How many dead children do we need before we finally take action?
There will come a day when enough children are murdered for our nation to finally move forward with sensible, reasonable, meaningful gun reform.
There is no question of this.
Murder enough little kids and legislation will eventually follow.
For Australia, it was the 1996 massacre of 35 people in Tasmania. In response, the Australian government united to remove semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns and rifles from civilian possession as a key component of their many other gun reforms.
In the 18 years before these reforms, there were 13 mass shootings in Australia. In the following two decades, there have been 0 mass shootings in Australia.
Also, the rates of firearm deaths, firearm homicides, and firearm suicides in Australia all declined at more than twice the rate that they were already declining prior to the reforms. There is also no evidence that any other method of suicide or attempted suicide increased over that time.
Australia found its tipping point. As a result, lives have been saved.
For the United Kingdom, it was the 1996 killing of 16 children and a teacher in Dunblane Primary School in Scotland. The British government responded almost immediately by enacting strict gun control legislation.
In the 26 years since legislation was enacted, there have been a total of 0 school shootings in the UK.
The United Kingdom found its tipping point. Lives have been saved.
For New Zealand it was the 2019 massacre of 51 people in Christchurch. The New Zealand parliament quickly enacted legislation that included a ban on assault rifles, universal background checks, and a buy-back program that has removed hundreds of thousands of assault weapons and other guns from the streets.
The United States will eventually reach its tipping point, too. We will bury enough small, dead children to finally take action. It’s frankly shocking that it hasn’t happened already given we are the only nation on the planet with mass killings like the one that took place in Texas yesterday.
Last week it was black shoppers in Buffalo.
Two weeks ago it was Asian Americans in a church in southern California.
Today it’s elementary school children and their teachers in Texas.
The number of dead Americans continues to grow, but sadly, it’s not yet been enough. We have yet to find our magic number.
Apparently we still don’t have enough dead children to warrant action.
My question is this:
Will the 19 murdered children and two murdered teachers in Texas finally be enough? Will this tragedy finally be the impetus for sensible, reasonable gun reform? Or do we require a few more dead children before we take action?
If so, how many?
Because gun reform will eventually happen. That is a certainty. Kill enough kids and Americans will eventually demand reform. It’s only a matter of how many murdered children we will tolerate before it happens.
Will 19 dead children and two dead teachers in Texas finally be enough?
My thoughts are with the children entering schools today who are shouldering the knowledge of this tragedy.
My thoughts are with the educators who enter schoolhouses today and everyday with the overwhelming responsibility to keep those children safe in light of horrific tragedies like this latest in Texas.
And my thoughts are with the parents who will say goodbye to their kids at bus stops and school house doors today, praying that they will return home safely.
Today will be a hard day for many, many people in this country.
As an elementary school teacher with children of my own heading off to school this morning, as well as the victim of gun violence myself, I know all too well how hard today will be.
I just hope it will be hard enough for the people in power to finally take action to make our schools and our country a safer place to live and learn and love.
If you haven’t seen Senator Chris Murphy’s impromptu speech on the floor of the Senate today, it’s worth watching.