Updating the School Shooting Response Playbook
As we once again reckon as a nation with the fallout of another school shooting, we return to our regular refrains. From one side comes offerings of thoughts and prayers and token phrases, and from the other comes emotional demands for gun control, calls for action not words, and proposals for new laws meant to prevent these all too common atrocities. The playbook we have created in the aftermath of school shootings is tattered and worn thin at this point, but its familiar use is guaranteed in times like these.
Across the historical landscape of school shootings, we are affected differently based on the particular details and circumstances. I remember Columbine in 1999 as the first of its kind, taking in the gruesome scenes as a previously naive middle schooler with no concept for that level of danger in a classroom. I remember experiencing Virginia Tech in 2007 while studying abroad in New Zealand, having conversations in my living room with international students from around the world, all wondering how something like that could happen. I remember Sandy Hook in 2012 as the most gut wrenching of all, the images of small and innocent bodies carried one by one out of an elementary school being worse than any nightmare I could conjure up.
The newest version at Apalachee High School on Wednesday strikes another deep emotional chord for me. I grew up and spent all of my school years in Gainesville, GA, less than an hour from where this latest disaster took place. My mother taught in schools like Apalachee for over 20 years, alongside people just like the four teachers and students taken from us in Winder. My accent sounds like the ones you hear now from frightened children and parents relaying their horror from the day’s events. My friends back home have just started sending their children into these schools, sharing back to school photos on Instagram, beaming with pride and emotion. This school is my school. These people are my people. Their homes are my home.
Alongside the chorus of critiques and outrage for these events will come the tired line, “Enough is enough!” But is it really? It wasn’t enough after Columbine, or Virginia Tech, or Sandy Hook. Why would this straw finally break the proverbial camel’s back? I’m not being bold or brave to tell you what you already know whether you are willing to admit it or not — it won’t end here. This is not the last time we will grieve and mourn together, and begrudgingly pull our trusty playbook back out.
There are two main problems that produce gun violence in our country and we are doing virtually nothing to address them. The first is that we have terrible gun policy in America and we have been unable to reform it despite the overwhelming desire of the majority of Americans to do so. The second is that the culture around guns in our country is toxic, and it is baked into our national identity. All of this can be improved, but it won’t be easy or quick. If we want to enjoy a society where we don’t live under the constant fear of mass shootings, we must address both.
Fixing gun policy in America is actually the straightforward part. I agree with those on the Right who say that it’s bad people with guns who perpetrate these crimes, but unfortunately these bad people keep finding ways to get these guns quite easily. We must make it harder for bad actors to get guns, which inevitably means we will also have to make it harder for good guys to get guns too. This is a tradeoff we all must be willing to make. There is an argument to be made on where to draw the line on gun restrictions but we should absolutely implement a number of steps that make it more difficult, and time consuming to get a gun. Universal background checks, red flag laws, waiting periods, and other measures are wildly popular and will not keep you from getting a gun if you can pass these steps. Making it universally more difficult or more time consuming to get a gun does not infringe on your right to have one. What it will do is make it much harder for someone to buy a gun in a fit of passion and commit a crime. It will make it much tougher for someone with serious mental health issues to have a gun which puts them and everyone around them at risk. There are a number of other very practical measures such as limiting magazine sizes and banning certain assault weapons that will reduce the amount of human harm that can be caused by legally owned guns. Policies reflect the values of a society, and our gun policies say we don’t care about our level of gun violence and the harm it inflicts on us all.
The second and much more difficult aspect to change is our deep seated mythology and culture around guns in America. I grew up with guns and I learned how to shoot them, clean them, and responsibly store them from a young age. I support lawful, responsible gun ownership but our gun culture results in guns going into the hands of people who have no business having them. Whether a disillusioned 14 year old in rural Georgia with access to a parent’s firearms or a 20 something gang member in downtown Atlanta, our problem with guns touches all races and ethnic backgrounds. We glamorize guns in movies and TV, have magazines dedicated to them, and play video games where we wield them from a very young age. We also have politicians that use guns as cheap ornaments in their Christmas cards and props in campaign ads. I am not blaming any of these as a singular culprit, but we must altogether rethink the way we discuss and portray guns in every facet of American life.
Sixty years ago, smoking was not only glamorous, it was encouraged by medical professionals as a healthy way to manage your weight. Movie stars, professional athletes, politicians, doctors — everyone smoked and promoted it. You could smoke in airplanes, in the classroom, inside restaurants, and basically anywhere you wanted. When we finally all agreed that smoking was decidedly bad for your health, we put a full court press on to change the culture around smoking. We regulated the way that you were allowed to portray smoking in movies and on TV. We restricted the advertising that the tobacco industry was able to put out. We raised the legal age for smoking, we added taxes to cigarettes, and we launched national campaigns to stop smoking. It took decades to turn the tide on smoking but we did it. From a high of 45% in the 1950s we have reduced smoking by 75% to where it stands today (source). We must similarly put together a collective effort to change the culture around guns in America. It will not be easy, and it too will take decades, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t the right thing to do.
For us to finally make a change against both gun policy and gun culture in our country, we must build a broad coalition that brings together those on the political Right and Left. Lawful gun owners, sportsmen, and hunters must join arms with urban liberals, many of whom have never even seen or held a gun to demand change. All of us and our children’s futures are at stake and the only way we create a better way forward is together. Let’s rip up that tired playbook and commit to finally taking steps to protect each other and the soul of our country.
