Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Guns don't belong in schools

Getting on my soapbox today, because sometimes things just need to be said.

I don't know about you, but the headlines these days are grim. Gruesome. "These are the end times!" Yes, I'm filled with indignation over many of these stories about the liars and the cheaters and the killers. It's enough to cause normally happy people to fall into severe depression. I'm not one to stick my head in the sand, but sometimes we have to focus on the positives.

In a world where baby boomers are accusing millennials of being spoiled and pampered, in a world where I read books that actually attempt to define and stereotype entire generations (non-fiction books), I am so proud of the students in Florida who are willing to take a stand for their rights, for their very lives. They are the bright spot in the ugliness. These people (they are no longer children) are our future.

In a world of absolutes, where when a suggestion to moderate becomes a perceived threat, my wish is that people would stop responding emotionally to what they "think" they'll lose and listen to the actual rhetoric involved in the discussion.

When I wrote COOKIE THERAPY, I included the aftermath of a school shooting, thinking this couldn't possibly be a recurring theme, and yet here we are again, looking at another one. Fiction often takes stories "ripped from the headlines" with the goal of finding the solution to the problem, the happily ever after. The reality is that these scenarios leave lasting imprints on the people involved, even after they attempt to resume their "no longer normal" life.

People are entrenching themselves on both sides of this debate, refusing to see the other side. I've always prided myself on looking at both sides of an issue, even when I stand firmly on one side. I have friends who have guns, friends who shoot for recreation (trap shooting) or to hunt. There was a time when someone I knew was threatened with a gun and wanted to buy one for protection. I am NOT a gun advocate, and I pointed out the flaws in that theory. Someone with no experience with guns, no training, is called a target, and waving a gun invites another gun wielder to kill you.

Arming our teachers to protect our students is not the answer. In the Police Academy training I've been to, they point out that even police officers miss their targets the large majority of the time. Part of that comes from hesitation to kill, or from trying to de-escalate a situation rather than assume the worst, or just plain not having time to draw first. Add into that the scrutiny our police have been under recently when they killed someone they perceived as a threat and are now being accused of murder. The training I went to indicated if you see a gun, your life is in danger. They showed us several scenarios where policemen have tried to negotiate, and were shot for their efforts to de-escalate. Arm a teacher? Their shooting percentage is likely to be just as bad or worse than a policeman. Now. When the police storm the classroom, what are they going to see? Someone with a gun. They don't know who the teachers are and who the bad guys are.

My opinion, and it is your right to disagree with me, is that there is no place for assault weapons in society. None. I'm not saying to disarm hunters or recreational shooters. I'm saying disarm terrorists, because why else would ANYONE have an assault weapon? If I'm wrong, I'd love to hear what rationale there is for a gun like that in today's society.

2 comments:

  1. Good points. I fired a variety of weapons as research because my characters use weapons. I've done shoot/don't shoot scenarios. I was a teacher. The odds that a teacher who doesn't practice in these scenarios regularly is going to be calm enough to shoot safely is slim. Solving a gun problem by putting guns in the hands of people who aren't trained properly isn't a solution. There's no easy answer. Our local school is closed today because of a threat that came in yesterday. These are definitely troubling times.

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    Replies
    1. Yes, they are troubling times. I certainly hope common sense prevails.

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