Thursday, May 26, 2022

Probably Not

Kim asked if this would be the one.  If this would be the shooting that finally got legislators and legislatures to move --- even slightly --- in the direction of better and mandatory gun safety laws.

It pains me to say it, but probably not.

If the people who can help make a difference haven't been moved by elementary school children's bodies being shredded by semi-automatic gunfire to the point that DNA was the only way to identify them, what will move them?

I heard someone say today that if any of these killings had happened at the elite, the private, the "sheltered" schools that many legislators' children attend, something would change.

It pains me to say it, but probably not.

Remember that, at the federal level, legislators themselves were the victims of gun violence a few years ago, and it didn't make even a shadow of a difference.

These are not people who care.

My children did not have active shooter drills when they were in school.  Tornado drills were as serious as it got.  Thank God.

At the university and college and junior college levels, every time I got my classroom assignment, I took stock of what was or was not available in the given room to protect my students and myself, should the need arise.  It's another similarity between Kim's life and mine.


2 comments:

Kim in Oregon said...

One part of the job I do not miss.

kmkat said...

My kids are grown now, too. The only thing they suffered through was a bomb threat (no bomb). Eldest's teacher, who should be canonized, never mind that she was Jewish, took her classroom (mixed grades 4-6; Montessori E2) a few blocks to a McDonald's and got them all free food. She said that saying the magic words "Minneapolis Public Schools" always got benefits.

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One video.