1 week Ago
There is something perverse in the perception that a ban on assault weapons is too extreme. Think about the weapons themselves. In 42 states, including Maine, this is the cognitive dissonance we have had to endure.
When, for example, a treadmill is instantly recalled following a tragic accident involving a child, the level of protection afforded weapons is painfully obvious; between 2015 and 2020, for instance, there were 765 child deaths from gun accidents with no such federal response or ensuing consumer safety regulation. Jeniferlee Tucker is an educator and a Topsham resident. How promptly would assault weapons bans be enacted if teachers across this country organized and refused to enter schools for the 2024/2025 school year; if they refused to make themselves, their students and our nation’s children “soft targets” any longer? No one chooses to teach in order to participate in “active shooter drills,” to discover how many could be killed in just 60 seconds, to determine whether they can conceal and blockade students in their classrooms, break windows to get them out, or learn how to support post-massacre traumatized students.
To date, nearly 350,000 students have experienced gun violence at school, with numbers increasing annually. It’s clear this is our new reality – if we just stand idly by and accept it. Metal detectors, police presence and armed teachers are not the answers.
Measures like these serve only to exacerbate the existing teacher shortage and have a profoundly negative impact on school environments. Second Amendment voters must stop pretending that the problem lies with inadequate treatment of poor mental health, for which they have no actual practical solutions. Do these voters imagine we can be convinced that we are the only country with mental health issues? What we are is the only country with seemingly unfettered access to weapons of war.
Given the number of adults and children traumatized by gun violence, guns are a clear contributor to our mental health issues. In the case of assault-style weapons, the mere desire to own something designed to kill many people rapidly ought to be a red flag. Where and when did we lose this perspective? Could a nationwide educator strike be the last line of defense for civility and safety? I would guess it would be blessedly brief.
If the pandemic taught us anything, it is how crippling school shutdowns are. U.S.
teachers are marginalized professionals, unlike in some developed countries where they are valued and respected as much as any doctor, lawyer, or CEO, which (surprise) correlates with higher student achievement. While sorely undervalued, the nations’ teachers, united, are in a position of power; power for betterment. If we truly want to make America great again, let’s all (educators, parents, community, faith and business leaders) demand a return to a country where students anticipate their futures, not the next massacre.
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