Former Denver conservative radio talk show host, Mike Rosen, used to demand of callers when they would call into his show that they tell him "where they sit before they tell him where they stand". So I will do just that. I am a registered Republican, always have been, although if you know me you also know that I feel I have been abandoned by my party. I am a conservative. I like and want small, limited government, however, I do understand the need for government to exist and have some presence in our lives in order to maintain order and prevent chaos from reigning as well as providing basic services for its citizens. I do support the 2nd Amendment and support the right of people to own guns. I myself own guns...plural, "guns". Although I don't own and really don't have any desire to own one, I have had experience with an AR-15. I also believe the time has come to have a serious discussion about AR-15s, other assault rifles and guns in general in American society. My kids, my students, your kids are too important not to have this discussion.
The phrase I started this essay with is a phrase that is repeated in my classroom at least two times a year. In addition to the cursory fire drills, schools also practice active shooter in the building drills. When students hear "Locks, lights, out of sight" on the intercom they, unfortunately, know what that means; the door must be locked immediately, all lights must be shut off, shades must be drawn and they must get on the floor out of sight from any windows. Students are instructed they are to remain silent until told otherwise (this is an exceptionally hard thing for Freshmen as the boys can't seem to keep their hands off of each other and girls giggle about everything incessantly). We are not allowed to open the door for anybody, anything or any reason. Even if they are pounding on the door demanding, begging, pleading that we let them in. I have a Home Depot bucket in my room filled with kitty litter, a curtain and toilet paper in case the lockdown lasts a while and your bladder can't. I also have some snacks in there, just in case we get the urge to eat I guess. The sad part of this is that this is "normal" for schools. It shouldn't be, but it is. This is wrong and it should be. Schools should be about friends, recess, Prom, classes, cool teachers, mean teachers and grades, not drills for an active shooter. I can honestly say I can't remember any time I've heard about a school catching on fire during the school day and teachers or students saying that they were thankful they had done fire drills. But I have heard of school shootings and teachers, as well as students, talk about the drills they have done in preparation for one. This must stop. We must address the elephant in the room. We must actively find solutions to this now. It shouldn't be harder for people to get a drivers license than it is to get a gun. An 18-year kid can't buy beer, but that same kid can buy a gun. None of that makes sense. However, there are a plethora of reasons why people will say that any discussion on the availability to get guns is a non-starter. Allow me to address some of these reasons.
This Is A Mental Health Issue Not A Gun Issue
Arguing that this is a mental health issue is like arguing that water isn't wet. OF COURSE IT IS!!!!!! Anytime anyone for any reason kills another person, there is some sort of psych issue taking place. We should increase access and funding for mental health, we should also address the availability of weapons to people who have mental health issues. Normal, sane people don't just kill other people.
However, if this is your argument yet you supported the repeal of a law that made it very difficult for people with mental issues to get a hold of a weapon you are either a charlatan or a hypocrite. If you call for more access to health care to help "these people" but you also supported cutting funding for healthcare which would have granted access for "these people" to get mental health help, your credibility is at best questionable. Think before you act. Politicians are elected to represent all citizens, not just some. Do what is best for the people of this nation, rather than focus on your base.
Next!
We Could Prevent School Shootings By Placing Armed Veterans In Schools
A noble idea to be sure. I love veterans and support veterans 100%. But there are a few problems here. First, if we are really worried about becoming a police state, is the best way to prevent that by having armed people roaming the halls of our schools. Do we want our future decision makers to see having heavily armed people in their lives as normal? I've been in countries where it is very common to see heavily armed police and military personnel standing on street corners and along highways. It is very unnerving. Are things really that unsafe, that this is "normal"? That is not a society in which I would want to live.
Second, this takes money. How are these veterans going to be paid? Currently, there are about 140,000 schools in the country. Let's say that each school has an armed veteran in each school earning a salary of $45,000. This comes out to costing taxpayers over $6 Billion a year!!! And that's just salary. This doesn't include paying for equipment, benefits and other costs of employment. $6 billion a year!!!! I have to buy kleenex for my classroom out of my pocket because we don't have enough budget to buy kleenex! We have to worry about the number of copies we make because our copy budget is limited. But somehow we can come up with $6 billion a year to have heavily armed veterans walk the halls of our schools?
Next!
We Can Arm Our Teachers
You cannot be serious. I have known teachers my whole life. I am around teachers all the time. I do not want most of these people to have a gun, especially in a high-pressure situation as an active shooter. Many of these people are dangerous to be around when they have a marker in their hands and you want them to have a gun? C'mon! Seriously!
Also, many teachers, especially young teachers, don't make a lot of money. I personally know of teachers who have Masters Degrees but live in their parent's basement because their student loans are too high and they don't make enough money to live on their own. I just read an article that teachers in Oklahoma want four day weeks so they can go get a job at Wal-Mart just so they can make enough money to pay rent and eat. But you think they can afford to buy a gun? Seriously!
Next!
The 2nd Amendment
Arguing that this is a mental health issue is like arguing that water isn't wet. OF COURSE IT IS!!!!!! Anytime anyone for any reason kills another person, there is some sort of psych issue taking place. We should increase access and funding for mental health, we should also address the availability of weapons to people who have mental health issues. Normal, sane people don't just kill other people.
However, if this is your argument yet you supported the repeal of a law that made it very difficult for people with mental issues to get a hold of a weapon you are either a charlatan or a hypocrite. If you call for more access to health care to help "these people" but you also supported cutting funding for healthcare which would have granted access for "these people" to get mental health help, your credibility is at best questionable. Think before you act. Politicians are elected to represent all citizens, not just some. Do what is best for the people of this nation, rather than focus on your base.
Next!
We Could Prevent School Shootings By Placing Armed Veterans In Schools
A noble idea to be sure. I love veterans and support veterans 100%. But there are a few problems here. First, if we are really worried about becoming a police state, is the best way to prevent that by having armed people roaming the halls of our schools. Do we want our future decision makers to see having heavily armed people in their lives as normal? I've been in countries where it is very common to see heavily armed police and military personnel standing on street corners and along highways. It is very unnerving. Are things really that unsafe, that this is "normal"? That is not a society in which I would want to live.
Second, this takes money. How are these veterans going to be paid? Currently, there are about 140,000 schools in the country. Let's say that each school has an armed veteran in each school earning a salary of $45,000. This comes out to costing taxpayers over $6 Billion a year!!! And that's just salary. This doesn't include paying for equipment, benefits and other costs of employment. $6 billion a year!!!! I have to buy kleenex for my classroom out of my pocket because we don't have enough budget to buy kleenex! We have to worry about the number of copies we make because our copy budget is limited. But somehow we can come up with $6 billion a year to have heavily armed veterans walk the halls of our schools?
Next!
We Can Arm Our Teachers
You cannot be serious. I have known teachers my whole life. I am around teachers all the time. I do not want most of these people to have a gun, especially in a high-pressure situation as an active shooter. Many of these people are dangerous to be around when they have a marker in their hands and you want them to have a gun? C'mon! Seriously!
Also, many teachers, especially young teachers, don't make a lot of money. I personally know of teachers who have Masters Degrees but live in their parent's basement because their student loans are too high and they don't make enough money to live on their own. I just read an article that teachers in Oklahoma want four day weeks so they can go get a job at Wal-Mart just so they can make enough money to pay rent and eat. But you think they can afford to buy a gun? Seriously!
Next!
The 2nd Amendment
Do not lecture me about the 2nd Amendment. Trust me, I've spent my whole life studying and learning American history. It is not only my profession, it is my passion. One of my areas of emphasis is early American history (1700-1815), trust me I understand why the 2nd Amendment was added and all of the nuances far better than most. I also know that the last part of the 2nd Amendment states that people are to have guns in order to have a well-organized militia. If you can explain to me why that last statement was included in the 2nd Amendment, then we can continue to have a discussion. But if your understanding of the 2nd Amendment begins and ends with "It's my damn right to own guns! It's guaranteed by the Constitution!" Then you are not helping your cause any and only helping to perpetuate a stereotype. I don't think we should take away all guns. No president has ever advocated for that; no not even Obama. But I do think it is time that we discuss what is necessary and decent and what is not. Handguns, shotguns, rifles are fine. Most people would agree with this statement. You can use handguns for self-defense. Shotguns and rifles are used for hunting. I and most Americans would agree with and support these weapons. However, so-called assault rifles are not practical for either self-defense or hunting. They have one purpose; to kill or maim as many people in a short amount of time. Barry Goldwater, the father of modern American conservative thought and political icon for me once stated "I've been a member of the NRA, I collect, make and shoot guns. I've never used an automatic or semiautomatic for hunting. There's no need to. They have no place in anyone's arsenal. If any S.O.B. can't hit a deer with one shot, then he ought to quit shooting." I am not sure if assault weapons fit under the heading of a "well-regulated militia". I just don't.
Next!
It's UnAmerican
I find this a very curious statement. Since when is it unAmerican to try and protect our people? We have a plethora of laws on the books designed to do exactly that. In the early 1900's laws were passed to ensure the meat and medicine that we ingested was safe and wouldn't kill us. There are laws and regulations in place to ensure that our working conditions were safe. Laws were passed mandating an 8-hour workday and forbidding the use of child labor. It is against the law to bring a weapon to a park, government building, or school. When these laws were passed there were people who fought vigorously against them and warned that this was the first step towards Bolshevism. Well over a hundred years have passed and we are not addressing one another as Comrade or standing in line for toilet paper. However, our society is for the better because of these laws. We are safer now than we were then.
Many people who balk at any notion of any type of gun laws look upon the Old West with nostalgia. They see it as an idyllic time when men were men and justice was swift. However, what many of these people who look favorably upon this time don't realize or choose to ignore is that most of the towns in the Old West forbid anyone in town from carrying a weapon. If someone happened to be visiting the town, they were required to drop off their firearm at the local sheriff's office lest they be paid a visit by the sheriff so he could collect their gun during their stay. Indeed, this was one of the reasons that the infamous Gun Fight at the OK Corral took place in Tombstone, AZ. There is hardly anyplace that embodies the spirit and ideas of America than the Old West and they saw the safety of their citizens as the most American of ideals.
When the NRA was founded it had nothing to do with allowing people to own guns or an almost irrational defense of the 2nd Amendment. No, when it began shortly after the Civil War, its purpose and goal were much more limited and modest. Look it up if you don't believe me. At one time the NRA supported and worked with the American government in limiting access to guns. During the 1920's, the NRA proposed laws that mandated 5 years of additional prison time if a gun was used in the commission of a crime, forbid people from carrying weapons on their person, a one day waiting period before the possession of a gun could take place and local police had to be notified of all gun sales. With the increased violence of the Prohibition Era, Franklin Roosevelt proposed a series of new, tougher gun laws; the 1934 National Firearms Act and the 1938 Gun Control Act. These laws forbid the purchase of the so-called "Tommy Gun" (Thompson submachine gun) favored by the gangsters of the day, outlawed sawed-off shotguns and silencers, required all gun purchases to be registered with the federal government and forbid felons from buying guns. These laws were supported and advocated for by the NRA. In fact, the president of the NRA at the time, Karl T. Fredrick, testified in a congressional hearing on these laws stating, "I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses."
Furthermore, during the 1980's when gang violence seemed to rule the streets in places like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, laws were passed, with the support of Conservative icon and one of my political idols Ronald Reagan, that outlawed the sale of "armor piercing bullets" for handguns. The reason for this was because so many police officers were being shot and killed. A justifiable reason as any for such a law. We do not want those protecting us to be killed in the course of doing their job. The death of law enforcement officials spurs many into action to ensure it doesn't happen again, and rightly so. The same should be true for the senseless killing of our students and school employees. It should not be unAmerican to want to protect our future from dying before their future has begun.
Next!
It's UnAmerican
I find this a very curious statement. Since when is it unAmerican to try and protect our people? We have a plethora of laws on the books designed to do exactly that. In the early 1900's laws were passed to ensure the meat and medicine that we ingested was safe and wouldn't kill us. There are laws and regulations in place to ensure that our working conditions were safe. Laws were passed mandating an 8-hour workday and forbidding the use of child labor. It is against the law to bring a weapon to a park, government building, or school. When these laws were passed there were people who fought vigorously against them and warned that this was the first step towards Bolshevism. Well over a hundred years have passed and we are not addressing one another as Comrade or standing in line for toilet paper. However, our society is for the better because of these laws. We are safer now than we were then.
Many people who balk at any notion of any type of gun laws look upon the Old West with nostalgia. They see it as an idyllic time when men were men and justice was swift. However, what many of these people who look favorably upon this time don't realize or choose to ignore is that most of the towns in the Old West forbid anyone in town from carrying a weapon. If someone happened to be visiting the town, they were required to drop off their firearm at the local sheriff's office lest they be paid a visit by the sheriff so he could collect their gun during their stay. Indeed, this was one of the reasons that the infamous Gun Fight at the OK Corral took place in Tombstone, AZ. There is hardly anyplace that embodies the spirit and ideas of America than the Old West and they saw the safety of their citizens as the most American of ideals.
When the NRA was founded it had nothing to do with allowing people to own guns or an almost irrational defense of the 2nd Amendment. No, when it began shortly after the Civil War, its purpose and goal were much more limited and modest. Look it up if you don't believe me. At one time the NRA supported and worked with the American government in limiting access to guns. During the 1920's, the NRA proposed laws that mandated 5 years of additional prison time if a gun was used in the commission of a crime, forbid people from carrying weapons on their person, a one day waiting period before the possession of a gun could take place and local police had to be notified of all gun sales. With the increased violence of the Prohibition Era, Franklin Roosevelt proposed a series of new, tougher gun laws; the 1934 National Firearms Act and the 1938 Gun Control Act. These laws forbid the purchase of the so-called "Tommy Gun" (Thompson submachine gun) favored by the gangsters of the day, outlawed sawed-off shotguns and silencers, required all gun purchases to be registered with the federal government and forbid felons from buying guns. These laws were supported and advocated for by the NRA. In fact, the president of the NRA at the time, Karl T. Fredrick, testified in a congressional hearing on these laws stating, "I have never believed in the general practice of carrying weapons. I do not believe in the general promiscuous toting of guns. I think it should be sharply restricted and only under licenses."
Furthermore, during the 1980's when gang violence seemed to rule the streets in places like Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York, laws were passed, with the support of Conservative icon and one of my political idols Ronald Reagan, that outlawed the sale of "armor piercing bullets" for handguns. The reason for this was because so many police officers were being shot and killed. A justifiable reason as any for such a law. We do not want those protecting us to be killed in the course of doing their job. The death of law enforcement officials spurs many into action to ensure it doesn't happen again, and rightly so. The same should be true for the senseless killing of our students and school employees. It should not be unAmerican to want to protect our future from dying before their future has begun.
A Proposal
What I would propose would be more requirements and restrictions on gun ownership. This is for the safety and protection of not only others but also the gun owner themselves. At one time anyone at any age could drive a car so long as they could reach the pedals and steering wheel. We, as a society, quickly realized this probably was not a good idea. There were numerous serious and deadly crashes and we could see that the problem would only get worse as more and more cars appeared on the roads. So we instituted laws to maintain safety for all. A driving age was instituted, a procedure was created to ensure that only people who knew the rules and could demonstrate they could safely operate a car could get a license. Amazingly, on a per capita basis, the number of deadly and serious accidents began to precipitously drop once these regulations began to be put in place. I've never heard anyone argue that people should be allowed to drive without proving they are capable. Never. In fact, many of the same people who would chafe under increased requirements to get a gun are the exact same people who willingly sign up for concealed carry classes and then brag about it! I would propose that people who wish to own a gun must pass a mental competency and background check, take and pass a gun safety course, then demonstrate some degree of proficiency with that gun in front of an instructor before they could be licensed and allowed to take ownership of a gun. No rights are being violated, anyone who wanted a gun could still own one. No one has a problem with this process for the privilege of driving a car, why would it be a problem with owning a gun? You cannot possess a live hand grenade, there are rules and regulations on owning tanks, cannons and anti-aircraft guns and no one seems to question those rules or argue that their rights are being violated.
Have an assault rifle? Fine, you can keep them, but you cannot sell them. And you must notify law enforcement of your ownership. That way if the police have to respond to a disturbance in your home they are aware of the possible risks and if you are ever convicted of a violent crime or felony they can confiscate that weapon. But from this point forward, no more assault weapons can be sold to the general public. I like my guns, I love my freedom but I care for my kids, my students, and your kids more.
Conclusion
In 2012 after the New Town shooting, President Obama called for an increase in gun control laws as he wiped tears from his eyes. Donald Trump, yes THAT Donald Trump, tweeted his approval stating that "President Obama spoke for me and every American in his remarks in #Newtown, Connecticut"Trump Newtown Tweet And yet all our politicians seem to be able to do is offer "thoughts and prayers" and little else. They seem to believe that "thoughts and prayers" will solve the problem. It doesn't. Thoughts and prayers ring more and more hollow with every senseless shooting. Such inept words do little to soothe the anguish of parents whose child died in a pool of blood on the floor of a classroom. Words may never hurt you, but they will do little to heal you.
This past week I was reminded of a conversation I had with a student in 2012 after the New Town shooting. We were discussing the tragedy and the heroic actions of the teachers who were killed while trying to shield and hide their students. The student asked me 'If that happened here would you do the same trying to protect students?' I stopped for a second and replied, 'Yeah, I'd like to think I would. I think I would do the same.' The student thought for a moment and looked off at the wall, then looked at me and said, 'But you shouldn't have to, your job is to teach us history and stuff like that. It's not to protect us from a shooter.'
The student was right, it's not my job to protect students from a shooter, it's not.
But, unfortunately, it is.
Have an assault rifle? Fine, you can keep them, but you cannot sell them. And you must notify law enforcement of your ownership. That way if the police have to respond to a disturbance in your home they are aware of the possible risks and if you are ever convicted of a violent crime or felony they can confiscate that weapon. But from this point forward, no more assault weapons can be sold to the general public. I like my guns, I love my freedom but I care for my kids, my students, and your kids more.
Conclusion
In 2012 after the New Town shooting, President Obama called for an increase in gun control laws as he wiped tears from his eyes. Donald Trump, yes THAT Donald Trump, tweeted his approval stating that "President Obama spoke for me and every American in his remarks in #Newtown, Connecticut"Trump Newtown Tweet And yet all our politicians seem to be able to do is offer "thoughts and prayers" and little else. They seem to believe that "thoughts and prayers" will solve the problem. It doesn't. Thoughts and prayers ring more and more hollow with every senseless shooting. Such inept words do little to soothe the anguish of parents whose child died in a pool of blood on the floor of a classroom. Words may never hurt you, but they will do little to heal you.
This past week I was reminded of a conversation I had with a student in 2012 after the New Town shooting. We were discussing the tragedy and the heroic actions of the teachers who were killed while trying to shield and hide their students. The student asked me 'If that happened here would you do the same trying to protect students?' I stopped for a second and replied, 'Yeah, I'd like to think I would. I think I would do the same.' The student thought for a moment and looked off at the wall, then looked at me and said, 'But you shouldn't have to, your job is to teach us history and stuff like that. It's not to protect us from a shooter.'
The student was right, it's not my job to protect students from a shooter, it's not.
But, unfortunately, it is.
