-too-common in this country.
Such practices simulate this dreaded event through barricading practices, simulated gunfire sounds, and repetition of escape plans in an attempt to drill information into students’ heads. Even at West, Wildcats spend the first week of homeroom relearning the emergency information which they have been taught throughout their school career.
Perhaps if the government would truly hear the cries of pained children, and the wails of parents who lost their babies in the blink of an eye, things would change. Unfortunately, the leaders of this country are too afraid of displeasing lobbyists or voters to make any real change.
One of the most common arguments made when demanding access to firearms is that regulating these weapons violates the Second Amendment. While this amendment does grant US citizens the right to bear arms, there is no universe in which it should be easier to purchase a gun than a marriage license. According to CBS News, Florida state law requires residents to either “attend a premarital course or wait the mandatory three days before the marriage license takes effect.” The waiting period to buy a gun, however, is nonexistent on shotguns, and can be waived on handguns and AR-15s if you have a conceal and carry license.
In addition, background checks are not run on everyone purchasing a gun. The American Academy of Pediatrics states that “Current federal law requires background checks to be performed for anyone purchasing a firearm at a federally licensed gun dealer–however only 40% of guns sold in the US are sold through a federally licensed dealer.” This means that roughly 60% of people buying a gun could have a criminal record or violent history, none of which is taken into account when they make this purchase. It’s the lack of such regulations that attributes to the high number of school massacres this country experiences.
The school shootings rate is shockingly high, as 12 children die each day from gun violence, according to Sandy Hook Promise. This organization, which seeks to protect “America’s children from gun violence in honor of the precious lives that were lost at Sandy Hook Elementary School,” also states that “since the shooting at Columbine High School in 1999, more than 338,000 students in the U.S. have experienced gun violence at school.” That’s 338,000 students who have feared for their lives when they should have been in a safe, educational environment.
Despite such heartbreak, even some of those in the running to lead the country fail to take adequate action to prevent further atrocities. JD Vance, former president Donald Trump’s vice presidential candidate, said that school shootings are a “fact of life.” Even Trump, the Republican presidential nominee, has posted his sympathies for the families of those affected by gun violence, yet intends to rescind gun regulations enacted by the Biden administration. Trump claims that such regulations are an attack on gun manufacturers and owners. It’s preposterous to think that some of those wanting to lead our country have a complete disregard for protecting American students, as they value access to weapons over the lives of children.
Tim Walz, Vice-President Kamala Harris’ running mate, on the other hand, has different views on firearms than Republican nominees. During a Pennsylvania rally, Walz said, “I say it as a gun owner, I say it as a veteran, I say it as a hunter, none of the things we’re proposing infringes on your Second Amendment right. But what does infringe upon this is our children going to school and being killed.” Harris has similar reservations, wanting further gun control by pushing for a federal assault weapons ban. This is commonly misunderstood as banning all weapons, but the previously enforced ban which expired in 2004, “blocked the sale of 19 specific weapons that have the features of guns used by the military, including semiautomatic rifles and certain types of shotguns and handguns,” according to the New York Times’ article, “What Harris, Trump, Walz and Vance Said After Georgia School Shooting.” It’s almost dystopian that we live in a world where this view is not deemed normal.
Regardless of personal views on gun control, it’s important that everyone be educated on the signs of an individual having violent intent, as well as how to keep their own children safe. Sandy Hook Promise states, “An estimated 4.6 million American children live in a home where at least one gun is kept loaded and unlocked.” It’s essential that if parents have firearms in the house, they be properly stored in a place that children cannot access them, especially because “many of the attackers were able to access firearms from the home of their parents or another close relative. While many of the firearms were unsecured, in several cases the attackers were able to gain access to firearms that were secured in a locked gun safe or case,” according to a US Secret Service report, titled Protecting America’s Schools: A U.S. Secret Service Analysis Of Targeted School Violence. This can be prevented by ensuring children don’t know where weapons are stored, and locks and passcodes are regularly changed in order to make certain that weapons are secure.
In the time following school shootings, individuals often claim that they ignored the signs, and wished they hadn’t. “93% of school shooters planned the attack in advance,” (Sandy Hook Promise), meaning the majority of the time there were likely behaviors, social media posts, threatening claims, or other indicators that an individual had harmful intent. In order to prevent later remorse, it’s important to know the signs in order to stop tragedy from occurring in the first place. Signs can include sudden withdrawal from loved ones and social life, isolation, direct threats, bragging about access to firearms or other weapons, obsession with past school shootings or other massacres, alarming drawings, comments, or social media posts.
It’s important to note that these signs mean nothing if not reported. Sandy Hook Promise reports that in four out of five school shootings, at least one person failed to disclose an attackers plan, despite prior knowledge of it. This is why it is so essential that once educated on the signs, people report them. All threats must be taken seriously, which is why there are so many anonymous tip lines available. Even at West, students are educated on Wisconsin’s SPEAK UP, SPEAK OUT program. This website and app allows students to submit threats through an anonymous tip line, which are read and received 24 hours a day. For West students, SUSO’s website is linked directly to their Classlink homepage. Parents and community members can also access the tipline, not just students.
The importance of reporting such things was proven when the mother of the suspect in the Apalachee High School shooting was said to have contacted the school 30 minutes prior to the attack to warn them about her son, according to the grandfather and aunt of the suspect. Despite school having just started, suspect Colt Gray, a fourteen-year-old student who attended the high school, was the perpetrator in the Georgia high school’s attack, in which four were killed, and at least nine were injured. Tragically, 14-year-old Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo were the two students whose lives were taken during the shooting. Teachers Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irmie were victims of the attack as well. Had Gray’s mother not spoken with the counselor, there likely could have been further casualties, though that doesn’t lessen the heartache over those who were killed.
Following the horrific events at the Georgia high school, Colin Gray, the father of the assailant, was arrested for his involvement in the attack. According to his arrest warrant, Gray alleges he gave his son a firearm, despite his knowledge that his son was “a threat to himself and others.” It’s good to see that justice is being served, but perhaps the entire tragedy could have been avoided had mandated background checks and firearm safety been universally required.
There are a million ways in which the situation could have gone differently, and so many factors that play into how events unfold. But, at the issue’s core, further firearm restrictions coupled with increased education is key to preventing this country from continuing down its rabbit hole of misguided priorities.
by Emma Toney
Published November 4th, 2024
Oshkosh West Index Volume 121 Issue II