Know-nothings doing nothing

The next time a know-nothing lawmaker like Ted Cruz argues that the solution to school shootings – which only happen in the United States with this level of frequency and lethality – is to harden the schools with locked doors, single entrances, trip wires (a real Republican suggestion) and armed guards (always described as volunteer retirees because to suggest we pay these people to protect our schools would require an increase in taxes), please ask the lawmaker:

What about recess? Are you keeping children indoors at all times now?

What will you do when children exit the school to board school buses, meet their parents, and walk home?

Do you plan on installing bulletproof glass on every window of every school in America?

Do you plan on eliminating windows altogether, since in most schools, a single pane of glass is the only thing preventing a person from gaining access to the building?

Do you plan on installing door locks that cannot be disabled by a bullet fired from a military grade assault rifle on every outside door at every school in America?

These are just the logistical questions that need to be asked. Every single one of their stupid proposals falls apart with issues as simple as recess and windows and dismissal.

In terms of policy, the questions to ask are these:

Why must you be 21 years old under federal law to purchase a handgun (and alcohol) (and tobacco) but only 18 years old to purchase a high-capacity, semi-automatic, military grade assault rifle and hundreds of rounds of ammunition?

If mental health is the largest part of the problem, why did Governor Greg Abbot of Texas (who has made this very claim in response to the murder of children and teachers in Uvalde) cut spending on mental health last year by $211 million? And why hasn’t Congress responded swiftly and decisively with increased spending on mental health?

What are you going to do in response to the looming, massive teacher shortage that you now face given that Americans in large numbers have stopped choosing teaching as their profession because, among other injustices and stupidities, the job is just too damn dangerous?

It’s incredible how know-nothing, power hungry liars will propose every possible solution to this problem except the one that polling indicates that the vast majority of Americans wants:

Sensible, reasonable, common sense gun reform.