Oh, Quit Wringing your Hands!
/A first-grade teacher shot in the abdomen and through the hand is now struggling for her life in a hospital – shot in her classroom by one of her own students – six years old! The shooting followed an “altercation” between teacher and student; police say it was “not accidental.”
Hmmm… No bump stock involved. Not much a background check might have done. What “red flag” law might have helped? Was “crisis intervention” indicated? Gee, was it a “ghost gun”? Did this six-year-old have a police record that should have tipped off the school district? Please don’t tell me there was a serious romantic relationship between shooter and victim. Where do you suppose this kid got his gun?
Any other questions? Because I’m out of answers.
Now we learn that, in the same school district, one high school student is dead and two others injured in two other shootings on school property within the past two years.
Does this school district have a problem?
Or does this nation have a problem?
I’m not going to write it all out again. I’ve articulated my recommendation, which I believe is as fool proof as any gun control measure can be. I’ve tried to convince you, and I won’t do it all over again just because we now have first graders shooting their teachers. What did you expect, anyway? Did you think there was an age limit?
Here’s an update from the respected nonprofit, Gun Violence Archive:
2014-2020 – United States
56% rise in gun deaths (willful, malicious, accidental)
73% rise in gun injuries (willful, malicious, accidental)
66% rise in gun injuries and deaths to children
44% rise in gun injuries and deaths to teens
127% rise in mass shootings
44% rise in unintentional shootings
And how is 2023 going, one week in? Just great:
891 gun deaths in the US (well over half by suicide) in six days
16 mass shootings in six days
10 children killed by guns in six days
9 other children injured by gunshot in six days
40 unintentional shootings in six days
Apparently no data yet on teachers shot in the elementary classroom by their students.
We’re doing just great, aren’t we? Or, if you think not, I have proposed a solution. Who’s got the guts to support it? Read about it right here in the Speakeasy – my three previous articles on a radical (but likely successful) resolution to our gun violence epidemic. Here they are, in the order in which they were published:
When you’ve read all three, I’d love to hear from you. But, for God’s sake, quit wringing your hands and wasting your time on useless laws that can’t stand up to a gun.