As the mother of a 12-year-old living in New York City, where crime and violence escalate on the hour, I initially tried to skip over the details of what transpired in the Uvalde, Texas, classrooms last week. But when we learned that the police had made fatal mistakes in handling the rampage, that was no longer an option.
Against “active shooter” doctrine, 19 officers stayed in the hallways for nearly an hour while children and teachers inside the classrooms were calling 911, pleading for help. The police even prevented federal agents from entering the school. The agents finally ignored the police and killed Salvador Ramos but not before he murdered 19 fourth graders and two teachers.
Ramos had legally bought the AR-15 semiautomatic rifle he used in the massacre, just after his 18th birthday. Last year, Texas Governor Gregg Abbott made it even easier for Ramos by no longer requiring permits to carry a gun.
The party that claims to be pro-life seems to suddenly forget that fact when it comes to guns.
Despite all of this, most Republicans responded in unison, as they do after every mass shooting: Back off! Don’t blame guns! A strict hyper-partisanship was maintained, kids be damned. The party that claims to be pro-life seems to suddenly forget that fact when it comes to guns.
The Second Amendment is a right indeed—but that doesn’t mean it can’t be restricted, as the Supreme Court affirmed in 2008. Every constitutional right has restrictions. I think it’s fair to say that James Madison did not envision an 18-year-old legally wandering the streets with assault weapons, which spin out high-velocity bullets at triple the speed of a handgun.
AR-15 semiautomatics are the “civilian” versions of military weapons, designed to kill people quickly and in large numbers. What non-military use do they have? Do hunters need to kill deer quickly and in large numbers? Fully automatic weapons have been heavily restricted in the U.S. since 1934. Our society doesn’t seem to be ailing from a lack of machine guns on the streets.
In 1994, President Bill Clinton signed an assault weapons ban, which banned the AR-15 and similar semiautomatics. Mass shootings went down in the decade that followed. Once the ban expired in 2004, mass shootings again began to rise. Most notably, the AR-15 was used in the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, detonating 27 lives.
The NRA has used the mantra ‘guns don’t kill people; people kill people’ for decades. The words are true, but any one of those fourth graders could have told you how ludicrous the argument is. Ramos fired at least 100 rounds within the first two minutes. Perhaps if he had transformed himself into a space laser, he would have had the same effect without the gun.
Firearms became the leading cause of death for U.S. kids in 2020. There have already been more than 200 mass shootings in 2022, 27 at schools. The GOP (correctly) wants Democrats to stand up to radical progressives. What will it take for the GOP to finally stand up to the equally nefarious NRA?
The fatal mistakes made by the Texas police only underscore the need for more restrictions. People are fallible; mistakes, even with the best training, will sadly be made. The same goes for the fact that his friends and family didn’t notify authorities about his intentions.
I especially don’t understand how Republican parents can turn their heads from this. Sure, there are other problems that need to be addressed, like better security at schools and the growing mental health crisis among male teens. But at what point do you allow yourself to respond as a parent—as a human?
For the past two years, we have all been forced into a mass pressure cooker, and it is now exploding. Anarchy can be felt quite literally on the streets of both Los Angeles and NYC. As a country, we have reached our breaking point.
But an honest debate about rational gun laws is long overdue, and for that to happen the hyper-partisanship, extremist rhetoric, and gratuitous divisiveness need to end.
We just lost 19 fourth graders because the adults in government refuse to act like adults. Enough.
Karen Lehrman Bloch is the editor in chief of White Rose Magazine.
