WASHINGTON, D.C., USA — "Every teacher you know has thought about it. Every teacher you know has a plan for an active shooter. Every teacher you know has weighed their point of fight or flight. Every teacher you know has walked their room looking for blind spots. Every teacher you know has passed their classroom to see what it looks like from the outside ... Every teacher you know has wondered how fast they can lock a door."
This was an internet posting by a teacher I know in the wake of the Uvalde, Texas, massacre that claimed the lives of 19 children and two teachers. And this is where we're at as a culture, with a massive slice of the electorate backing what President Biden heard last Sunday in Uvalde ("Do something!") while the fringes of the political spectrum dig in on their status quos that range from calling for reforms and assault weapon bans to hardening buildings, arming teachers and blaming a “mental health” dilemma.
First of all, is this a national crisis?
According to Education Week, there have been 27 school shootings this year, which is about halfway through the traditional school year. There have been 119 school shootings since 2018, when Education Week began tracking such incidents. The highest number of shootings, 34, occurred in 2021. There were 10 shootings in 2020, and 24 each in 2019 and 2018. In the 27 school shootings this year, 83 people have been killed or injured in a school shooting, while 56 people have been injured.
Is this a problem? A crisis? A culture that has lost its way, no longer willing to do what it takes to protect its children?
Gov. Eric Holcomb and a number of other Republicans have called for the "hardening" of schools, such as installing bulletproof windows and doors, employing armed school security, reducing entry points and even arming teachers. Of all the teachers I know, none of them think that introducing arms to a classroom is a good idea. Some tell me if that's what it comes down to, they will leave the profession.
This begs these questions: How much have the U.S. and Indiana (be they local or state) governments and Hoosier taxpayers spent on "hardening" our schools? My property taxes have increased due to recent school referendums that included the building of new (hardened) schools.
How much have we spent on "school security" since the Columbine massacre in 1999? This would include physical plant costs, police costs (via school districts and local communities) and the various hardware/software security system accounts. I suspect that the cumulative cost if it were added up would be astounding. Until we know, we are flying blind into one of the most relevant and urgent policy sequences surrounding our most precious resource: our children.
If you believe this is a problem or a crisis, for the sake of creating a dialogue on the reform front, how would you feel about these options:
- Reinstate the recently repealed annual state permit requirement for hand guns (Indiana State Police reported that 10,600 handgun permits had been rejected in 2021 due to prior felony convictions).
- Require background checks for all gun purchases, including gun shows, family-to-family or family-to-friend transfers. Prohibit the transfer or sale of weapons to “friends” on the internet.
- Strengthen the “red flag” law that provides for the removal of weapons from those who issue threats or display mental instability. Prohibit individuals from purchasing guns until their legal proceedings have concluded and they are deemed as appropriate to own or possess weapons.
- Raise the age for purchasing and owning a gun from 18 to 21. Exempt active military members under the age of 21.
- Establish a minimum seven-day waiting period from application to sale.
- Ban the purchase of body armor to average citizens, reserving this equipment only for law enforcement and the military.
- Require gun purchasers to receive or show proof of training on the use and safe storage of the weapon.
- Subject gun owners who do not secure their weapon to criminal and civil liability if their gun is used to injure or kill.
- Require gun owners to report stolen or missing weapons to law enforcement.
- Destroy weapons used in crimes once they are no longer needed for law enforcement proceeding purposes.
- Prohibit gun manufacturer and gun stores from marketing to anyone under the age of 18, similar to the marketing ban on alcohol and cigarette products.
- Ban assault weapons; grandfather in existing owners.
- Ban “cop killer hard bullets” that pierce body armor or, in the alternative, limit the purchase of this high-powered ammunition.
Since Uvalde and the Tops Friendly Market massacre in Buffalo, New York — where school and store security were clearly out-gunned by AR-15s with an officer dying in the latter and officers in the former were frozen into inaction as kids inside the doomed classrooms dialed 911 for help — we experienced as a nation a Memorial Day weekend with at least 12 mass shootings. A 13th occurred at a medical facility in Tulsa on Wednesday, claiming four more innocent lives.
Here’s one final thought: "Every teacher you know has thought about how hard it would be to keep young people quiet."
The columnist is publisher of Howey Politics Indiana at www.howeypolitics.com. Find Howey on Facebook and Twitter @hwypol.
