A 10 year old child, walking home from an Atlantic City school, was hit in the foot by a ricocheted bullet the other day. Some cities hold marches to stop the violence. These marches stopped working years ago because we stopped parenting years ago. The Million Mom March held after Columbine High School massacre was not backed up by substance.
The march was against gun violence via gun ownership. Gun ownership does not translate into violence....but a violent person with access to guns does. A troubled heart with access to anything can turn any tool into a weapon. Hands beat, rape, strangle, and ultimately pull the trigger of a gun...should we cut off hands for preventive measures? Just as removing the body part of a rapist does not solve the problem of rape, new gun laws will not solve the problems we face with gun violence.
Because memories are short, let's just look at a few of the internationally recognized massacres. The Aurora shooter wired his apartment for explosions. A psychologist warned of his violent intentions..nothing was done. The Columbine shooters brought bombs into the high school (which were not detonated). A friend warned of his intentions, but nothing was done. Adam Lanza had every type of weapon imaginable in his house. A reported altercation happened at the school the day before. The report has been negated. Is that because nothing was done?
After every massacre, people rally the victims to speak about new gun laws. The violent attack at Sandy Hook elementary school has brought out more cries for gun laws. But, again, every gun law on the books was violated by the owner of the guns and the shooter.
When I first started looking at the root causes of the violence in our schools (which spill over from our homes), I looked at gun laws. The access is troubling because in violent attacks, the shooters had working knowledge of the guns but the access was illegal. New gun laws will not stop the violence. People ignore laws.
When I stepped forward years ago as a teacher, I was mocked and retaliated against. However, I was not ignored. A local politician in recent years has challenged my belief that we can make predictions as to violent attacks in our schools. Of course, he is not the only one who has challenged me. He knows why he is wrong, especially in my case. Well meaning people don't want to see the warning signs. Monday morning quarterbacking finds the missed signs. By then much of the work is too late to save the lives of the victims (including the perpetrators). And more victims are created by the witnessed carnage.
I didn't go to the Million Mom March held on Mother's Day spear headed by a celebrity many years ago. I stayed home with my children where I belonged. One of the keys to preventing violence is good parenting. One of the keys to preventing school shootings is for school employees to do their jobs.
Public service announcements only work if people are listening. Gun buybacks are superficial, temporary feel good steps. New laws take more rights away from law abiding citizens. The shooters in the end get more victims.
submitted for publication purposes on April 5, 2013 (not published as an editorial- yet)
with update on April 9, 2013-
Today a 21 year old went on an attack at a college campus and injured 14 people with a knife. My hometown had buy backs of guns after the riots of the 60's.
There are no easy answers. That being said, one columnist has suggested that our children do not belong to the parents, but, to the collective. "Replacement parenting" is not working. Intervention is needed, but not collective replacement. Otherwise, our schools would be safe havens instead of extremely vulnerable today.
Marian R. Carlino
April 9, 2013
