In 1989, I served on the 155-member National Education Association Board of Directors from all 50 states as one of Iowa’s two elected representatives. One of the California members was a guidance counselor at Cleveland Elementary in Stockton, California, the scene of a mass shooting that killed five children and wounded thirty others. A shooter carrying an AR-47 assault rifle started shooting during lunch recess. This story of trauma brought the entire room of educators from across the country to tears. NEA took a position regarding gun control. The event in Stockton caused a national debate resulting in the Crime Control Act of 1994.
Stockton was 36 years ago.
On Wednesday, Aug. 27, tragedy struck a Catholic school in Minneapolis, Minnesota, as the students attended Mass. The shooter barricaded doors, shot through church windows while students and staff were worshipping and killed two, physically wounded 18 with countless traumatized.
The too familiar “thoughts and prayers litany” appeared on social media from elected leaders, including Governor Reynolds, responding to an event that will forever impact the school’s children, staff and clergy as well as their families, friends, neighbors and communities.
The ripple effect of school or mass shootings is expediential.
Mass shootings are defined as injuring or killing four people excluding the shooter and have become all too familiar.
We can name the infamous ones. Columbine. Sandy Hook. Parkland. Uvalde. A Colorado movie theatre in Aurora. Westroads Mall in Omaha. A concert in Las Vegas. Rural and city churches. Synagogues. Office buildings. Military bases. College campuses. Factories. Grocery stores. Post offices.
“Thoughts and prayers” followed. A country changed its perception of attending public events. Elected leaders said, “now is not the time to discuss the issue.” I’m sick of that answer. Yes. It’s. Time.
I’m weary of, “a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun.” That’s just nonsense. A pistol is not a match for an assault rifle. Is this debate about “protecting” the Second Amendment and gun lobbies or protecting children?
No one wants hunters deprived of their opportunity to hunt. Some guns weren’t designed for hunting four-legged beings. I’m frustrated by the inability or unwillingness of elected leaders to address common sense laws regulating purchase of guns, when public opinion favors it.
· In July 2024, a Pew Research Center poll found 58% of U.S. adults favored stricter gun laws.
· Gallop data from 2023 showed 56% of Americans favored stricter gun laws, a trend that has seen a majority of Americans calling for stricter laws since the 1990s.
· Numerous polls show universal background checks have 87%-88% support in 2023 and 2024.
· Red Flag laws allowing police to temporarily remove guns from individuals deemed a danger to themselves or others are supported by about 80% of Americans.
· A 2023 Fox News poll reported 61% of Americans supported a ban on assault weapons.
· According to Pew Research Center and Fox News polls, bipartisan support for common-sense gun policies includes most gun owners.
When is the last time over 50% of Americans agreed on anything, much less bipartisan agreement? The numbers don’t lie. Politicians need to be mindful of who they represent.
Here are gun violence statistics From Gun Violence Archive (www.gunviolencearchive.org) related to 2024.
· Total deaths attributed to guns in all cases: 41,029
- Suicides: 24,156
· Children ages 0-11 years killed: 251
- Injured 554
· Children ages 12-17 killed 1,187
- Injured 3,256
Each child’s family forever changed.
From Aug. 1-31, there were 32 mass shootings in the U.S. One was in Iowa City. During August, there were 75 “gun incidents” at schools, not all involved injury but there was a gun in a school. One incident was in Des Moines.
Everytown Research states that daily there are 125 people in the U.S. killed by gun violence; twice as many are shot or wounded and countless others impacted by acts of gun violence. The National Threat Assessment Center found that 76% of school shooters acquired firearms from home of a parent or close relative. In 100% of all incidents of targeted school violence, there were warning signs causing others to be concerned.
As the mother of a public-school teacher and the grandmother of an eighth grader, I don’t want them to be statistics. It’s about time for common sense gun control and forget putting troops on American streets.