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| Top Left: Shooters of the Columbine High School Massacre. Top Middle: Victims of the Columbine Shooting Bottom: Victims of the Virginia Tech Mass Shooting on April 16, 2007 |
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| Columbine High School Shooting Victims |
I believe that in the end, it is not so much about protecting the second amendment right of our constitution which pro-gun advocates call for, but it really comes down to making a profit off gun sales and keeping people misinformed. In a book from Roxanne Dunbar Ortiz, LOADED: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment; Dunbar-Ortiz takes apart some of the common discourse around the Second Amendment and shows how all these arguments are really nothing more but racism, patriarchy, and capitalism. The American obsession with guns is inextricably linked to white supremacy, both American Holocaust of the Indigenous people but also the enslavement of Black people.
“Violence perpetrated by armed settlers, even genocide, was not absent in the other territories where the British erected settler-colonies—Australia, Canada, and New Zealand but the people never declared the gun a God-given right; only the founding fathers of the United States did that. And the people of the other Anglo settler-colonies did not have economies, governments, and social orders based on the enslavement of other human beings. The United States is indeed “exceptional,” just not in the way usually intoned by politicians and patriots.” ― Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment
After the Mass Shooting at Parkland, Florida, the American People was screaming for change on gun policy and banning assault weapons. Even members of the NRA and gun owners support universal background check and tighter gun control, but executives from the NRA and weaponry manufacturers say otherwise. In a recent report from the New York Times, 79% of NRA members support banning of gun sales to the mentally ill and 72% believe of banning sales to those on watch lists. See news video clip here.
Gun violence has gotten so bad with the constant fear mongering from the mainstream media, that rather than try to de-escalate gun violence, lawmakers escalate the problem. The NRA and their political minions are advocating for arming teachers! There you have it, kids! Your sweet and kind favorite teacher will one day be caring a semi-automatic pistol in the holster or purse to protect you, the kids, and themselves from possible shooters!
It is estimated that almost 50% of “multiple casualtyhomicides” occurred in residences compared to less than 1% in schools. So essentially, arming teachers or having guns in school does not make it safe but makes it worse.
Many securities companies such as IntraLogic Solutions are taking the opportunity to profit over these matters by charging taxpayers for installing tens of thousands of dollars of so-called high-tech security systems on certain school campuses. Even went so far by introducing the school board a bulletproof SmartBoard for kids and teachers to use.
“The chief executive of IntraLogic Solutions Inc., on Long Island reported that his business doubled in size after Sandy Hook school shootings in 2012 and he expected it would climb again following Parkland. Security companies like IntraLogic Solutions market everything from relatively inexpensive special door locks to school lockdown systems that cost tens of thousands of dollars. In July at an industrial expo in Orlando, Florida one school security company exhibited a bulletproof SmartBoard on sale for $2,9000. Their marketing pitch was that students and teachers could hide behind the SmartBoard in the event of an armed intruder in their school. “
– Alan Singer, Armed Guards, and Teachers Won’t Make Schools Safer
We continue to have mass shootings due to high power assault weapons, but when it comes to public school shootings, it has really decreased since the 1990s. However, security and militarize reforms on school campuses are spreading nationwide. So again, adding more guns makes us safer? Not Really.
Despite the constant rhetoric coming from all sides of the political spectrum, we must acknowledge that the United States has the greatest number of handguns in the world and the highest handgun homicide rate. The American Public Health Association concludes that the United States must recognize the crisis the fatal injuries inflicted by those in possession of handguns. Also, we must support legislation prohibiting the manufacture, transfer, sale, and handgun ammunition for private use.
Do you believe there was actually a time when crime fell by 66% during the band of assault weapons between the years of 1994-2004 as noted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)? Well, it's TRUE!
Do you believe there was actually a time when crime fell by 66% during the band of assault weapons between the years of 1994-2004 as noted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP)? Well, it's TRUE!
However, after the terrorist attack on 9/11, slowly politicians rolled back the banning act of assault weapons. When fear mongering, lies, and deceptions continue to flood the mainstream media, the American public feels that owning a gun is the key to protect their civil liberty. The result of this caused gun sales to rise significantly in the United States after the 9/11 attack.
When I was a teenager at Memorial High School in West New York, I remembered a close friend of mine brought a handgun 45 Colt Revolver to school. Though the gun was not loaded at the time and was stored away in his locker, someone spotted him and called the police. Since he was still a minor at 17 years of age, he was the only sentence for 8 months at a juvenile correction center.
I always wonder what was his intentions to bring a gun to school? Was it too brag about how tough he was? Was it to intimidate others surrounding him or fear of bullies attacking him? The most shocking thing was how easy it was to obtain a gun here in the United States with no real gun control policy. It took me over 2 days to get approval from my health insurance to get vaccinated for MMR (Measles, Mumps, and Rubella).
As we approach the end of the year, I’m wondering if 2019 will be the year where we can finally tackle these ongoing gun violence issues we have been having for decades. We have a long road ahead of us, but this is a fight worth fighting for.
American Public Health Associaton, Support Renewal with Strengthening of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (2003). Retrieved from https://www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2014/07/24/17/55/support-renewal-with-strengthening-of-the-federal-assault-weapons-ban
TAKE ACTION NOW
by César Omar Sánchez. Community organizer, New York/New Jersey Cuba Si Coalition, Advisory Board Member of ProLibertad: Free All Political Prisoners Campaign.
References
American Public Health Associaton, Support Renewal with Strengthening of the Federal Assault Weapons Ban (2003). Retrieved from https://www.apha.org/policies-and-advocacy/public-health-policy-statements/policy-database/2014/07/24/17/55/support-renewal-with-strengthening-of-the-federal-assault-weapons-ban
American Public Health Association, HandGun Regulation. Retrieved from https://www.apha.org/-/media/files/pdf/advocacy/letters/aphagunviolencepreventionpolicystatements.ashx
The Intercept, School Shootings Have Declined Dramatically Since The 1990s. Does It Really Make Sense to Militarize Schools? (2018). Retrieved from https://theintercept.com/2018/03/01/school-shooting-statistics-parkland-florida/
International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators, Position Statement of Reducing Gun Violence and Keeping Campuses Safe (2018). Retrieved from https://www.iaclea.org/position-statement-on-reducing-gun-violence
The New York Times, After Sept. 11, A Rise in Gun Sales (2001). Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/09/opinion/l-after-sept-11-a-rise-in-gun-sales-565520.html
Singer, A. (2018). Daily Kos. Armed Guards and TeachersWon't Make School Safer. Retrieved from https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/11/19/1813909/-Armed-Guards-and-Teachers-Won-t-Make-Schools-Safer
Ortiz, R.D. (2018) Loaded: A Disarming History of the Second Amendment. City Lights Publishers
Nekvasil, E.K., Cornell, D.G., Huang, F.L. (2015) Prevalence and Offense Characteristics of Multiple Casualty Homicides: Are Schools at Higher Risk Than Other Locations? American Psychological Associaton.
