Enough talk. Vote them out. Vote them all out. Not complicated.
3
There was a time when people of African descent were considered property, and that time is no longer. There was a time when women were not considered citizens, and that time is no longer. There was a time when whites and blacks could not go to the same schools, and that time is no longer. Perhaps there will be a time when the lives of our children and teachers will be more important than the rights of gun owners, and this time will be no longer.
2
The most powerful tool we have before us is the vote. Congress has let us all down as has our "leader."
This is the bottom line. The Santa Fe killings will stay with us for a few weeks before being swallowed up by more Trump antics. Then, out of nowhere, we will have another slaughter.
That iis just how it is. Nothing will Change.
1
The day after the Santa Fe murders, a sign on the 610 loop gave directions to the gun show. I am not currently Houston proud. I am appalled. These are our babies. Our policies are killing them.
1
Ah, yes...
The eternal bugaboo of the Left, the National Rifle Association.
There are perhaps 80,000,000 gun owners in this country, but the NRA represents only about 5,000,000 of them. Yes, the NRA has a pretty big war chest, but, again, the NRA only represents about 6.25% of all gun owners.
Still, they must be doing something right, or gun-control advocates are doing something abysmally WRONG at the polls. I suspect that the latter is true. If you strongly believe in gun control, well, get your backside in gear and ignore—and stop blaming— the NRA for YOUR failings.
As for the notion that among all NRA opponents, women in particular are being seriously “bullied” by the mean ol’ NRA—and here I don’t mean run-of-the-mill political give-and-take—well, I would appreciate an example or two.
I’ll take ‘em to the woodshed myself.
An NRA Life Member.
2
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, in the event of fire jump through a window or cut a hole in the roof. Only in Texas do we get such brilliant thinkers.
62% of all gun deaths are suicides. How many more are drunken friends angry at each other?
4
Please stop using shooters names. It is not necessary to the narrative of the story and only encourages more people to perpetrate these types of actions.
1
I feel your choices put adults and children in danger so I want to take away your gun. Is that what's at the heart of this debate? It's not about the NRA or AR15's and background checks -- Santa Fe killer used a 9MM. It's cultural. I've never owned a gun but there's not a lot of honesty on the left.
2
Hi Stephen
Honestly the majority of these events are perpetrated with automatics. Their abolition in Australia has worked quite well. Do you honestly think the automatics will make a difference to your liberty? From here the dogged resistance to reform seems a type of slavery which is chained to a belief detrimental to ones own and societies well being.
1
Yes, I do. Shotguns are not good against a group of aggressors.
To a regular in the National Republican Army, nothing's scarier than a motivated woman come to take their manhood away.
All this state-by-state improvement will amount to nothing if the NRA's national ambitions - such as a federal reciprocity law that forces each state to honor every other state's gun licenses - come to fruition.
1
Only the "gun rights at all costs" groups are not upset about our defenseless students being killed at will by mentally deranged peers in our schools. The authorities move like molasses in January to resolve this heinous outrage being perpetrated on our school bound youth. We must turn our school campuses into armed camps and parents found to be negligent in keeping their weapons locked up and out of the reach of their children should be punished as accessories in murder.
If the past is prologue, nothing has changed. The body count will to grow. What will come next is Alex Jones, one of Trump's favorites, claiming that the whole thing is a fake. This will be followed by the claims that those on television are actors or actresses. And then will come the relentless claims that nobody really died.
How grotesque is this? One person was gunned down at graduation in Georgia and another was wounded and the episode did not even make the news. No expression of grief from the White House. None of those "memorials."
1
Nothing will change until American conservatives wake up. You're in league with an organization that profits from the violent deaths of American citizens on American soil. History will remember the NRA and those who supported it as killers who valued power, party, and profit over all else.
Children are dying every day, and we have people in this country who believe that's acceptable so long as they retain their money, their seat in congress, their persecution complex. American conservatism has become an affliction on our nation. Here's hoping we can flush out some of the poison in november.
1
There's no honest argument that the left merely desires "restrictions," and not a full ban. Look at the calls for the repeal of the 2nd Amendment.
1
So what.
1
It means that you and your ilk are lying when you say "No one is coming for your guns."
Many responsible gun owners are fine with being responsible for the use, storage, and sale of their firearms.
Then you have the not-so-well-ordered 'militia' who want to have their right to own a gun, with absolutely no accountability or responsibility. Their fear of not being able to rise up in armed insurrection at some given point means more to them than their lives, the lives of their families and most certainly more than the lives of anyone else, or their children.
Then you have the people who are somewhere in between, who don't think laws are enforcable and/or think that regulation is the first step to confiscation. They tuck back into the militia group above at the voting booth.
We need enough people who care to SHOW UP AND VOTE for representatives in government who will fight for responsible gun ownership, and at the same time beef up services for people who are disturbed, keep those same people from possessing guns until their capable, and make sure that if you have any suspicion or worry about someone.. well do what you can. At least speak up.
And do NOT keep unlocked guns around people too young to have the good judgement to use them. I'm still waiting to see how this child was able to so easily show up with his own father's guns. I wouldn't want to be that man, but then I value life, and I am not a coward who thinks a gun is the only viable means of defense.
2
We need to punish the parents whose carelessness allowed these young men such easy access to their guns.
1
Congress won the "Flying Fickle Finger of Fate" award in 1968 for its never-ending delays on gun control, proving once again: "The more things change, the more they stay the same!".
Watch here: https://youtu.be/-ROXGMIIHo8
Bonus: Winchester Rifle Company is a winner too!
https://youtu.be/Zn-0M4ROof8
NRA $ -> politicians = more guns.
More guns = more deaths (this is actually what they are designed for after all).
It's not rocket science people.
1
Um, no.
Since 1993, the number of guns in private hands in the US have doubled while the gun murder rate has fallen by 50%
1
Never forget.
As a Florida resident I will be voting in the Fall based on NRA ratings. Bill Nelson has a F and although I view him as a politician who has been around too long, Rick Scott has an A+, therefore Bill will have my vote. We can only stop this insanity in the voting booth!
2
It takes three things to facilitate a school shooting: a certain angry and irrational young male, a firearm and ammunition for that firearm.
Just a random thought, but in combination with raising purchasing ages for both guns and ammunition (with exceptions for hunters or those with other demonstrated need), allowing people to carry their ammunition on their person or providing lockers for it at publicly-available facilities might make these events less common. The least cumbersome, threatening and politicized of these three is the ammunition - maybe it is worth aiming for an easier target?
1
America has not made "progress" where its needed the most, getting 12-20 year-olds to START acting like responsible young adults and STOP acting like 3 year-olds throwing murderous tantrums with guns to hack fame by becoming mass-murderer celebrities! Why aren't Swartz, the NY Times editors and the rest of their journalist stable with all their superior Jewish "moral authority" telling the tragedy exploiting teens, who are now preaching and prancing for media) to "scold", and shame their own generation into acting like rational human beings. And while they're at it to demonstrate and politically advocate to reverse the nonsense court decision that 17 year olds are not morally or legally accountable for murder. Either that, or to be logically consistent give up their right to drive, have access to axes, hammers, knives, or have a cell phone or a computer that they can commit all manner of crimes with. It is insane, and suicidal for a society to give 12-17 year olds who are physically and intellectually capable of planning and executing mass murder a get out of jail, no moral accountability and no execution card based on the excuse that they don't really "cognitively" know what they are doing because perhaps their "brains are still growing". People's brains are still growing when they are 20, 25, 30, 35 … but we hold them accountable?
1
Everyone making the ridiculous argument that gun owners should be required to carry insurance should read the below article. In summary, insurance is never available for intentional torts. Such insurance would cover accidents only.
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2013/04/10/287849.htm
You can buy insurance for incidents of piracy and kidnapping ransoms and bounty hunters. Machts nichts?
The difference is that the "insured" there is not the person committing the intentional act.
You can buy insurance if you are a VICTIM of those. Pirates and kidnappers, if they had insurance it wouldn't pay their victims
As is often seen, the usual gun control measures that have been proposed wouldn't have prevented this shooting. An underage shooter stole a shotgun and revolver from his father, who owned them legally after passing background checks. No AR-15. No magazines.
The Santa Fe shooting will fall off the radar quickly, as there was no AR-15 and it doesn't fit the agenda
1
Things have not changed since Sandy hook. The NRA is as strong as ever and neither party is standing up to the NRA for stricter gun control. Mental health issues have not been dealt with optimally and those who wanted to die and take some other innocent people along with them like Paddock, Parkland and Santa fe shooters did not have legal humane assisted suicide option instead of legally acquired guns. Maybe if they had an option to commit assisted suicide legally they may have spared the lives of innocent victims.
1
I've said it before, and I ask Republican voters: "Who do your Republican governors, legislators, and Congress men and women represent." Certainly not you.
1
I would like to learn and understand more about what weapon criminal minds would use if they didn't choose guns?
I can't imagine being so wrought with a predatory mentality/ personality that you can actually go about hurting people who have not threatened your life and you had no choice but to take on a defense mode.
It seems to me that the ways and means we need to pursue is to ask yourself--does my child have the potential to behave as a predator?
Abbott called the Santa Fe shooting "one of the most heinous attacks that we've ever seen in the history of Texas schools." That the act of killing 10 students and teachers plus 14 more injuries was only bad enough to figure among many heinous acts in his state is an indication of how heinous his actions and/or inactions are, along with the majority of Texas's so-called political leaders.
And let's not forget the 5 people who lost their lives by gunshot in Texas just 2 days before Santa Fe, including 3 young Texans under the age of 10, which barely gets a write-up these days with the forever growing toxic masculinity and associated domestic violence apparent in this and many other states.
As for Texas, Abbott will continue to sit and do nothing productive, Patrick will continue to embarrass himself, while better Texans vote them out in November, along with the equally ineffective and unctuous Cruz, who forever holds onto his top NRA ranking.
Meanwhile, righto Mimi, there is indeed a sliver of hope very deep in the heart of Texas with local leaders like Arcevedo, bless his righteous and plain-spoken heart, along with Beto!
3
Let us not forget that Greg Abbott has an A rating from the NRA. Vote him out in November!
All these students marching and protesting against gun violence is a joke. Do they not realize their parents are the ones who voted for the politicians and laws they are protesting?
They need to march home and demand change from their own family members first. Good luck with that. In the meantime I will wait and see how many march to the voting booth when they turn 18. I doubt there will be much luck with that also.
If my mobile phone and computer is unusable without my password, why aren't guns protected with trigger locks and password access? Car owners must carry liability insurance, why not gun owners of registered weapons. If the gun is used in a crime the owner is liable for damages Cars and guns don't kill people? It is the operators of those that do. Hold them financially responsible.
3
Insurance will only cover accidents, not intentional crimes. Insurance wouldn't pay anything in the case of a school shooter
https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2013/04/10/287849.htm
The problem is the mind set in this country, where both 'good guys with guns' and the 'bad guys with guns' see guns as the solution - the 'rights' of the first make the second possible as well as create the need for the first to have guns in the first place; they are flip sides of each other. Gun advocates, e.g., here, advance the notion that more restrictive gun laws are not the answer because he made molotov cocktails even though they are banned and stricter gun laws won't stop all incidents, but that would be an argument for having no laws at all because some people break them, and as such, is ridiculous. The 'good guys' with guns are not protecting anyone from tyranny - other developed countries with more restrictive laws still allow some ownership, and do not have tese shootings or rampant crime or tyranny - and aside from law enforcement, don't protect us much from crime either (yeah, I'll get blowback, but stricter laws consisent across the country would protect us more). Stricter laws consistent across states would not constrain most gun owners regarding sport or personal protection but would undermine the unregulated market and stop some of these incidents or minimize the carnage; as for this incident, laws on having guns and ammo locked up may have helped. It works well in other developed countries.
1
Isn’t the FATHER, the GUN OWNER, responsible?! I realize it’s probably impossible to keep guns locked away from a determined teenager...But doesn’t THAT fact prove the multifaceted problems of private gun ownership?
What a mess...
4
Yes it is possible!
1
Yes, he is responsible.
1
What is really needed is a comprehensive plan:
a. Develop/fund validated school physical safety standards.
b. Fund school security guards. Fund random roving police patrols.
c. Fund emergency planning & response systems. There are some brilliant automated systems that could be developed.
d. Fund universal period 8 first aid training. If we do this nationally, we can save 20,000+ lives/year. It’s the Golden 5 minutes.
e. Fund regional emergency exercises. Why do officers arrive not having school floor plans? Who sets up the perimeter? Who goes in after the shooter?
f. Develop & fund emergency planning training programs, perhaps within Federal Law Enforcement Training Centers (FLETC).
g. Develop national tactical standards as part of a Lessons Learned system (FLETC/Homeland Security). Do EMT go in with SWAT? Or should SWAT be cross trained as EMT? Should there be portable triage facilities?
h. Evaluate and publish Red Flag laws in a central Lessons Learned library.
i. Evaluate and publish programs that can effectively identify and treat maladaptive/alienated youth before they commit mass murder.
6. I’m sure you might suggest more. One way to evaluate proposals is to go back and apply them to past events to see what the effect might have been. I’m not suggesting that better gun control procedures are bad. I am suggesting they do not address the entire problem. Humans are adaptive.
2
I agree with your list as important things to do after a shooting. I would prefer that the work be front-loaded to identify those who are lonely, bullied, and cast out. This will have benefits far beyond protecting children's lives from a shooter. It can help those who are struggling socially have a trusted adult to talk to and help them with coping skills. I like the model in Canada. Anything we can do to help our youth helps them for life. Isn't it worth the investment? I think so.
3
Most of the attention for the past ten years on guns has centered on semi-automatic weapons and magazine size. A lot of people understand that, because it can be confusing why so many people have a need for the ability to cut someone literally in half with a dozen shots from an AR-15 firing hollow-point ammo, or why so many kids in Chicago were being killed by nine-millimeter Glocks in drive-bys. But Dimitrios Pagourtzis walked into the high school in Santa Fe, TX with a shotgun, a six-shooter revolver, a handful of pipe bombs and a Molotov cocktail.
And you have to wonder what level of regulation would be required to be effective in a rural American community to keep a shotgun or a six-shooter revolver out the hands of a 17-year-old kid. Access to or possession of pipe bombs and Molotov cocktails, of course, is BANNED, period. Yet this kid apparently had no problem making them from easily-acquired components. Are we going to ban pipes and gasoline?
We should continue to press for stronger regulation governing access to the kind of semi-automatic weapons and extended ammo magazines that can claim large numbers of casualties. But the hue and cry that has been raised over guns generally sparked by this latest incident, once the emotion of the moment diminishes, could damage the interests of gun control activists because the proposition of adequately controlling access to such pedestrian guns in rural communities as used by Pagourtzis simply is … preposterous.
5
And, then, of course, he still would have had the pipe bombs and Molotov cocktail, which he’s already prohibited from making or carrying around, and certainly from using.
Until we FAR more effectively identify those among our population who are at significant risk of perpetrating such outrages, with ANY weapons, and organize structured interventions BEFORE the outrages are committed, to minimize the likelihood that they WILL be perpetrated … we will not see these incidents diminish in number. Whether the weapon used is a shotgun or a pipe bomb. Whether or not we ban guns or regulate them in draconian ways.
But effectively identifying such people and managing their threat is complex and hard, because it deals with general rights of privacy, not simply depriving some of us (but millions and millions of us) of gun rights.
So, I’m afraid I don’t take Mimi’s concern that seriously: it’s more of the same. It’s frustration at the inability to get at a very complex social problem: not guns but the increasing willingness of estranged young people taking life by whatever means available in order to impose a sensational notice of their existence; and it’s a blind and emotional striking out at what they THINK they can control rather than figuring out real solutions.
2
Guns are powerful deadly weapons. Twenty two caliber guns are more often used in gun violence than the formidable looking and performing rifles and handguns that many think should be banned or restricted. It's a mistaken perception of the dangers posed by guns that drives this line of the gun control discussion. The final and necessary cause of gun violence is the person who does the shooting, and the other factors are to some extent necessary but none of them are sufficient to produce the outcome. The behavior of those who own and use guns legitimately is what keeps firearms from doing harm except in rare situations, many of which could be anticipated and prevented with better laws and policies.
2
I can't agree with your final thought about legitimate gun owners. These mass shootings are horrific, as are the number of suicides each year committed by guns. Most people are law-abiding, but human beings have emotional triggers. If that happens, the "law-abiding" gun owner can turn violent.
I am not pointing out what should be done, only that the issue is complicated, and simplifying it by taking it to extremes is dangerously naive. (I am not saying the letter writer is extreme, only that many are on one end or another without caring about the complexity of the issue.)
The reality is that American men love their guns and American politicians love their NRA money more than they love the children. The men choose guns.
4
Funny thing is after the 1996 massacre at a primary school in Dunblane, Scotland, the government of the U.K. passed the Firearms Control Act in 1997. It's been 5 and 1/2 years since Sandy Hook. Nothing at the national level on this side of the pond.
1
Re the comment: “So why own one. Power?”
Congratulations! You’ve just made the day for hyper-gun rights supporters to quote that and tell undecided people:
“Someone finally admits it! They want to take away guns from everybody! From hunters, people in genuinely dangerous occupations, and people who just enjoy skeet shooting and target practice.”
3
Like hunting? Use a bow and arrow, or a spear, just like humans did for a million years.
"Things Have Changed Since Sandy Hook.'
Really?
Parkland - 2/14/18
Sante Fey - I've already forgotten the date.
You've 'bloviated' your thousand words.
Now be still.
4
I’d like to see a federal requirement that gun owners carry liability insurance. It would be up to the insurance industry to determine rates and requirements (eg background checks).
At a minimum, the insurance would pay medical bills of survivors, funeral expenses, police/ fire expenses...
Yes: this really won’t stop gun violence, but it’s likely more palatable than a ban. And it’s a market based solution (government is not dictating the terms), where gun owners are assuming responsibility for the damage their guns cause.
11
This is a canard. Liability insurance covers accidents, not the commission of intentional crimes.
Go intentionally kill someone by running them over with your car. Your insurance will be canceled and it won't pay anything to the victim's family. Just ask your insurance agent.
3
Since the elected officials are not going to act I agree it is up to the people to make real change. Since most states allow ballet initiatives I believe that where possible we should take this approach. Since the people can't be influenced by campaign contributions if it is true that >70% support reasonable restrictions on high capacity magazines and semi automatic guns then it should be easy to pass such initiatives.
2
Even if 99% support restrictions on semi-autos and magazines, it's still unconstitutional. You don't get to vote away a civil right. Isn't that what you leftists say when the voters in nearly every state banned gay marriage?
2
The reason that this debate goes nowhere is that liberals mean a full ban when they say "reasonable" and "common sense" gun legislation.
5
And conservatives insist any action to add any protections to protect our children and so many others is the first step to "taking away all their guns." Even if we wanted to, which most us don't, it could never happen. The words "reasonable" and "compromise" are not pejorative!
1
Hogwash, and those who want stronger gun laws include gun owners and some conservatives. All you need to do is look at other developed countries where they have more restrictions, still allow some ownerhip and have fewer or no mass shootings of this nature, yet have neither rampant crime nor tyranny. The whole idea of slippery slopes is fallacious, as is the notion that 'patriots' and their arms are all that stand between 'law abiding citizens" and tyranny or rampant crime.
2
Oh, give me a break. Those other nations don't consider gun ownership a right, but a heavily regulated privilege subject to the whims of judges and other local bureaucrats. Further, when politicians on the left constantly call for confiscation of semi-autos (nearly every gun) and praise Australia, or outright call for the repeal of the 2nd Amendment (whether directly or by "interpreting" it out of existence), it's hard to take the claim that the slippery slope argument is fallacious seriously.
1
The last paragraph in the column says it all and it has been stated countless times! Until the American voter stops being pre-occupied with tax cuts and start electing those that are NOT shills of the NRA or any other corporate entity that influences policy and are actually committed to implementing REAL changes, events like Santa Fe, Parkland, Sandy Hook etc. etc. etc. and columns like this will continue to be written wondering why nothing is ever done about it.
So far. there have been 22 mass shootings in the U.S. this year compared to 17 in 2017. When is the breaking point of this insanity? Will there ever be a time when Americans say "enough is enough"?
6
This article is absurd.
Perhaps the relentless pounding on the issue by the east coast media has something to do with it.
Perhaps the creation of EveryTown by a billionaire pushing his personal agenda has something to do with it.
Every single political leader in favor of "reasonable" gun control once called for banning weapons.
It is clear the Student Uprising was helped by professional media consultants, and, indeed, the demonstrations were funded by EveryTown--which hosted communications and offered protest guidance.
The anti-gun crowd continues to push for measures already litigated (and usually won). They continue to act like there's a murder epidemic (there isn't--the murder rate is half what it was twenty years ago). Or that children are in mortal danger (they're not).
They avoid truly effective gun violence measures, like Operation Ceasefire, in favor of splashy violence, all to gain their ideological core objective, which is disarmament.
They lie CONSTANTLY, acting like guns can be purchased without background checks over the counter, or that fully automatic weapons are commonplace. They refuse to understand the technology they attack, then get offended when called on it.
To hail Art Acevedo as a leader on this is delusional. I once attended a presentation where he declined any moral authority on hinky surveillance tactics, saying that he'll push as far as the law will take him.
This is not a "grass roots" movement by any stretch of the imagination!
7
Hans, your "anti-gun crowd" includes police chiefs and police organizations across the nation, yes, even in Texas. Now why do you suppose that is? Could it be because the police are in the front lines of the ramifications of loose gun laws? Could it be that their jobs are made that much more dangerous?
https://www.google.com/search?q=police+oppose+loose+gun+laws&ie=utf-...
So much for flinging blame at liberals. What you truly hate is common sense.
4
Those who want to ban a category of guns that are safely used by all but a rare few individuals are obviously afraid of the guns and those who want to have them. It makes for an impossible conflict about gun control.
The problem is that while the vast number of gun owners are not crazy homicidal maniacs, we have no good way to identify who has guns who are likely to do harm and so remove the guns before they do, and we need to do it because the gun violence that results is no acceptable. How to do this without interfering with the rights of decent and responsible people in the current climate of mistrust is the challenge.
1
Actually, nearly 90% of police officers support gun rights. Big city chiefs and commissioners (appointed by Democrat Party mayors) and the leads of left leaning labor organizations oppose them. In any case, they are not willing to give up THEIR guns, which should make you question their motives.
"we are locked in a toxic stasis, thanks mostly to our politicians’ love affair with the National Rifle Association."
Politicians may not necessarily have a love affair with the NRA, but it certainly pays for their re-election. The same goes for Big Pharma, Banks, Big Oil, The forestry industry, mining, and anything else these "whores" will do to get elected!
There are a lot of groups pushing for sensible gun control. I can't support all of them, and I would love to know from the NYT which are the most effective, where I should lend my support. Thanks.
2
Agree! One strong group would be far more effective than 6 weak groups. And I would be far more confident giving money to a powerful group that could put real pressure on politicians.
I'll believe it when I see significant numbers of Republican supplicants to the NRA voted out of office and replaced by a majority of legislators who want reasonable limits on gun ownership in America. I'm not holding my breath. The vicious cycle of causality is held firmly in place by American Protestant Christianity's view of the depravity of humankind. Gun violence just becomes a confirmation of their belief that God created most people to burn in hell and that their only protection from the godless rabble is through buying more guns.
The shooter of Sandy Hook, Adam Lanza, had a mother. By most reporting, a grossly negligent, blind to reality, selfish person who refused any help for her abnormal, obsessive son. She's dead so the world can't blame her. I saw a report, not repeated or referred to by others that Nancy Lanza believed she was suffering from a terminal disease.
She brought her abnormal son shooting. She had multiple guns in the house and her son also had guns. He had a gun cabinet in his own room. People told Nancy Lanza it was not a good idea to encourage her son with a gun hobby. One of his teachers said he thought it was a bad idea.
Maybe you haven't actually considered the thought processes of a person who thinks they are going to die from a crippling, debilitating disease, which Nancy thought she had.
That shooting was not a failure of gun laws. It was not the fault of corrupt politicians or the NRA or the "powerful gun lobby". It was the failure, if not the deliberate actions, of an incompetent, selfish mother of a diseased adult child.
Moms who Demand Action should be redirecting their efforts.
1
No actually, it is far too many guns and far too easy access to most anyone getting them, bottom line.
3
So Canadian citizen, why weren't there mass murders when I was going to school? My grandfather gave me a handgun when I was in junior high school, and a high powered military rifle. Why didn't I shoot up my school, which I didn't like very much.
Guns, ammunition, are an economy. The gun is the issue. Without the gun the mass shooting does not occur. If you can't see that then your are either in on it making money on guns, like the NRA, or stupid. -- The violence must stop.
4
From the column:
the Houston police chief, Art Acevedo, who wrote a Facebook post that went viral, taking on “the elected officials that ran to the cameras today, acted in a solemn manner, called for prayers, and will once again do absolutely nothing.”
I’m interested in seeing Chief Acevedo’s entire post. I’m sure I can search and find it, but again, why doesn’t the NYT encourage contributors to provide links to important, not well-known facts?
The electorate must demand real and significant gun law reform and must insist that any person running for political office on any level must stand first and foremost upon that platform. The media has a role to play in keeping the public focused on that goal and in moving public opinion toward that direction. The electorate must not be distracted by the powerful machinations of the powerful influences who feel otherwise. This is the only way for us to effect change and I think if we accomplish this achievable goal many other progressive issues will follow.
1
We need a comprehensive focus on preventing school shootings. It should lead the news every day. In many circles this appears to be gun only about gun control, but it is much, much more.
While many gun homicide statistics are static, by accounts I have seen we have seen a growth in shootings. We have a specific problem.
During the summer, the President should create a Presidential Commission to focus on the issue. It must be balanced so that we get out of the closed, same-think environment we are in with all sides only saying their talking points, over and over.
They should meet every day and cable news should carry live feed.
It is not just about guns, I believe it is about much more and to be successful we need to understand and then ACT. We need to build buy-in from broad segments of Americans. This is a great opportunity to achieve some beneficial cohesion.
A National Review Article has address this in I believe a very balanced fashion.
https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/why-do-mass-shootings-happen-best-...
With Columbine a taboo was broken and school shootings have continued. We have engaged in a bitter argument that has been entirely ineffective. We must make very visible effort to define why and then engage.
I believe, the problem is complex (http://amendoon.net) and I believe that the solutions that work best will be local with significant federal support.
As a Vermont resident and gun owner, all of the reforms were reasonable, except one. The "large capacity magazine" ban. Unfortunately, the Governor essentially told the Legislature that he would sign whatever they put on his desk. This encouraged the Legislature to "go bold".
The shooter in Santa Fe Texas used a revolver and a shotgun. No military style weapons, no large capacity magazines. For a person intent on mayhem with firearms, any model will do. Shotguns are particularly lethal at short range.
The large capacity magazine ban is silly because all existing magazines in the hands of the public are grandfathered, and one can go across the border to New Hampshire and buy anything made. Because magazines have no serial numbers or dates of production, there is no way to distinguish a grandfathered one from a new one. So all this "ban" accomplishes is inconvenience. In fact, it doesn't even go into effect until October so that gun dealers can sell their existing inventories.
By taking a step too far, the Governor and most legislators have seriously lessened their goodwill with a gun owning community willing to go along with the other meaningful new gun controls. One legislator, defending his decision to vote for the magazine ban, noted that it is being challenged as unconstitutional in the State courts. It is the first time I have ever heard a legislator defend his unconstitutional vote with the explanation that the courts would fix it.
2
That is why we need consistent laws across the country to end gun arbitrage.
The author posted:
“By now you have heard of our Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s dubious suggestion that schools should reduce the number of entrances and exits to prevent more shootings — and that divorce, abortion and video games are to blame.”
Well, no, I had not heard Gov. Patrick’s dubious suggestion. I know I could look it up, but why doesn’t the Times encourage its contributors to provide links to such claim?
It’s unlikely that politicians especially the republicans, will ever entertain any restriction or anything Other than offer their prayers and sympathy. Most of them are corrupt and have been bribed by the NRA to a point where their lips have sealed with superglue. Only way things can be changed is by voting in the democrats. Rr
2
One thing that continues to bother me is the failure of these sociopath's families to secure their weapons. The Sandy Hook shooter's AR-15 was purchased for him by his mother, who took him to the range to get him out of his darkened room and away from his video games. He killed her first.
The Parkland shooter's step-family took him in with his guns, thought they had the only key to the lock, and other parents' children paid for their mistake. The Santa Fe shooter must have exhibited some signs of dysfunctional socialization while he was building bombs and harassing girls at school. At the very least, his father should have properly secured those guns so he wouldn't use them to kill himself, his parents or others.
Access to guns in the household cannot be a secondary issue here. No guns, no shootings.
4
When have our political leaders actually chart Americas course on culture? Now compare that to all the leaders who didn't. Statistics are being abused in the myth of America.
Many will huff and puff saying it's naive to believe in People power - but what's more naive? A spineless careerist politician climbing the ladder will lead a perilous charge?
Trump will while watching his FoxAndFriends polling?
No. We do that. At the moment Americans are pitched in an ideological battle actively being fed by a divisionist leadership and media network.
Please - get up and start a movement. Don't hold your breath for any breakthroughs from leadership.
1
Major change since Sandy Hook to me is we no longer hear claims of crisis actors being used by rampant liberalism trying to sway the public. Yes this happened in Texas. And no Lt. Governor, its not the door ways, it might actually be the guns.
1
Since the Lt Governor of Texas wants teachers to carry, why not another solution? How about doors that open from the inside but not the outside. That way the kids in Texas could flee from the gunman through the door in the Art Room, and the gunman could not get through the door from the outside. Seems like it would be a Fire safety rule. The fire alarms were on, and the school was locked down. Why?
1
Locked doors and groups of people who might risk being shot to disarm the gunman are strong disincentives for active shooters. But the biggest risk is allowing the shooter time to shoot innocent people. The emphasis should be upon detecting the possible threatening individuals before they have people in their killing range and to engage them with law enforcement as quickly as possible to distract them from shooting at innocent people.
The best long-term solution is to vote out every legislator who opposes reasonable controls on guns and limits on the 2d Amendment, for however long it takes.
1
To make real progress, it is necessary to specify what one means by "gun control." A slogan without content will not create the political alliances needed, even if the NRA promotes slogans of its own. There are many, if not most, gun owners who would support all sorts of measures, if they were reassured that registering felons, psychotics, and spouse abusers wasn't the first step on a slippery slope toward confiscation.
I expect most hunters -- certainly the ones I know -- are more responsible in the safety and use of their guns than the average driver is with his or her car. You can't simply put all gun owners in one box. Rural hunters, fearful urbanites, Rambo wannabees, and others are really in separate categories. The same can be said for AK-47s, shotguns, rifles, and handguns.
Wringing our hands and wailing about "guns" will get us nowhere. It is necessary to develope a real program -- perhaps different ones for different places -- and then form a coalition to advocate for appropriate legislation and regulations among those whose attitudes toward guns vary.
TV and the internet exacerbate the problem: they guarantee to those so inclined their 15 minutes of fame and power by shooting up the place. There's a qualitative difference between affecting your community and commanding worldwide attention. Control, power, fame: for those for whom such dominate all other considerations, desires, and values, they know they have a guaranteed, functionally captive audience.
2
A weakness in the gun control movement is that it is fractured into too many small groups with basically the same cause. There is one extremely powerful and well-funded NRA versus 5 or 6 much smaller, weaker groups: Brady, Everytown, Mayors Against Guns etc...
Wouldn't we have a much better chance at meaningful reform if these groups could coalesce into one powerful organization?
4
I appreciate this positivity on this solemn Monday morning.
2
Shame the shooters. Start calling them what they are - cowards. Put that on billboards around the school: Dimitrious the Coward. He left some students alive to "tell his story". Tell it back to him - he's a coward. If it's done enough, maybe some other kid will think twice before picking up a gun to harm others.
3
Brilliant
"...politicians’ love affair with the National Rifle Association."
Greed, fear and loathing or WHATEVER.
Who doesn't like, respect or envy Oliver North, La Pierre or beloved by cold handed Heston?
Flag lapel pin wearing monsters ALL.
1
The only thing that will stop a bad guy with gun is a good guy with a gun.... or a black guy with a college degree. God Bless Affirmative Action.
Let's try putting our money and our efforts behind things that work, not things that don't. Every year more guns and more deaths. Connection? Duh.
Other countries have violent video games, violent movies but not our death rates... why?
2
Most, dare I say all, gun owners have their heads in the blood soaked sand. Too many guns IS the problem period. The US by far has more guns per capita than any other nation on earth, as pointed out by Nicolas Kristof this week. Australia provided one model of gun buy back and destroy after a deadly carnage. We need a massive program such as this to cleanse our country from the sickness of guns and gunownerrship. To continue to say “but the second ammendment gives me the right to own a gun or many guns” in the face of all the deaths of children that were preventable deaths, is the height of ugly callous drink the coolaide thinking of the NRA. (Why do you suppose guns are not allowed in congress? ). No one needs a gun. No guns period. Be brave voters stand up to the cowards the NRA believers and the congress who despite each death of a child due to available guns still profess bandaid gun control. That is not going to stop the weekly carnage. We still have a lot of work to do.
2
The problem with this argument is that some people do indeed need guns and others want them whether they need them or not. Being absolutist will not solve the problem. Let's not let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
Little baby steps have not worked.
What we can expect now: "A boost in gun sales. Fear-mongering by the National Rifle Association. Scapegoating of the mentally ill. A vicious war of words and gun statistics on social media. Lip-service from politicians who promise to stop this kind of tragedy from ever happening again." (Lisa Falkenburg, Houston Chronicle, 18May2018) Indeed. " ... allies of the National Rifle Association will quickly point their fingers at something other than … guns." (Gail Collins, NYTimes, 18May2018) And the NRA itself will oppose anything, no matter how commonsensical, that they construe as a "limit" on gun ownership: " ... the NRA has traditionally taken a hard line against legal liability for those whose guns are taken, no matter the negligence that allowed it, and used in a crime." (CNN, 18May2018) Given the hold they have on most politicians, nothing productive will happen. Texas Senator Cruz said: " ... we need to be doing everything humanly possible to stop this from ever happening again." But under his breath he finished the comment " ... as long as its OK with the NRA." Gotta keep that A+ NRA rating and the campaign donations flowing.
2
Sure, America has made progress on gun control but they haven't done a thing, have no results whatsoever, haven't got a clue why Americans want to kill en masse their fellow Americans. Why do school students want to kill their classmates? No, you can't foist this off as "mental illness", not that many. After the Parkland shooting there were more than 100 threats of further mass murder incidents in Louisiana schools in just four weeks time. It's nationwide. Other states reported similar threats and apparently thwarted mass murders in the planning stages.
Liberal gun control advocates don't really want to know because every new incident helps their agenda of gun control.
1
60% of gun owners (http://news.gallup.com/poll/1645/guns.aspx) indicate that they have their guns for personal protection. Watch this video where Obama says he and Michelle would have one if they lived in a rural area (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OVM9wWLdMN8)
When you live, travel, camp, hike, etc., in a rural area the need for guns is different from being in a city. We had a break-in at night. We scared the guy off. It took a sheriff's deputy ONE HOUR to get to our home.
30% of citizens have never fired a gun. For them, laws on gun control will not necessitate in any changes in them--only changes in other people.
So how about a compromise? National background checks, no sales at gun shows, age 21 or military to purchase a gun, eliminate bump stocks, buy back Ar-15s and the like at $20,000 each and then outlaw them, hold people criminally liable for their guns if they are used illegally by a family member and they weren't secured. And the compromise? if you have a concealed carry permit in one state it is valid, with only the same restrictions, in all states. and the $20,000.
These policies would create a massive change, and improvement. Something for everyone, and everyone takes a loss. Will the NRA support a compromise? Will people on these comment boards support such a compromise?
My guess is that neither side will. Everybody wants other people, not them, to change. So nothing gets done and children die.
1
The problem is that guns are already out there and the behavior driving mass murder is entrenched, spreading and intensifying. Sorry to be pessimistic but laws can’t fix deeper pathologies.
First of all, the NRA 'demonizes' themselves by being utterly out of touch with gun violence in the USA and how to respond to it. Second, gun legislation does not need to pass the litmus test of stopping any one particular act of gun violence. Gun legislation needs to respond to the whole culture of responding to alienation by blowing people 'away'.
The media does not 'over-publicize' these grotesque massacres. The massacres over-publicize themselves. The media is just doing their job. What would an appropriate level of coverage? Just add it to the police log?
The Second Amendment is no more absolute than the First Amendment. You can't just say anything... and you shouldn't be able to just grab a gun and go commit mass murder.
2
Post online the names, pictures, school and schedule of all the children of NRA leadership and mandate targets on their backs. Would this trigger their parents to rethink this insane second amendment mass hysteria they have created out of legal thin air? I doubt it. The NRA is consumed by the massive power it has purposely developed for itself and would (reluctantly at best) sacrifice its own children along with everyone else's.
We need to face the cold hard truth that guns and using those guns to kill other people has been in the American DNA from the day Europeans (Spanish, English and French) set foot in North America, and that's never going to change. In the 21st Century, America is an armed madhouse. The freedoms we cherish have a price. Many paid for them on the battle field. Many are now paying for them, and will continue to do so, on the streets and in the schools of our nation.
Background checks and raising age for firearms purchases to 21 seem like sensible measures. But they won't stop an underage kid from talking his family's every-day weapons (I presume the father did not have the weapons and ammo locked in a gun safe) and wreaking havoc. Banning certain types of weapons and ammunition isn't the answer. Letting teachers carry guns isn't the answer. More school resource officers might help, but where is the money going to come from? From taxes on the sales of firearms and ammunition? Dream on. Capital punishment for mass murderers is no deterrent. more emphasis on mental health (whatever that means) isn't the answer. There aren't enough mental health clinicians or facilities to deal with the tsunami of "behavioral health" individuals as it is.
More stringent background checks (depends on the "background" criteria) maybe. "Thoughts and prayers" from our elected representatives? Oh please. Voting NRA toads out of office - that's a good start.
America has not made progress. Look at the statistics of dead by firearms. Schools are only a small part of the problem of deaths caused by gun fire. The numbers of dead are where you look. Schools get temporary media and political attention. Then back to death as usual every day in America.
3
Actually the US has made great progress.
Today the gun murder rate is 50% of what it was in 1993 and is still dropping
Right. Blame others, blame the so-called crooked politicians, blame the NRA, the AAA of gun owners, blame whoever.
Every one of those shooters had a mother and a lot of them were minors.
1
Perhaps what we need is someone with impeccable credentials to take up the cause; an American Ghandi. Are you listening Ms. Winfrey?
1
Last Friday morning I relived the day my granddaughter was murdered at Marjorie Stoneham Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida. I know what those parents and families are going through and that their lives are forever changed.
We must work to stop these shootings, not just at schools, but everywhere, in shopping centers, at music festivals, churches, everywhere.
The only way to make progress is to fire those Legislators this November who have for all the years been in the pay of the NRA. Who have for too long not passed sensible legislation that would reduce the carnage.
147
I agree that we are not doing everything that we can to prevent these mass killings. Every person of good will feels the same. But despite what people feel is reasonable, I see that there is not agreement about what that happens to be. That is no big difficulty if everybody sees the disagreements as those held by people of good faith. It isn’t, not even a little bit. People see those with who they disagree as adversaries, even causing existential threats to themselves.
1
So sorry for your loss. May she rest in peace.
8
You are right Ethel! Vote them out. We need a sea change baby steps on gun control and guns in general in the US has made zero difference in the epidemic of school shootings. I am so sorry your family has lost a daughter and grand daughter.
6
Start local. My neighbor, Michael McLachlan, was the deciding vote in Colorado's State House of Representatives 2013 law banning gun magazines with more than 15 bullets. That vote changed Colorado, and has been referenced nationwide as a deciding factor in our state's declining gun violence record.
Michael is an ex-marine and has integrity and a high standard of common sense ethics. He is what I call a successful politician. He was not afraid of the NRA, which did come after him with every dirty trick in the book. There's more to being a success than being re-elected.
5
Actually two state legislators were voted out of office due to the magazine limit law and a third declined to run for re-election because she knew she would lose.
Kudos, Mimi! Another superb column from my college classmate. Congratulations to you and to the NYT for having the acumen to hire you.
Your writing has informed and inspired so many of us---truly---and your insights are a gift, both to your fellow Lone Star State residents and all Americans. Thank you, Mimi.
The real power is with the next generation of voters, activists and shooting survivors. Brave amazing young people, like the students of Parkland, they will lead the way. As the students living with the reality of where to hide to survive a shooting come of age and vote, the power of the NRA will fade.
2
"Things Have Changed Since Sandy Hook"
I am sorry to say this, but nothing has changed. Still there are many Republican politicians and NRA supporters who simply refuse to accept that guns are at the centre of the problem. They keep talking about metal detectors and other ways of "hardening" schools, including arming teachers, as if a shooter cannot wait for the students outside the school door. We hardened the airports as much as we could, and then someone started shooting people in a departure area.
The same politicians who apparently have no problem with Mr. Trump's sexual escapade have now suddenly become worried about family values and exposure of children to violence via Hollywood movies and video games. And, at the same time, they conveniently forget that the same movies and games are available in Japan, Canada, and elsewhere where gun-violence is rare.
If these politicians were honest, they would talk about how the children are affected by the excessive militarism in their country and their own tendency to use military as the solution to every issue on the face of the earth.
2
Off the top of my head, in some states, gun control has become WEAKER, and of course there was the Heller decision in 2008, which for the first time supported the fallacy that the NRA had been propagating since the 1990s, that the 2nd amendment protects an individual's right to own a firearm; of course, no attention is paid to the rather vague portion of the decision that states that the right to bear arms is not unlimited, should still be regulated. Prior to that, it had been up to each state to regulate firearms. Also, without a national set of consistent laws, there will be arbitrage between states with stricter laws and those with weaker laws, i.e., guns flowing from weaker law states to stricter law states.
That said, the NRA stance is about much more than guns - it is a manufactured wedge issue that benefits conservatives on much more than gun control, and until it stops benefitting them they will not move to solve the problem. Even if enough senators and representatives, and the right president, pass sufficiently strict laws that stand up to court scrutiny, the gun-culture people's mind set has gone so far in the other direction in the last 10 years in particular that they will never go along with it; there will be domestic terrorism and they will be celebrated. We have a real problem.
2
Ms. Swartz makes excellent points; however, this problem is more systemic, more ingrained in our society than the twisted financial interests of the NRA and their bought and paid for politicians.
Too solve this problem of gun violence in the Untied States of America, we must address our worship of violence: In our movies, in our TV programs, on social media, in our music, in our news—in our culture.
We are takers and exploiters that have a massive untapped potential to be givers and supporters.
The changes that Ms. Swartz notes are just the beginning of the positive, lasting change we can bring forth as citizens, as a society, as a culture—if we really want to.
Just say no to violence of any kind, from any person, from any source.
There is no other way.
MB
3
I am grateful for and contribute money to many of the organizations mentioned in this article. But the truth is I believe change will come very slowly, if at all, and that it won't come in my lifetime. My school-age children and my teacher husband should just learn to duck and run, because our society is run by very angry men with very many guns that are never going to disappear. I think of Columbine, Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, and now Santa Fe; those horrors would not have been prevented by the regulations we're working so hard to achieve. Better regulations would have prevented the slaughter at Marjorie Stoneman, but all those others would have happened just the same. Unless our culture's love affair with violent masculine rage comes to an end, we are doomed.
3
I commented previously and have the question for the author and readers:
People talk about voting and grass roots. Who should people vote for? Where do the gun policy experts fit in here? Since most gun policy experts are not "internal" or "insider" elected officials, is it fair to ask them to run for office?
Is it good enough to vote for any run of the mill democrat who believes in gun policy reform but won't take the lead on it until tragedy invades their district? (Think Rep Deutch of Florida-he has led since February, but really wasn't a leader on the issue until then). What kind of Democrat led government do we want, where all of them are vanilla and believe in the basics of democratic party, but none has particular expertise? That's why i am a total skeptic about all these cries for single issue voting and "blue wave".
Nobody will actually get behind the BEST PEOPLE to solve these issues, figuring all dems are equal. And that to me is hogwash.
1
First, the Brady Campaign. Then Bloomberg, Gabby Giffords, and Moms Demand Action -- all heros. But a lot of credit belongs to the students who survived the Parkland massacre. Bravo to all who stand up against the worst corruption of our government in sight, as more people die of guns on our streets than in all our wars. No government policy can stop all violence, but to continually offer empty prayers while ensuring future bloodshed of the innocent boggles the mind as to how politicians can live with themselves.
90
We have to vote for people who will do the right thing and pass sensible legislation to reduce the carnage of gun deaths. 96 people a day die from guns.
Fire those Legislators who have done nothing to help save lives. The next life could be someone you love.
10
With all due respect to you Ms. Guttenberg, and with much sorrow for you, your son, and your extended family--the run of the mill Democrats are no better than anyone else. We need exceptional people who are versed in the issue, those who will make it a daily priority.
Run of the mill Democrats make noise that they too want legislation, but none of them have really made a priority, except for people like John Lewis and Ted Deutch. Here in PA--the head of statewide organization CeaseFirePA ran for US Congress and lost by a large margin. There were few platform differences between her and the other two candidates, but one other candidate was the insider and the ultimate big big winner. The voters spoke that they don't care much for those with expertise and priority of the issue.
If the statewide leader of such an organization--a partner with Giffords and Bloomberg, a person who has platformed with Ed Rendell and John Lewis, can't win and even get their support, who can? (And the Bloomberg and Giffords organization would not get in the mix and endorse nor help, but rather remained neutral, unlike CSGV who endorsed Ms. Goodman)
We have birthed a monster. It only infects white males. Why is that? Is the pathology going to spread? I thought Columbine was an outlier - instead it was just the beginning.
Scapegoating the NRA, which is nothing more than a gun industry trade group, or “politicians”, doesn’t help - the guns are already out there. Worse, the pathological behavior is now entrenched in our culture. The intervals between school shootings get shorter. What’s next - suicide school bombings?
1
Not true. If you look at the race of mass shooters, white males are present in a smaller proportion than the are of the general population.
I know he is NYT's favorite target, but I do not blame Donald Trump for school shootings. I remember seeing Obama's "sad" face after Sandy Hook and HE did nothing.
America wants guns. America wants to text while driving. America wants lots of cheap junk food. America wants SUVs.
NYT pretends that America is full of saints.
This is America, folks.
3
We will get what we want. And, what we want it to get these self-serving, NRA addicted criminals out of office.
2
Alas Americans are so caught up in their hyped up mythology about the wisdom of the founding fathers, the amendments with their punctuation errors, and so impotent in confronting sheer idiocy that I bet nothing will be done to stop the ongoing carnage. There are far too many stupid people who are easy prey for the rotten immoral nra, the evangelicals, and those with $$$ and an agenda. Keep America stupid. That's their goal.
5
"Alas Americans are so caught up in their hyped up mythology about the wisdom of the founding fathers"....The founding fathers envisioned a well regulated militia run by the states instead of a standing army. Read the Federalist Papers, Hamilton # 29.
2
We won't get the "N.R.A. shills out of office" until we get the money out of politics. Nearly every problem that we have in this country, from too many children killed by peers with guns, to illegal immigration, to illegal wars, results from a constipated Congress that hasn't solved anything for over a generation. The constipation is caused by eating too much money.
3
With nearly a quarter million students personally exposed to in-school gun violence since Columbine now, I’d like to think the future is coming and they’re mad as hell. Talk about your single issue voters!
1
Pray for Santa Fe? Fine. Better yet, VOTE FOR SANTA FE.
Specifically, vote for leaders who are not wiggling cowards.
4
What progress?
Actually Mimi, that's the way it SHOULD be. Providing you have sensible, intelligent people doing the pushing. Nutcases need not apply . . .
Every time we have laws passed without being first pushed by the people on the 'ground floor', we end up with resentment and after much partisan fighting another red line is drawn. That's what has paralyzed us at this point (that, and the need for the congress-idiots to draw attention to themselves, for re-election purposes, you know)
1
Divorce, video games and abortion are to blame. I wonder if he forgot feminism, religions that are not born again Christianity, and Hillary Clinton (you have to throw her in when speaking nonsense).
The shooter was raised by two abortion free parents. Tens of millions of Americans play violent video games, and we don't know if he was one of them.
This is up there with the ex-PA congressman who thought learning CPR not peaceful protest is a more effective way to deal with mass shootings.
WTH?
abbott was amazing in his inability to shut up. I wonder if he is still embarrassed that texans aren't buying enough guns. A complete fool as are cruz and patrick.
Yes, Republicans are completely enslaved by the NRA, but never forget that it is people who vote for these Republicans at every level or don't bother to show up to vote against them. Blame the people not the Politicians
2
I try to play Claude Levi Strauss to wonder how we as a natin find ourselves with this terrible addition to what a high school education seems to include. Columbine's very size elicited writers to point out the rambling size of the building, size of the student body, and we know the killers were avid game players and closely aligned to violence. Guns completed that association and equation and now we know the patterns of these kids who use available guns from home or other places to carry out their own fatal fantasy of revenge, retribution, or simply anger or rage. We are not in the early days of the republic and have traveled too far into the dark to be able to change the course of these tragedies. Fewer doors, more guns and many statements from the lite guv and the guv from TExas do NOTHING to address this public health disaster for their faillure to acknowledge the danger of guns. The danger of romanticizing guns as any sort of solution to an attack by a gunman with a weapon.
1
Nothing has changed, nothing at all. The left continues to demonize the NRA, whose mission is, to a great extent, gun safety and firearms training. The left also can’t resist using ridicule and sarcasm as its principal tools. The media continues to over-publicize these massacres but gives little or no coverage to the actions of an armed deputy who use duty his weapon to prevent a school shooting last week. Meanwhile, although we have plenty of “sensible” gun laws, why doesn’t anyone question why they don’t work?
18
So, you find the school shootings to be an acceptable price, not so much for you to have the 'right to bear arms' but to maintain inconsistent and porous gun laws? The NRA's mission USED to be what you say, but the bulk of their mission now has been to create this wedge issue, and widen the divide to the benefit of conservative politicians - it's about a lot more than guns. Both sides ridicule the other, a tragedy always gets more coverage than one avoided. As for the gun laws, calling them 'sensible' (see? sarcasm on your part) and saying they don't work is like having a 100mph speed limit in Manhattan and then saying, "see it doesn't work". The gun laws do have some impact, but WE DO KNOW why they don't work better - they are inconsistent across states, allowing gun arbitrage/homeostasis, nondealer sales are not regulated in most (all???) states and there is no requirement for dealer inventory (unlike pharmacies) - gee, I wonder where felons get their guns??? - there is no licensing or training or registration required in plenty of states, and firearms available are much more than one needs for individual defense or sport. The same laws that allow you to 'defend' yourself also allow the bad guys to create the need for you to defend yourself - you are flip sides of the same coin. Other developed countries don't have this problem, have stricter laws while allowing some gun ownership and do not have rampant crime or tyranny.
49
How do you "over-publicize" repeated slaughters of children and innocent civilians?
38
Larry, so the millions the NRA is giving to Congress is for gun safety and firearms training? Give me a break. Why not mention their other mission, Larry, to keep handguns, AR-15s and AK-47s in Walmarts, homes, public places and open carry? We all know their mission despite your and their spin. Let's hope it's time has come.
23
Just one slight correction. Things haven't changed.
1
"...thanks mostly to our politicians’ love affair with the National Rifle Association."
No, for godsakes, no! Many politicians are on your side. Some of them are not. If you can't figure out that it's the GOP politicians that are the goons of the NRA and the crux of the problem, then you Ms. Swartz is sadly just part of the problem. You'll never get the right politicians to address this problem if you're still blind to the ones who are enabling it.
I agree with you Mimi on all the gun control measures in regards to age, background checks, waiting periods etc. But none of those would have prevented this tragedy. He took his fathers Remington 870 Pump shotgun, the most ubiquitous wing shooting gun ever made and used by almost every person who has ever gone dove, quail or duck hunting in Texas. This is not an assault rifle with a bump stock, it is a common gun, that would never fall under any of the proposed type of guns to outlaw. And a .38 special revolver, again a very, very common gun that many keep in their homes/nightstands and can be known as a "bedroom special"
A kid with a grudge, socially awkward maybe, lacking in empathy for some reason, and determined to make a point. How did he get there...It is all too common that these messed up boys are all responsible for these shootings. The wanting to make a statement, to get even, to show them up, when did it come to be that these kids decide to settle the score by shooting up the school? Copy cat Maybe? Addressing just the gun purchasing issues is a start, but there has to be much more done at the school level identifying these type of kids. The system failed dramatically at Parkland. In Sante Fe, he was not that messed up, but there were signs of his suspect behavior. The reality is the only real safeguard is to turn the school security system into an airport or courthouse style system. Sad that is has come to that.
19
a) think of how much more damage he would have done with a semi-auto high-powered rifle with larger magazine;
b) if laws required his father to have the guns locked up, upon pain of prosecution, this would be less likely;
c) no, turning schools into airports is not the answer because kids and staff will still be easy targets when arriving for school, leaving, and outdoor extracurricular activities; even it it did protect schools, it would shift the carnage elsewhere.
17
Assume you are able identify kids like these as "not that messed up, but having suspect behavior." Then what? How many hundreds of thousands will you find? what will you do with them? Mandatory counseling? Institutionalize them? Lifetime ban on access to weapons?
Finally, how much money and time are you willing to devote every day to having students screened at the school entrance with airport level security? What will that do to attendance if students realize they have to wait in line 40 minutes in all kinds of weather to get into school? What stops a shooter from then just targeting the people in the security checkpoint line?
10
Start suing the parents for not having their guns locked up and ammo in a separate locked place and you'll see change pretty quick I reckon.
14
Things which changed since Sandy Hook, the debate on automatic rifles used in 1% of the cases and for 3% of the victims.
Things which didn't changed since Sandy Hook, no debate on handgun violence used in 99% of the cases and for 1% of the victims.
As long as America will look at the small number (31 in schools or 13 for the military), because it is politically incorrect to look at the big number (more than 5000 already in 2018), nothing will change.
One would think that the loss of any one child's life from a shooting in a school is one too many - regardless of the percentages.
Automatic rifles haven't been used in any of these cases.
So, the author's argument is that we now have more gun control, but the school shootings go merrily on?
Yeah, the irony of the fact that she doesn't see that she's undercutting her own argument is at the same time sad and hilarious.
The fact that she's right that we now have more laws targeting law-abiding citizens - laws that are having no real impact regarding the very thing that made those laws possible - is disheartening at best.
What will her answer be, when all guns are banned and bad guys are still shooting up schools?
Banning guns is so not the answer. Hardening potential targets and tracking the people most likely to engage in such behavior is.
Why is that so hard for the Left to understand?
Oh, I forgot -- They understand perfectly well. They just want to exercise yet more control over people they disagree with.
People who, if they were actually the monsters the Left portrays them to be, would simply use their guns to end the argument immediately.
Instead, these gun owners follow the law and allow their rights to be violated, because they are law-abiding citizens.
And, that right there, proves just how wrong the Left actually is.
2
The "change" you tout is a drop in the bucket compared to what is necessary to fix the problem--repealing the 2nd Amendment and making the sale and possession of semi-automatic weapons a federal crime. Doing so would actually have the effect you're looking/hoping for. "Assault" weapon bans, minimum age requirements, etc, won't stem the gun carnage by much--too many other ways for people to get them.
Ten people killed and ten wounded. A shotgun and a six shot .38 caliber revolver were the weapons used. No semi-automatics were involved.
Armed good guys as a prevention. The shooter was engaged by armed security officers, the first was critically wounded. Later, police and the shooter engaged in a gun battle before he gave up.
I'd say that all the sure fire solutions were disproven in this one incident.
Maybe it's time to pay more attention to the problem and not rely upon the mass media to ascertain the facts.
1
School shootings will continue until voters put and end to the political power of the NRA. Weapons of mass killings should not and cannot be tolerated. As the Texas school shooting proves, there is no way that legal possession of a firearm prevents the weapon from being used in a school shooting. The only reliable course is to do what Australia did - eliminate private ownership of dangerous firearms, and then buy them back from private owners to remove them from public possession. All of the hoopla around background checks, bump stocks, etc. etc. is nothing but a cover-up for the real problem. Assault weapons are for killing people. They must be eliminated. All one needs to do is to look at the statistics for every other nation in the world that has sane gun control laws. Where strict gun controls exist or are put in place, the violent incidents abate immediately. It's the guns, folks. People will always be what they are, murderous feelings included. But when they have access to guns, they have the ability to carry out their murderous intent. Americans, you have the ability to end the killing spree. Vote down anyone beholden to the NRA. Vote against any and all candidates that refuse to pass strict gun controls. Vote against politicians that refuse to enact sane gun laws. Reject the NRA and its murderous intent. Vote in the fall elections for people who will break the NRA's reign of terror once and for all.
2
Faced with the ongoing reality of teens killing teens, perhaps it is time to entertain the unthinkable and consider pre-emptive removal of likely mass murders. We know - dare I say it - the typical profile - white, male, alienated, often gun-obsessed or white power obsessed. It would be a horrifying response to a horrifying problem, but maybe that's what it takes to get actual action instead of platitudes. I hope for all of our sakes we can find a better solution.
This - and many other things - will only change on a scale appropriate to the problem when we get money out of politics.
True changes must come from the grassroots of society. Expecting justice from our elected officials seems a lost cause, as politicians' self-serving reveals, and doing their rich donors, and the N.R.A.'s, bidding, as a matter of course, qualifies them as cowards and hypocrites. The gun carnage, a most lethal "disease", goes on unabated, thanks to politicians' arrogance in reneging on their promise, as candidates, to serve the public. What an awful caste swimming in privilege, the political class, as the innocent victims, many of them students, go on spilling their blood for the awful license in a violent nation run amok. Have we become immune to decency, or just callous to what may be considered 'business as usual' 'a la Trump'? Have we forgotten there is a conscience somewhere in our brain, that 'knows' right from wrong? Have we become this lazy not to exercise prudence, and fight for justice, stop the mayhem? Anomie is a grave condition, suitable only for the 'walking dead'.
The shooting will stop when the people elect representatives who are determined to change gun laws.
Tell me, Texans: who are you going to vote for in 2018? 2020? I ask the same of you Florida: who?
I am sick and tired of hearing about these shootings and then seeing the representation and what their positions on gun laws are. I feel for the sensible people who are outnumbered in their localities by those who would put profits and misinterpreted "rights" above the lives of their fellow citizens. That's a sad, scary and dangerous way to have to live. I wish them luck in their grassroots efforts. Vote. Them. Out.
1
The NRA is no longer an association or club. It's a money racquet, a concubine lobbiest arm of gun manufacturers. Like the NFL, all they care about are their overseers. It's time to hold the gun manufacturers responsible and the first step is overturning the laws that were written so they can't be sued.
Ms. Swartz; I read your columns whenever they're posted. They're always worth reading. But I take exception with the headline over your piece. I don't think "things have changed since Sandy Hook."
Congress has sat on its, ah, hands. Congress laughed at President Obama's tears when he addressed the nation in the late afternoon of that terrible day. Congress raised its collective middle finger to the president as he begged legislators to do something about untrammeled guns in schools.
His unworthy successor has done nothing but spin the broken record "thoughts and prayers;" has flown in Air Force One to Las Vegas to deliver an address that nobody listened to. Has hidden behind the barrels of the National Rifle Association. He is afraid of their stern, mean logic; either that he is indifferent so long as they pour money into his re-election campaign. And Art Acevedo was brave in calling out high Texas state officials for hypocrisy.
Nothing has changed, Ms. Swartz. Kids are still dying. And outside the grass-roots organizations that you mention, nothing will change at either the municipal and county levels, at the state houses or in Congress until, one day, "enough becomes enough."
1
We can not stop our opposition to out od control of gun sales until every state turns as blue as the sky or at least as purple as a purple heart.
Change will only happen when elected officials fear the voters more than the NRA. Grass roots action can certainly make it happen sooner. Those organizations are to be commended.
1
I have monthly donations going to Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. I have instructed our financial planner to divest all of our investment assets from gun industry funds and stocks. I recognize my measly actions are a drop in the bucket compared to the resources of the NRA, but it's something. The problem is, however, that most low to middle income individuals who agree with me don't have the money to spare to fight the gun lobby. And make no mistake: money talks in Washington and in state capitals.
Moms Demand Action is often compared to Mothers Against Drunk Driving. But the truth is, MADD was conceived during a time when our politics was far less polarized. No one saw drunk driving as a red vs. blue issue, but rather one of general safety. We are up against an "us vs. them" political climate that the grassroots has a tough time penetrating. We cannot afford the snail's pace this change in attitude and lawmaking efforts are affording, if it costs even one more student his or her life.
We need leadership from the Democrats (all of them, including the ones in gun-friendly states), we need our own version of the Koch brothers to drive a Congressional agenda for gun reform, and we need to get every gun reform American registered and voting. Each and every time. Keep the pressure on from below. But change must come from the top.
1
Having experienced a mass shooting myself I can say that the trauma for victims, families and the community lingers for long after the vigils end and the gun debates die. These communities are changed forever. Although these traumatic experiences build resiliency, they also steal our age of innocence. We are left with pox scars scattered all over this nation. We have to come accept that in this country no place is safe or sacred anymore. You should be going to a school to study, a church to pray and a hospital to heal. The author rightly points out that things are changing but I think the greatness of a nation lies not in its might but in its ability to preserve the innocence of childhood.
Pencils cause spelling errors and guns cause violence... Neither is the case. We have violence in every part of our lives yet most of us learned to control our rage. The NRA is only an organization, who happens to have the ear (and a large financial foothold) in our government as major contributors to congressional and other political campaigns.
In this case money sends a bigger message than does safety and meaningful gun regulation and control. Gun owners should not be vilified, rather look to the people we employ to represent us, but do not. If you want change, this is the place to start.
Do these people truly represent our desires or... do the represent less than 1% of us? Who do they represent us or the corporations? Is our return appropriate for our investment?
Later today when I arrive at school and be the substitute teacher I will park my car facing out, pop the hatch and mentally calculate how many second graders I can fit inside to protect or evacuate should I need to.
Once in the classroom, I will scan the room to see how I will secure the windows and doors using whatever is available - desks, file cabinets, etc. Just in case.
Within the first ten minutes of being with the kids I will determine who will need the most reassurance and who will be able to help me help others be silent to be safe. Again, just in case.
This is what we do to keep our kids - your kids - as safe as possible all the while knowing we are sitting ducks.
We are doing our jobs. We must keep pressure on our lawmakers to do theirs.
122
You forgot evaluating each of your students and identifying the one who wants to kill as many as possible.
4
Fighting fire with fire backfires. Arming teachers with guns is not a solution. It is the problem. How can we call it a "right" when our nation's children are now calculating the risks of their classroom seat assignments? How can we call it a "right" when our kids are afraid to go to their school? Guns are the problem. We need to call our Senators and Representative to propose, discuss and vote for strong legislation that bans guns. The Second Amendment Right is no longer a right when nearly 200 school shootings have occurred since Sandy Hook.
2
Nothing meaningful has changed since Sandy Sandy Hook that iimpacts the reality that 2/3rds of the 33, 000 Americans who die from gunshot every year are suicides. And 80 % are white men who tend to use handguns. Moreover no local nor state law can trump the 2nd Amendment.
1
The problem of school shooting is- yes, the schools.
Now those gun lovers and their NRA who show a very high correlation with Christian fundamentalism and hereditary allegiance to GOP, should propose banning education, whatever little is left in many states, in schools and replace that with teaching in Churches.
3
I hold a Texas License to Carry and during the class I took preparing for it, we were taught that gun safety requires that your weapons are secured against improper use by others, in particular by minors.
Why isn't this killer's father in jail?
11
The change I see since Colombine is not nearly as hopeful. GOP politicians and other prominent hypocrites worship guns and the NRA more now than ever. Stumping for a contorted second amendment is a sure-fire way to beat on liberals and stir up the base.
The change in me is no better. Bringing myself to care about each of these mass slayings is harder and harder. What for when they're all alike. The news now follows a formula. The troops fanning out: profile the perp; quick-sketch each victim; report that anguished cops are seeking a motive; show pertinent two-facing pols spewing "hearts-and-prayers" as real as plastic flowers; give voice to the frustration and fury of the community. Official vows of change followed by no change.
Of course I care but I can't keep force-feeding interest. Why care because...what for? And me, a journalist, I long covered social issues. How about for the real workaday person? The baby positive steps cited here are way too little for that much effort. Like banning bump stocks so bullet sprays travel at mini- instead of micro-fractions of a second? Certain massacres scream for attention as a new unimaged low: Sandy Hook, Las Vegas, Charleston. But then it just raises the bar for the next one to stand above the crowd.
People ask, How many kids do we have to lose to stop this? Better to ask, How many rotten pols do we have to lose before we can?
49
Part of the problem is that we are force fed the propaganda that the US is a democracy. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Our politicians are bought and paid for and care not a whit about the general welfare We are told that our troops are protecting our freedom when they are really protecting the interests of the fossil fuel industry and other corporate interests. We glorify violence, so we should not be surprised that so many young men lust after guns. We are like Rome under Caligula and the outlook is not bright.
2
We have gotten to the extemity, the outer limits of tolerance, babysteps have not worked when taken. We now need to undo gun culture. Yes I am against gunownership. I am sick of being searched or scanned because of the minority who feel out of fear they must own guns of all kinds. Schools are for learning not protective fortresses.
2
Penningtonia - I would have disagreed with you about the basic nature of our political system while agreeing on the many faults and dangers. Then I read on in the Times that any bully U.S. President can demand a criminal investigation against his enemies. In this instance, they are not some foreign foe but the very law and justice enforcers who are supposed to protect us. Trump not only insisted on investigation -- he got it, in hours. All he had to do was ask, like the good Dorothy just had to click her heels to get home. The bad Donald just had to twitter and get perversion. How weak is our system, how flexible the rule of law. It's hardly less disillusioning that Rod Rosenstein is the one who broke, then had the gall to assert its right. Many people are decrying the loss of democracy in one of its founding nations. I held back, but no more.
Our democracy is as withered and black as the flowerbeds of winter. Pushing up in their place are the shoots and buds of a corrupt autocracy.
We aren't being protected against Russia -- we are Russia.
Your point that it will take grass roots work to bring about change is on target. If my memory serves me correctly, same-sex marriage and marijuana legalization have moved forward from the grassroots, not Washington.
Our elected representatives are way more motivated by money or criticism from the NRA than lives of people. Unfortunately dead children have no money to give them. Their only voice are the living who must persist city by city, state by state to bring about change.
54
Marijuana legalization is not life threatening. The lack of gun reform is. So yes, while I agree the grassroots can help and has helped drive change, it's simply not fast enough. We need to shame our leaders into doing the right thing.
8
I would add The Right-to-Life movement to the list of grass roots groups that have success on the local and state levels. Even though the Supreme Court protects the right-to-chose in many states in many states that has become a moot point because of determined efforts by right-to-life groups. The federal government is effectively controlled by ideologues who either agree outright with the NRA or are afraid of them. Gun control groups have yet to proves that there is a cost for supporting the NRA. Getting change at the Federal level is just butting your head against the wall and giving politicians cover to talk with no risk.
3
Except that Right to Life is a misnomer. Many of them are also pro-gun conservatives. They are pro-birth not pro-life. If someone wants to see a child born, but not fed(cuts to WIC and SNAP) or born but not in 5 or 6+ years coming home safely from school every day, than they aren't really pro-life.
Paint me a skeptic. It is much easier to do nothing, and when voters are actually given a choice to put their votes to a test (or donations), they simply will not vote for the best gun policy advocates. A recent PA primary showed that the state expert and leader in this policy couldn't even get an endorsement from the party, the national gun policy groups, and lost in a landslide. The former head of the DNC in fact endorsed her opponent after speaking for years about how Dems need to be single issue voters.
It is hypocrisy to claim that things have changed. Nothing has changed, and nothing will.
1
It's Republicans and not political leaders that are preventing gun control.
3
Yes things have changed since Sandy Hook.
The number of school shootings have increased. There were 12 school shootings in 2012. We're on track to more than double that by the time school lets out in June.
6
Then by all means, get rid of those false political elected leaders!
Want something done, then don't stay home, get out and vote, and assist others getting to their polling place, or just help them with their mail in ballot -
3
Which of those changes would have prevented this most recent attack?
2
Why is the free market involving guns or related items restricted? Republicans, remove the statute prohibiting suing gun manufacter's for the public health menace they contribute to today's American society. By this Friday would be a reasonable timeline.
2
Campaign. Finance. Reform. It's at the heart of every single issue plaguing our country, especially this one. The best change we can make to get politicians to be accountable to the majority of voters instead of the minority of donors is this. Full stop. Until then, citizens like those celebrated in this article will have an unfair burden.
5
I am grateful to Ms. Swartz for noting changes which have occurred since Sandy Hook. It is not surprising these actions were led by various grassroots groups for many have skin in the game vs. politicians whose only focus is to get re- elected.
Someone mentioned term limits which I concur. Also, stricter gun legislation is also vital. But what remains unknown is the reasoning which drives individuals to murder in the first place. What pushes someone so such extreme and deadly behavior? Regardless the instrument used to kill, albeit a gun, an automobile, a bomb , innocent victims are murdered. Removing or garnering stricter access to guns is key, but determining how and why one’s heart and soul turns black in the first place from hatred, anger, revenge, and other mental issues is paramount.
Many of the individuals who have committed these heinous gun atrocities were “ordinary” individuals who did not raise red flags of aberrant behavior around family or friends. These individuals were able to blend into society, undetected. I wonder how many other individuals are struggling with such extreme emotional issues and when will there be another tragedy like the ones in Texas, Florida and Nevada.
Mentally ill individuals with deep rooted hate or anger will use whatever means he or she can find to complete their deranged goal. Guns should not be obtained as easily as they are and access must be restricted, but mental health issues must be equally addressed as well.
2
The NRA is just an organization representing a minority of gun owners and gun manufacturers that represent themselves. They are advocates for certain policies that do not represent what most gun owners what except for opposing arbitrary laws about gun ownership and use that seem aimed at reducing who owns guns and what kind of guns they can own out of fear.
The measures mentioned of removing access to guns from high risk people are rational and likely to save lives. Making them work better would be enabled by measures like registration of all guns and licensing of all users. But these means are not likely to be agreed upon and implemented until virtually all gun owners trust that such means will not be used by those who are terrified of gun owners just because they own guns to remove guns arbitrarily.
The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. The essence of that message is good guys solve problems with guns. Only trouble is, whether Columbine, Sandyhook, Parkland, or Santa Fe, everyone of the shooters involved believed in their deranged minds that they were the good guy with a gun solving a problem. Thanks a lot Pence.
9
I'm afraid we are going to find many of these 'good guys with a gun' are heroes in their head, and cowards on the ground. Fantasizing is so easy and safe . . . actually jumping in and doing something is much harder. Everybody doesn't have the 'right stuff . . .'
1
Maybe not good guys but definitely they felt justified in doing what they did.
I'd like to see a positive campaign about those "safer cities" & states that have passed reasonable gun laws. Then those of us with family members in school can move there, shop there, beg our employers to locate there. This could be a big selling point for those locations. Not all gun violence will disappear completely but these safe communities will be places where our families can feel more confident they won't be shot.
And we can let the Texans sort out their problems without us.
8
Mother's against drunk driving aka MADD started out this way. Grassroots change is very important because it allows for experimentation at the local level before rolling out big changes at the federal level. Now when we push for federal changes we'll be able to back up our claims with factual information.
Gun safety needs to be treated like a public health crisis. We can't save all lives but smart changes to our gun laws will save more lives while still respecting gun owners rights. Do sensible gun owners truly believe that those guilty of domestic violence, those unable to pass a background check, and young men under the age of 21 who have committed most school shootings should have unfettered access to guns.
The parkland kids have shown that Americans are tired of gun violence against our children. The tide is finally here but we need to be smart and not overplay our hand.
8
It's hard to overplay a pair of deuces. A better gaming metaphor for this particular social issue might be derived Russian Roulette.
There would be even more response at the local level if not for the preemption laws passed by several States, such as here in Oklahoma, which prevent municipalities and local governments from passing any laws or ordinances on the subject. Cities are prevented from even making the parks and cemeteries gun free. You can even bring your weapon to the swimming pool, as long as it is not indoor.
6
The headline link to this article from the front page seems to lament that "much of it has been pushed from the grassroots, not our political leaders"
That's the way it is supposed to be in American democracy.
1
When the Bill of Rights was adopted, the free press was a printed newspaper (without photos) seen at most once a week. A gun was a muzzle-loading flintlock. No gun laws and no mass shootings.
In 1945, we had newspapers (with B&W photos), radio, mental institutions, and the .50 cal Browning Machine Gun. No gun laws and no mass shootings.
Today, we have satellites, 24/7 instantaneous color video coverage, no mental institutions, and a news media that profits from grisly blanket coverage which also supports its anti-gun agenda. We have ever more gun laws *and* mass shootings.
What has changed since 1945? It is not the guns.
3
I think your line of inquiry is worthwhile, but I would not agree that guns have not changed since 1945. The availability of very high performance automatic weapons is much higher now.
5
Perhaps, but such weapons are rarely the cause of murders in the USA. If you think one gun is dangerous, you must think them all dangerous.
I agree with the part about our mental health system, but how many .50-caliber browning machine guns were in civilian hands in 1945? Can you hide one under your trench coat?
I am so proud of the teen activists. I had almost ceased to hope that I might see meaningful gun regulation in my lifetime. At least in my state of CT, there was legislation after Sandy Hook. The victims' parents were effective, but 6-yo kids couldn't be expected to become activists. Now it is all changed, and awe-inspiringly intelligent and spreading into voter registration and political participation. The bench of future candidates for office has suddenly become very deep. Their very lives depend on it.
5
What do you expect. Our "leaders" are a corrupt and useless bunch. Let's see a real Blue Wave this November.
4
"Gun control" is a misnomer: the problem that the society faces is the control of those criminals, whether mentally responsible or irresponsible for their acts, who can and do harm. I may be taking an elitist Unamerican attitude by writing that not every Tom, Dick, and Harry (or Thomasina, Ricarda, and Henrietta) should be allowed to own firearms. The unsolved or, possibly, unsolvable question is, how to make this work?
For disclosure, I am proud to be citizen of the country of the 2nd Amendment and I support the hopefully yet to come 34th, that will correct the oversight of the Founding Fathers by guaranteeing the citizen's right to carry arms "everywhere and always".
Firearms in the hands of people of good will and sound judgement are an excellent deterrent of crime.
Have you not seen the comparisons to other countries showing that virtually the only difference is that guns are already everywhere in the US? And not noticed that we have vastly greater numbers of deaths by guns, as a result? And so I conclude that it does not matter to you that our children are now being killed almost daily across the country untrue schools. It does matter however to the rest of us. We care about the lives of our children even if you do not and we do not care about your desire to march around with your ridiculous gun so you can fantasize about getting bad guys, etc.
3
Reducing the U.S. to "the country of the 2nd Amendment" is pretty much the problem.
2
Sure, more guns equal more safety. That's why the safest places on Earth are packed with gun toting people.
1
Nothing has changed because the left hasn't put forth any ideas except "DO SOMETHING!" Not a single proposed law would have prevented Friday's shooting, except for a complete ban and confiscation of every firearm in America, which liberals always claim they don't want ("No one's coming for your guns").
2
Maybe you should re-read paragraphs 6-13 which cites specific examples that have been taken by ordinary Americans to protect and defend gun ownership rights while also passing local legislation to stem the tide of mass shootings in schools.
1
And yet NONE of those would have stopped Santa Fe.
You have to start somewhere. Pointing fingers certainly hasn't moved us forward as a country. It is a uniquely American problem, not a conservative or liberal problem. Until we can move past that we will remain, as you put it, stuck in the mud. But some of us are going to beat feet and at least try and make some positive changes, and have hope that we can save some lives. Its not wrong to hope, and the last time I checked political spectrum of the American electorate had a monopoly on hope. So what are you going to do today to effect positive change in your community? Peace.
These new laws will not survive our super activist Supreme Court. As in Heller and Citizen's United the Court will simply amend the constitution to serve those who paid so much to pave their way onto the Court. Sorry Mom's In America money matters more than kids.
1
We no longer have "political leaders." The Republican Party, in particular, is a pitiful collection of sheep under the thumb of the NRA. Even its titular head, Donald Trump, obeys the shepherd, the way a dog responds to the master's signals to keep the flock in order.
Greg Abbott's promises to "do more" are as hollow as a drum. Dan Patrick shills for the NRA, saying the only way to stop a gunman is with a gun.
Thoughts and prayers have accomplished nothing. Zero. Zip. Nada. Boarding up doorways will funnel victims into fewer and ever more deadly shooting lanes. Speed up background checks? Baloney. To be effective, background checks must require more --deeper and broader investigations-- and will of necessity take longer, on the order of many days if not weeks to have any impact on who can get their hands on a gun.
And, yes, the military grade, assault style guns must be controlled to a higher --onerous, even-- standard. That this most recent case involved the proletarian shotgun and a revolver must have been cause for a huge sigh of relief in the halls of a certain building on Waples Mill Road in Fairfax, VA.
The states and municipalities can accomplish only so much, essentially the equivalent of straightening the fringe on a dresser doily. The ugly stain in the center of the fabric must be addressed head on.
4
In a critical way, nothing has changed.
Studies have asked students if they are, or were recently, suicidal. Stunning to read of all the despair in the hearts of the lost and young.
Public schools are breeding grounds for hopelessness and an aloneness that kills.
And little has been done to give hope to those without friends, without hope that their abilities will take them to a good place in our culture. Income inequality is worse, and as the rich get richer, the poor get shunted to the servant class.
And some of the traumatized and abandoned explode.
Doing anything about that?
Hugh Massengill, Eugene Oregon
37
Once we removed our son from the public schools -- he went to an online public school -- he thrived.
3
There is little to be done to prevent adolescents from losing perspective with respect to the roller coaster ride experiences that will affect them until the are mature. Extremes of isolation and of overly protective elders both make it much worse but supportive peer groups and family do help.
It’s still up to people who own deadly weapons to control who has access and to take responsibility for assuring that they are not used to do harm.
5
Great insight.
I'm no fan of gun culture, but I can't help but ask what is special about youth today that makes mass-murder-suicide so much more common than in the 70s and early 80s when I grew up. It's not just the guns, although I agree controlling access is our best and most immediate hope. Longer term I think we need to start talking about how modern American culture is an incubator for anxious, depressed, and hopeless children (and adults too). Why is life becoming cheap here? I suspect envy has a lot to do with is. The internet has made is vastly easier to find ways to be envious of others, both socially and economically. Children have expectations reality just can't live up to. And those who can't cope may be those at risk for becoming domestic terrorists, which is really what we're dealing with.
1
I am so tired of hearing elected official telling us when and how to pray. Elected officials are not clergy. Stop pretending to be a spiritual leader or someone who really cares. In-action speaks louder than words.
4
The NY State gun-ownership paradigms and SAFE Act requirements should be the law of the land. It's a public health issue. Period.
4
This is the best article I have seen on gun control anywhere since this horrible mess started in our country. I especially like the billboard idea although it is hard to "shame" men who always think they are right. The most successful way to fight is through the young people who have endured this disruption to their lives and the fear they live with daily. It reminds me of the youth movement against Vietnam. That worked eventually and so will their efforts.
5
I learned in civics class that a democracy is a form of government that gives voice to the people. So tell me, how does a very small minority---say 5 or million NRA members---able to stop the will of the majority of Americans to pass and enforce sensible gun control regulations. It appears that my gun control voice has been silenced by other forces more powerful that the will of the people.
4
Until we have a MADD for gun control, this will devolve. There is hope in the youth, but things will only get better once we have a willing congress and President.
3
What about vehicular manslaughter or murder? This seems to be more popular in Europe than USA, but it is a recommended practice for terrorists. Do we outlaw vehicles? Or do we focus on drivers?
1
Two responses here. One, military style assault weapons are designed solely to kill a large amount of people quickly, while cars are designed to be transport. Two, we legally require car drivers to undergo training and licensing, to be renewed on a regular basis, which is more than we require for gun owners
5
Please stop parroting this ridiculous and dishonest blather from the NRA. It is obvious to anyone with half a brain that the USA is awash in guns, more guns than people, but only 30 % own guns. This guy got his guns from his dad, who apparently didn't know or care that his distraught son was about to commit murder with his guns. Not a responsible gun owner, and there are far too many of them out there thanks to the unregulated mass market for civilian weapons of mass destruction in this country. Sickening.
2
Perhaps they could make the penalty for selling an unregistered gun as stiff as the penalty for selling a small amount of marijuana we could see some progress on registering guns. Sell an unregistered gun and get prison time.
4
If you accept the premise guns don't kill people people kill people, how can you be against denying people with a propensity for violence access to guns?
1
No one will take seriously anyone calling for "common sense gun measures" unless these calls come with specificity and would stop the shooting that precipitated the calls. Liberals have done none of this.
Repeal the Second Amendment and bring sanity back to the USA.
1
That isn’t a common sense measure. It’s a draconian step that will not happen.
Lawsuits and litigation directed towards the NRA and the politicians who take their money, could be an effective way to achieve results. Perhaps follow the playbook that anti abortion activists use. Yes and vote these skunks out of office. The second amendment will never go away. Even if it did tomorrow, there are more guns out there than any one can count. Target the money and these merchants of death. Publish stories about what has happened to the families and relatives of these deranged shooters. Parents with guns in their homes need a strong message too. This could happen to you!
When your child kills someone with one of your guns, then you should also be arrested, charged with the same crime and prosecuted along side your child and given the same prison sentence. Period. When parents pay for the senseless acts of violence perpetrated by their children with the parents' guns, then and only then will we see a reduction in school gun violence. Such a law doesn't take guns away, but holds parents accountable for lax gun possession, poor oversight and bad parenting. A whole lot of guns will then suddenly disappear from American homes.
5
The deaths by guns of kids in their schools is the new normal of our country. President Trump promised to end "the carnage" in America. Some promise. The hypocritical "thoughts and prayers" offered up by the champions of Death by Guns (our cultural ethos) mean zip. Zilch. Just platitudes that signify nothing. Ms. Swartz, things have NOT changed since Sandy Hook. The 45th president of America will continue strangling our democracy, and the N.R.A. and the Second Amendment will continue to abet his carnage against schoolchildren. Wishing things to change won't make that happen - if wishes were horses, beggars would ride. If wishes were gun control, school shootings would vanish.
3
Gun violence seems to get media attention only when mass shooting and such school shootings happen. But the vast majority of killing by America's addiction to gun culture occur not in such mass shootings, but as suicides and isolated killing of one or few people- on a daily, if not hourly basis.
In 2014, out of 33,594 gun related death in USA, only 14 died in such mass shootings. Most deaths were by suicide using a gun- 21,386. Then 11,008 homicide (killing other people with a gun), other - 1200 (this include accidental shooting killing people).
Gun death statistics for 2016: Suicide- 22,000, Homicide-11,760, Self defense (victims killing perpetrators in self defense)- 589, Mass shootings- 456.
And, more importantly, overwhelming majority of those who die in such acts of gun violence are gun owners and/or their very close relatives (including children) and friends.
Anyway, such grave acts of violence will have no impact on those evil souls who can sell every bit of morality, ethics and commonsense to get political and/or financial benefit from gun sales. Shame on those, mostly in GOP, who shamelessly support NRA and this senseless gun culture and hide under the false pretense of 2nd amendment, which shoudl be scrapped- even as per a retired Supreme Court chief justices- Warren Burger.
3
When I wrote to my senator, Corey Gardner, who has accepted millions of dollars from the NRA, I received a reply about the defense of the 2nd amendment right to gun ownership. Gun ownership can come with the restrictions that safeguard human life. Responsible gun control does not mean "taking guns away." It means the right of gun ownership does not trump anyone elses right to be safe from dangerous people owning guns.
5
When you have a political system which demands that politicians grovel before wealth and please them with legislation so that they can receive the campaign donations which keep them viable, then you get politicians of a certain level of integrity.
You get politicians who care more about prolonging their careers than for children's safety. If anything is going to change for the better in this country, it will come from the grass roots, not from above.
1
These changes need to come from grass roots. Just pushing more laws onto the books does nothing to change behavior.
Too many Americans have come to believe that individuals have an inviolable right to employ deadly force when they feel threatened. The second amendment as interpreted today is not merely about owning guns—its about having the right to kill in defense of person, property, or liberty. Carry laws expand the castle doctrine (the right to defend yourself in your home) to public spaces. Stand-your-ground laws replace duty to retreat. Increasingly the second amendment is at the centre of a dystopian vision of America as a place where neither the government nor other people can be trusted and where individuals must therefore arm themselves for protection against both crime and tyranny. The armed individual is mythologized as a hero—the good guy with a gun, the sheriff, the patriot, the protector.
Of course, this is all lunacy. But as long as Americans think this way, good luck taking their guns away. We are a long, long way from sane gun laws. We must first become sane.
33
The anti gun lobby is funded as well as the NRA. But they are fractured. There are about 10 organizations, most of which trace their roots to a particular shooting. And their priority demands are associated with the particular shooting with which they are associated.
What we have is small fiefdoms run by those who seem to think they have a monopoly on suffering. Clearly they need to join hands, pool their money and dedicate themselves to the broad interests of gun control, not just what happened in Newtown or Arizona.
The NRA does have a point about violence in TV, movies, and especially video games. These are essentially product placement advertisements for their products. We should continue to fight hard for effective gun control, but at the same time, we could take up the NRA on ‘their plan’ and regulate this imagery, just like we did with advertisements for cigarette smoking. Because we may need to change our culture before we can change the law.
3
Certain states and municipalities are not completely insane and do work towards better gun regulation, as documented here.
But, apparently, the attitudes regarding firearms are so different from place to place it makes one wonder if we really should be one nation anymore, but two, or several.
On this, as on a number of other issues, there seems not even the most basic middle ground for discussion; in too many places there are gun absolutists holding that there should be no regulations who are setting the terms of the debate. They seem to have no incentive to concede anything.
How do we provide them with some incentive? Many tactics have been advanced--and no, I'm not going to Puckishly suggest simply eliminating them all by shooting them (though that has a certain bizarre symmetry to it) . . .
Can we perhaps bribe the politicians with more campaign money than the NRA does? Until we can get public financing of elections so that perhaps representatives represent their voters, and not their lobbyists as they do now, is that perhaps the way to go? If these politicians are so craven that they'll sell out to the highest bidder, maybe it's time for the the organizations Mimi lists to big higher?
2
I have two words for you: TERM LIMITS
We have so many aspects of this horrific pattern of violence to address, but we cannot forget that the cozy long term relationships these Congress people have are a big part of the stonewalling we continue to experience. We must vote them out where we can, and keep fresh new ideas, and our young people, coming in to make change!
7
I live in a state that has term limits. Political worms that had not previously sold out to the donor class simply started selling themselves to the lobbyists and corporations the day they took office. Term limits seemed like a good idea at the time. They just created a new set of problems.
The answer, as posted by commenter Glenn Ribotsky, is public financing of campaigns. It may be a bitter pill to swallow. But the fact is that as long as any private money is "donated", it means that the politician is indebted to someone other than the people.
Perhaps term limits would work after campaign finance reform. But we must reverse the disastrous Citizens United and require only public funding of campaigns first.
6
It is clear that the Second Amendment is the source of all of the unnecessary firearms deaths and injuries in our country, yet nobody proposes its repeal.
Repeal and replace the Second Amendment with an amendment that gives Congress (not the States) the power to regulate the ownership, possession, and use of firearms. The debate then shifts from "my constitutional rights" to "what is safe?" or "what is reasonable?" See? No constitutional right, no irrational arguments. No constitutional right, no trump card.
There is the whining objection that it is too difficult to repeal the Second Amendment. I suppose that it's much easier to dig 93 new graves every day in this country and listen to the news correspondents breathlessly detail all the horrors of the day's shootings, but someone must be tiring of it. I know I am.
Write your Federal and State legislators; tell them to repeal the Second Amendment.
18
Repealing the second Amendment isn't going to happen, but we can shift the emphasis from "the rights of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be abridged," to the first part "A well-regulated militia..." which clearly indicates that there were and are supposed to be rules around the keeping and bearing of arms. Many of those who get really bent out of shape about gun regulations are afraid (somewhat irrationally and encouraged by the NRA) that 'the government' is coming for their guns. Those of us who support stricter gun regulations should do more to allay those fears - to assure hunters and sport shooters and those in rural areas who might actually need a weapon to defend against non-human predators (and I'm not talking about grizzly bears in schools, which has never happened, although there was a tiger at a prom recently) that their legal, reasonable, and safe use of firearms is not at stake.
Never going to happen. Outside of maybe CA and MA, any politician who supported such an idea would be committing political suicide. And I have serious doubts about it working in CA.
Forget about the entire Southwest, Midwest, Mountain West, Dixie South, Appalachia---you get the point.
The second amendment is fine. Lets work on electing people who can write sensible gun legislation within the constitution.
3
Only after they repeal the 14th, which has been far more destructive to America.
I recently received my tickets to see Les Miz this summer in Denver. The tickets say come early for security screening.
So what changes in the US after a shooting? My and thousands of others' rights are restricted. Stand in line to be patted and screened, take off your shoes, have your purse searched.My rights to free and safe access to events and activities are constantly being infringed upon so that a few million people can buy, own and use guns and force the rest of us to fear and cower.
139
Many countries have similar or even stricter security measures even if they have no guns (but they have terrorists).
In the absence of legislation to regulate guns, a way to lessen the incidence of children killing children is right in the home - - in the hands of parents. Lock up firearms and hide the key. The Sante Fe High School shooter used his dad’s guns, which were said to be locked up. Apparently, the son knew where the key was. Student activists should begin their activitism in their own home. If you know where your parents keep the key, tell them.
8
As I followed the NRA’s initiatives to stop gun violence in schools, I have seen no estimates regarding the cost and how, or better who, would pay for them.
I have chosen not to own a fire arm. Google tells me that sixty-six percent of Americans have also chosen NOT to own fire arms.
Why should two-thirds of Americans who have chosen not to own fire arms be expected to pay for security and mental health programs so that a minority of Americans can continue to exercise their Second Amendment rights?
Let those who exercise their rights pay for the programs they support. It’s a simple concept and already used elsewhere. If I chose to drive a car, I pay gasoline taxes. Same with liquor and cigarettes. Why not apply the same idea to gun ownership?
In order to generate meaningful and sustainable revenue to pay for the NRA’s plan, it will need to cover more than a tax on guns when they are sold.
A gun is useless without ammunition. Consider taxing gun powder, firing caps, shell casings, and slugs sold to the general public in addition to the tax on ammunition and guns. That would mean even the guns currently in circulation help pay for school security and mental health programs.
While we are at it, one could even consider using a piece of this revenue stream to build the border wall instead of taking it from the military budget. It seems like more school children are killed by American citizens than illegal immigrants who crossed the Mexican border.
61
This is a great idea. Let's not forget that we also have to pay the healthcare costs of people wounded by guns and often disabled and unable to work for life. The costs imposed on our society are immense. Those who want to play with guns should cover that cost.
8
We could also require all gun owners to purchase insurance just like car owners. The secretary at my suburban church commutes out on the local train from Philadelphia. She told me the reason she doesn't drive in Philly is because of the high cost of car insurance in the city. If the cost of insurance is part of the equation for gun owners, some people may decide it's too expensive to hunt and go to a butcher. Other people might decide to keep one hunting rifle, but decide they can't afford the semi-automatic because of the cost of insurance. People are already making decisions about whether to own a car and families about how many cars they can own based in part on the cost of insurance. Put insurance into the equation for gun ownership. After all, plenty of people are killed or wounded with guns and guns are lost or stolen quite a bit. (Criminals often get their guns by stealing them from those law abiding citizens the NRA goes on and on about.) Insurance would also give law abiding citizens to report stolen guns to the police, since they would need the report for insurance purposes. Those reports would help the state and local police know how many and what kind of guns were out there.
4
Bravo for every grass roots effort to wake up a corroded system, that protects the NRA instead of children's lives. The wake up call needs to the slumbering law makers. If the DMV can take your car away for not having it registered, why can't we have an Org that takes guns away? If those who think prayer will be the answer take a look at the Bible, they will see "thou shalt not kill."
3
The National Violence Association is an aberration of evolution. Formed in the era of the Civil War to improve marksmanship, the NRA for nearly 100 years was about improving marksmanship & education. Over the past 45 years, it has become a a top lobbying organization benefitting mostly gun and munition manufacturers.
The National Violence Association, instead of supporting gun safety, has opposed any and all attempts to limit the sale of guns. They are complicit in the murders of far too many and yes, school and other mass shootings arouse the most energy. Yet the NVA has never provided one ounce of regulation of its own product.
We can point to other modern societies where guns are heavily regulated (and not as profitable) and go over their wonderfully low gun violence rates. You get jealous just thinking about it.
But here in the United States, a Constitutional Amendment formed to preserve the rights of citizens to form militias in the event that tyranny was a threat, has become the spoke in the wheel for the NVA. They happily encourage the sale of more and more firearms but take absolutely no responsibility when a small percentage of these weapons are used to kill our citizens, even our children.
The terrible news that supports Mimi Swartz's conclusions is that these types of shootings will continue until the voices they raise replace our leaders. The number of guns out there is proportionate to the number of gun deaths. We have to limit one to limit the other.
10
For all the Democrats that keep saying protest is a waste of time, just vote, please read this article again.
All the power comes from the people, according to the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. And that wasn't an invention, but a discovery. After ten thousand years of empire, the People are making themselves heard around the world,were showing that without consent, brave people cannot be governed.
Politicians love in fear that at any moment the people might reject them, so usually they cower, afraid to have an opinion or do the right thing, for fear of losing the public or their rich donors, who finance their manipulations of public opinion.
But, you can't fool all the people all the time, and when the people see the government doing wrong, we must use peaceful and creative means to convince the politicians that donor money won't save them.
Women didn't get the vote because old white guys thought it was a good idea. Women marched and wrote and eventually went on strike in their own homes.
Slavery didn't end because off politicians. Activists forced the issue.
FDR had essentially the same platform as his opponent. It was millions of activists that created the New Deal.
Nixon didn't end the Vietnam War. Protesters inside and outside the military did that.
There have been no nukes built in the U.S., since the no nuke movement.
Soon we may be called to save our Republic from "president for life" Trump.
Politicians can't do that.
You must do that
102
Bravo! Nothing ever really changes in this country without massive and sustained protests. Not a weekend feel-good rally. True protests.
We will continue to have tediously slow, pragmatic change around the edges by holding an occasional rally as we did after Parkland. And the bodies will continue to pile up.
The school massacres and other gun violence will not end until enough people decide it must end. It will take a lot more than sending e-mails to a useless congress and holding a rally or a vigil for the dead.
12
Who shows up are who make the decisions in a democracy. Those who do not agree with a majority decision accept it because they trust the majority will respect their rights. Democracy that turns into a zero sum game has stopped being a democracy and become a government of rule by one group who suppress everyone else. In the struggle to reduce gun violence there are two extremes controlling the debate whose proposals are absolutely right in their own minds and to who the others proposals are totally wrong. Much of the discussion is about how the NRA buys off politicians to thwart the will of the people. This argument is substantiated by agreement amongst seven out of eight people regarding background checks. The next assertion commonly made is of support for measures banning legally purchased guns categorically and rendering guns difficult to shoot rapidly, and the restriction of quantities owned.
1
Violence is simply part of the cultural DNA in the U.S.
As long as there are a huge number of Americans who consider themselves part of a "gun culture" (the term defies reason) who possess over 300 million guns, there really is no hope for real change. The carnage will continue.
The "hearts and minds" of many Americans have been poisoned not only by NRA propaganda, but they are saturated every day with images of violence and paranoia in the media and film.
Soon, Americans will be convinced that this country or that is threatening us, and the second layer of gun violence will be released and thousands of young men and women will answer the call and go kill people on some foreign soil.
And "so it goes."
4
Ms. Swartz fails to grasp the simple fact that gun control isn't the problem. One would think that someone from Texas would grasp that fact naturally, because if the number of guns in the hands of the public was the problem, there wouldn't be any Texans left alive.
Many states have very effective gun control laws, including Texas. In the Sandy Hook case, as with this one, the guns were stolen from the parent's gun locker.
The Lt. Governor is correct. The way to stop in-school shootings is with limited entry points, armed guards and screening.
And then, the loonies will just switch to knives, or move to bus stops or parking lots.
The real problem is parental, and, a political shift to the left where blame is pushed onto society instead of squarely on the shoulders of individuals.
12
We are the only developed country that has this problem with prolific school shootings. We are an outlier in that sense. We are also an outlier in lax gun control laws. Do you really think we're more to the left than the Scandinavian European and commonwealth countries?
1
Objectivist-"The real problem is parental, and, a political shift to the left where blame is pushed onto society instead of squarely on the shoulders of individuals."
Easy to post such a ridiculous comment when you live in the safest state in the country. Maybe you should move to a more gun friendly state and take your chances! Massachusetts is the most liberal state in the country. We also have one of the lowest gun ownership per capita in the country.! Most lefties don't OWN guns so blaming the violence on lefties is ludicrous! It's funny how the states in general with the strictest gun laws also have the lowest deaths by guns. And for the most part they tend to be lefty, Democratically controlled states. The top 20 states with the highest gun deaths per capita are republican controlled. The states with the highest ranked city gun deaths per capita are also mostly republican controlled. The politicians who are owned by the NRA are republican. The divorce rates are higher in red states as are out of wedlock and teen births. So are the poverty rates and quality of education is sub par. Do you even pretend to research your idiotic comments that belie every statistic? Name one school in MA that has armed guards. Yet no shootings. Could it be that we lefties don't have a gun fetish and we're not so paranoid that we fear attack anytime we venture out in public? Is violence so rampant in these red states that one needs to bring his gun to church? To the market? To the movies?
GUNS.
TRUMP?
What other reason should be necessary to motivate all Americans to get to the polling places in November to vote ALL Republicans OUT OF OFFICE?
45
Glad to hear there are some people speaking out that want to make a difference, but with so many gun lovers states like Texas we have a real uphill battle.
Changing our laws can make a difference with gun purchases and with domestic abusers but what do we about having hundreds of millions of guns in circulation and more guns than people?
4
I was happy to hear of some progress, but I am wholely as cynical about getting change out of Republicans as the author is. But the debate also seems artificial at a certain level.
We want you to be safe at school, but ... we think you should spend the rest of your time in an open season slaughterhouse?
Why are schools the only place we care about our kids safety?
And why don't we worry about their safety, or their health, or their hunger after they leave school?
I fully support starting somewhere, as this article talks about, but this is a long, large struggle.
7
What gun owners don't realize is that the NRA is their worst enemy.
Gun control is coming, not tomorrow or next month, but in the foreseeable future, and the NRA's refusal to consider even the most basic regulation means that they and the people they claim to represent will not be at the table when it happens.
24
Politicians have failed miserably because they are terrified of the not only the NRA but the high intensity voter, the ones who are barely interested in voting but will vote against anyone and anything that dares to suggest limits on the ease of gun purchases. Grass root action is encouraging but at some point, those who are supposed to lead are going to have to take a risk or two
5
Ms. Swartz says the refusal to act on gun control is "thanks mostly to our politicians’ love affair with the National Rifle Association."
This is misleading on two counts.
One, it's not generic "politicians" that are the problem: it's Republicans. The states that have passed responsible gun control measures since Sandy Hook have politicians, too. It's just that they're Democrats. Repeatedly blaming "our politicians" on a "stalemate" is misleading and fails to hold those truly accountable for the inaction responsible: the GOP.
Second, explaining Republicans' refusal to act on gun control as fealty to the NRA is overly simplistic. Yes, the NRA is a powerful lobbying group that's a major player in GOP politics. But the bigger issue is that Republican politicians have internalized the NRA's radical view of the Second Amendment. Does Swartz really think that the likes of Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick are just putting on a show for the NRA? I don't -- I think they're True Believers.
Clearly identifying the problem (the GOP's radicalism) is the only way we're going to get sensible gun control legislation at the federal level. Vote Democratic.
29
Our government is suppose to be the ones looking out for us but instead it's we the people that are taking the helm in this fight and it shouldn't be a fight.
We're suppose to be a country of educated people but there are times when one has to wonder how smart can we be if we keep having these shootings.
There is one thing for sure and that is if you don't ask the question then the answer is always no, but if you ask the question it may be no or maybe yes.
So lets start a conversation and begin asking the questions.
4
The prayers, while well-intended, won't give us safer schools.
That outcome requires sensible firearm legislation.
15
The SCOTUS has allowed individual states significant latitude in curtailing gun rights within their state. Rather than bemoaning the lack of Federal oversight, individual states should feel empowered to restrict certain types of weapons in their bailiwick. The fact that they have not - despite all protestations to the contrary - raises it own set of questions.
3
Won't work. Illinois, in general and Chicago, in particular, have some of the toughest gun laws in the country. They just bring them in from neighboring states like Missouri and Indiana that have very loose gun laws.
It will take federal action to create real change.
2
Most school shootings have been carried out by kids who appropriate their parent's guns - so yeah - it would help.
Secondly - if enough states change their laws then it will start a trend - like gay marriage laws - which went from unthinkable to orthodoxy in a few years.
Never mistake the attainable pretty good as infinitely worse than the unattainable perfect
I guess it is useful for the author to deliver her "buck up, we are making progress" message to keep all of us from throwing up our hands in despair. But she is not accurately representing the situation. Sure, she can point to a handful of state laws that nibble around the edges on things like mental health and domestic abuse. Meanwhile, dozens of laws have been passed to loosen gun regulation, from open carry to arming college campuses. The net effect of the legislative reaction to gun violence has been, and will continue to be, the introduction of more guns into society. You and I might wish it were otherwise. But as long as politicians need millions of dollars to run their election campaigns, and the NRA is there to provide that money, the fundamental equation does not change: Dead children = Rich politicians. Thus, in reality, school shootings are needed by the incumbents to prime the elections fund pump. School kids shot, public recoils in horror, NRA floods in cash to keep politicians in line...."thoughts and prayers". Rinse, repeat.
46
When we talk about guns and mental health we seem to forget that the main problem isn't school shootings. It's suicide. By focusing on the few people who are BOTH mentally ill and violent we risk adding to the stigma. There are 20,000 gun suicides a year and 15 million Americans on anti-depressants. If we focused on guns and mental health as a suicide prevention and public health issue it would be helpful. Mental health doesn't need anymore undeserved stigma.
3
We've got a problem with guns in this country, because it is the go-to weapon for so many people whether it's school shootings or the thousands of suicides that happen every year. Guns are meant to kill and are simply too easy to procure legally and illegally. We really can't turn back time, but we can start dealing with one of the biggest issues with gun-related violence: Stolen guns. Chicago has some of the toughest gun laws in the nation but the existing gun laws there do very little to help the problem. Why? Most gun related violence is committed with stolen guns and strawman purchases. Very lax Federal and varying State gun laws make bringing guns across State lines very easy. There are NO Federal trafficking laws at all, and although the penalty for using a stolen gun is up to $250k and 10 years in prison the law is rarely enforced. And there are many reasons for this fact. If the laws were enforced in many States the crime would not be worth the penalty. Simple as that.
9
You are correct that current gun laws aren't enforced very well, yet people keep calling for more laws
Unfortunately, there has not been enough change. New gun control laws have been limited. And even though more students are calling for gun control, which is good, there is still a huge lack of empathy from our young people; a large component of these mass shootings -- mental illness, exclusion, and bullying-- go on in our high schools in the same manner as they have in the past, if not worse with the rise of social media and online bullying. Many of these mass shooters have been ostracized from their communities prior to their horrific acts. In this latest shooting, the shooter was supposedly bullied even by his coach who called him disgusting slurs. Teenagers are vulnerable and they are cruel. As controversial as this is to say: the victims are not always completely exempt; they may not have been violent, but negative words and exclusion hurt. Just like some people can smoke a pack of cigarettes their whole lives and never get lung cancer, some kids can get bullied and exhibit no aggression. Other kids can't take it; it gets to them and is manifested in this violent rage. We must show more empathy towards the bullied, the lonely, the depressed, and those who are at their breaking point. It is counterproductive to have a dual narrative of-- mental illness is an illness and people should not be ashamed and should seek help and then also-- these mass shooters are the devil. With more compassion and gun control, we can hopefully end or at least limit this violence.
5
It's time to let freedom ring and get rid of that antiquated 2nd Ammendment. We are imprisoned by an amendment that was meant for muskets that have no usefulness in today's vibrant society. We have a well-regulated militia, and it's called the US Army.
85
Nonsense.
There is a comma in that amendment that separates entirely, the concept of a militia, and the right of citizens to bear arms.
1
Separate entirely would take a period. A comma means that that the first phrase is a qualifier for the second phase
The fact that we cannot even agree on exactly what the second amendment says is an indication that it needs to be replaced with something clear and unambiguous.
4
A number of school shootings have been committed by youth, using the guns of their parents. Yet, I have not heard of any parent being charged with being an accessory to the crime. Why are not these supposedly responsible gun owning parents not held accountable for the commission of a crime committed with the aid of their non-secure weapon? It seems to me that the lawful owner of any gun must assume legal and personal responsibility for its misuse. Guns and their ammunition must be separately and securely stored, preventing everyone but the owner from access. If a gun owner cannot guarantee security, then he has no right to own the guns.
180
They end up in civil court, then broke. I'd rather see the irresponsible parent in jail for 10 yreas and the family shamed enough to relocate (i.e., boot them from the community).
5
Incredibly, only some states have strong liability laws for a child gaining access to a firearm...and only some of those are criminal liability. It seems such common sense that anyone owning a firearm (since they are all good guys anyway) should be clearly informed and aware that owning such a weapon also carries some minimal responsibilities -- including keeping it securely out of the hands of children. And let us not forget that the NRA works to discourage manufacturers or dealers that want to sell smart gun technology, which would help prevent unauthorized use. Their excuse? Who knows.
http://lawcenter.giffords.org/gun-laws/policy-areas/child-consumer-safet...
6
Jim, I’ve been saying this for years but no one is paying attention.
1
"It's not the guns. It's the people." No, it is the people who have too much access to guns. Male teens between 15 and +/- 18 lose their empathy for a couple of years (Child soldier? Gang member?). It is a completely normative phase. Young adults with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder often display few symptoms until they are in their mid-20s. Think back to the mass murderers we have seen in the past few years and one of these two conditions is often present. So we need to be smart and not allow males in those two demographics have free access to deadly weapons.
7
This grass roots movement has a solid chance to make incremental but steady progress on gun issues -- and reminds me of the first days of MADD (of which a cousin of mine was a co-founder back in the early 1980's, when the grieving mothers of children lost to intoxicated drivers held their meetings at each other's kitchen tables).
MADD members met with any government officials -- local, state and eventually national -- and any members of the media who would meet with them. Ultimately they overcame similar resistance (from alcohol manufacturers, industry lobbyists, and members of congress taking contributions from them) and managed to implement some critical initiatives to help reduce the incidence of drunk driving on America's roads. It was MADD's efforts that led to a national drinking age, the lowering of blood-alcohol standards for a driver to be considered legally drunk, and harsher punishments for drivers convicted of DUI.
The NRA may be a well-heeled propaganda machine, but a tipping point is on the horizon. Like its alcohol counterpart of the past decades -- whose stranglehold on public policy likewise seemed unbreakable in its day -- it will ultimately find itself no match for the swelling public will of sensible Americans who demand that we and our children live in a better world.
85
Every word out of a politician's mouth is a campaign statement, based on his/her assumptions about voter numbers. The good old boys in Texas would never alienate diehard gun owners by calling for any effective measures to end school shootings, because the pols believe they constitute a large segment of their support.
When voters support new candidates with new policy ideas that will effectively reduce or eliminate school shootings, we will see change. Will that happen this November? We can only hope!
68
What new policy idea proposed by Democrats will effectively reduce or eliminate school shootings? I haven't seen a single one besides vague platitudes about "doing something."
1
Time to change the normal. #BlueTsunami2018
3
Take a look at blue state gun regulations, there is considerably lower gun violence in those states. Look at countries with more gun regulation, they have far, far less gun violence than we have. That should give you some idea.
1
The bottom line is the death and serious injury count.
With all things being equal, it has not changed much.
Around 33,000 people get killed every yr. with guns and another app. 70k+ get seriously injured and taken to hospitals an aberration re our peer countries.
They may be a little more noise and coverage in the press but the body count has not changed much.
Until we realize it is a national cultural abuse gun sickness suffered on all sides, gun owner or not the cure will be illusive.
The cure is regulation, responsibility, legality and non promotion of the gun just like the great success we have with cig. smoking.
The cure is not the right saying we must arm every American or the left saying we have to regulate guns out of existence.
4
Gun murders have been falling since the early 1990s. They are actually half of what they were in 1993, while the number of guns in private hands has doubled.
1
Well sort of. This is like the beginnings of the abolitionist movement. When that movement started, the abolitionists were against slavery bust many of them were still convinced that black people were inherently inferior. We're still working on that one. We have gotten to the point on guns that we are at least talking about ways to make access to guns a more restricted process, but we haven't gotten to the point that the problem isn't access, it's the gun itself.
Guns are not tools. You can't build anything with them. They don't build nations. Laws build nations. They are weapons intended to kill. Guns are not instruments of patriotism. Owning guns does not make any person more American or a better American. Guns are not instruments of freedom. A truly free person doesn't need a gun. The gun enslaves us to fear, the fear of all. Guns don't protect us from the government. We are all part of the government. Guns pit us against each other.
So why own one. Power! Holding the power to deliver death in your hand is the real reason people want guns. And it's the worst kind of power. It's white power.
I am convinced that the love of guns, particularly in the South and in many rural areas is the fear that the slaves (or Indians) might one day break out of the plantations (reservation) and rampage through the countryside, raping and killing. The gun is then the ultimate instrument of white power. Guns, like slavery, are our original sin.
165
It's the abuse of guns Bruce on all sides that is the problem.
It is not suffered just by whites. Half of all gun deaths are in the inner cities.
The cure is legality, regulation, responsibility and non promotion of the gun just like the great success we had with cig. smoking.
The cure is not the right saying, we have to arm all citizens or the left saying we have to regulate the gun until it is out of existence or made up atonement theories for slavery.
4
Why are guns no tools? You can nicely play with them. They make a precise sound: pang, pang, pang. And you can "floor" other people. Fantastic.
I still remember the .50 Colt under the love seat in the living room of a Texas cousin in the Hill country. As a tool of "precaution".
1
Yes, at long last things have changed since Sandy Hook. The momentum of outrage has increased, albeit late in the game but nevertheless happening.
However, I think we are overlooking one factor, without which we would not be even this far..."far" employed in context of this piece only. That is our youth. Since Parkland, we have witnessed pain and grief transformed into action at its finest. Not so much by us jaded adults, but by teenagers. These kids are our future and how fortunate for our country. They see and foresee the trajectory of a country beginning to run amok. With clear consciences, compassion, and moral compasses, they are stepping up to the plate with vigor and exclaiming with tears, "No more!" This nation, after all, is doing something right.
47
The "teenager activists" from Parkland was pure astroturf. It was all funded by Bloomberg and handled by PR firms in California.
1
There were children that wanted to join the protests but were afraid of the repercussions from their fellow student bullies. Afraid they may be the next target.
Ms. Swartz points to what may be the only way changes can happen: grassroots efforts, state by state. The only way legislators will vote for better control--requiring a multi-pronged approach--is if they understand that they will lose their job if they go against the tide.
Most of the states making progress are blue, with a few notable exceptions. Maybe the numbers of red state partners will grow--I suspect they will. But for the moment we will remain the most murderous of the developed nations, we will be the outlier. We are beaten back by our politically segregated and gerrymandered existence.
Our history is evidence that some types of major change have to originate in the states (or else we go to war). For us to upend the cockeyed interpretations of our 2nd amendment, this is what it will take. At least until national representatives start to fear for their own jobs: http://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/20/opinion/santa-fe-school-shooting.html?... .
7
The only "cockeyed" interpretation of the 2nd Amendment is the one that the founders saw fit to enumerate a right of people to carry guns while in the military if the military wanted them to. No one would bother to enumerate such a ridiculous "right" in the first place.
1
My apologies for that ending link. It should have been to the primary article: http://theconversation.com/if-polls-say-people-want-gun-control-why-does... .
The language of the amendment is clear and unconditional. That is why regulating guns is not as simple to do as regulating the use of motor vehicles on public roads. It's possible to do but it would require the consent of most gun owners.