Democratic Lawmakers Look For More Gun Control In Wake Of Texas Shooting
In wake of the Robb Elementary mass shooting, many Democrats are calling for strict gun control policies to curb the growing problem.
For years now the debate over school safety has gone on. Although school violence is experienced all over the world, mass shootings are a serious topic that draw attention to the United States public education system. In light of the recent Ulvade, Texas school shooting — where 19 children and 2 teachers were murdered — Democrats are doing what they always do in these situations, trying to push gun control.
Many opportunists are using the tragedy to push their political agendas. Texas Democrat Gubernatorial candidate Beto O’Rourke, disrupted a press conference to scream at his opponent, current Governor Gregg Abbot. He blamed the Texas leader for the shooting, and was forcibly removed. A proponent of gun control, O’Rourke has been highly criticized for his unprofessional emotional outburst.
Following the incident, the mayor of Uvalde announced, “Now is not the time to politicize pain and suffering.” Despite this, that is just what lawmakers have done. On the same day as the shooting, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer began working on legislation that would further gun control efforts. Following this, republicans were vilified for opposing gun control measures, despite the fact that many conservatives have another solution.
Being that gun control is considered by some as unconstitutional, and has been a historical measure to disarm populations before tyrannical leaders impose questionable laws and commit human rights violations, this debate is significantly more important for the post-COVID era. In countries that have strict gun laws, like China and Australia, entire populations of people were held against their will for testing positive for COVID, even after it was widely reported that COVID wasn’t as deadly or harmful to the general population as predicted. These people were defenseless against governments too impressionable to protect their citizens’ basic rights. In addition, restricting guns doesn’t necessarily curb violence, it often just changes the weapon utilized. China, Australia, England, and other nations experience mass stabbings over the years.
Instead of pressing gun control, Republicans have responded to democrat solutions by proposing heightened school security. Placing armed guards at entrances or even offering teacher gun training and issuing firearms is their solution. Some states have already instituted these policies. Although there are few reports on how many schools employ armed security guards, the New York School Board Association noted that as many as 43% of schools used armed security officers in 2019. Other schools have resorted to more experimental options like bringing in K-9 units which have been trained to detect weapons and explosives.
Those in favor of arming teachers believe that educators who are unarmed are more easily gunned down, and left vulnerable when working in schools that do not have armed security. Those in favor of gun control believe that less access to guns will prevent criminals from killing innocent students and teachers. There is little evidence that this would work, being that the Texas shooter had no known history of mental illness and legally bought his weapons. What is being questioned is how his obvious mental issues were never addressed. He reportedly self-mutilated his face for pleasure and showed up to school with multiple visible cuts.
Whether politicians can agree on proper safety measures, the underlying issues that seem to be a common link between mass shooters is untreated mental health problems. Democrats’ focus on gun control might just be another quick fix to solve a symptom of a problem rather than the root cause. No amount of gun control will heal someone with mental illness.
