“Stop asking why schools don’t have bulletproof glass and metal detectors at all the doors. Ask why schools have to.”
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“Stop asking why schools don’t have bulletproof glass and metal detectors at all the doors. Ask why schools have to.”
Spoken out of a sense of frustration, these are the words of Madison, Wisconsin Police Chief Shon Barnes in response to the latest school mass shooting attack. Along with other concerns about the epidemic of gun violence in America, his question is one well worth exploring.
In any discussion about gun violence, it is necessary to acknowledge three basic facts that inform the environment in which we live.
First, gun violence is the number one killer of children and teens in this country. The John Hopkins Center for Gun Violence Solutions reports that for the third straight year, firearms killed more young people than any other cause including cancer and car crashes.
Second, there is broad bipartisan support for commonsense gun policies. According to pewresearch.com, these initiatives include “preventing those with mental illnesses from purchasing guns (88% of Republicans and 89% of Democrats support this) and increasing the minimum age for buying guns to 21 years old (69% of Republicans, 90% of Democrats.” Pew polling also shows majorities in both parties oppose allowing people to carry concealed weapons without a permit. Fox News polling reported in 2023 that 87% of Americans support background checks on all gun buyers and 61% favor banning assault rifles and semi-automatic weapons.
Third, even with wide support for action, we, as a nation, have been unwilling to seriously address gun violence in our classrooms, our streets, and in our daily lives.
On the morning of April 20, 1999, I had finished my on-campus interview to become a faculty member at Adams State College and was driving to Albuquerque to fly home to Columbus, Ohio. When I arrived at the airport in New Mexico, televisions were announcing the mass shooting at Columbine High School.
To be honest, I wondered if Colorado was the place I wanted to move to with my wife and four-year old daughter. In hindsight, it was a naïve concern. In the years since, there have been more than 400 school shootings and many other mass shootings across America. From classrooms to movie theatres to community gatherings, gun violence has turned America into a kind of killing field that should be unacceptable to each of us.
So, what’s going on? Why is this a uniquely American issue? No other country has our level of gun violence. Why is it that the majority of Americans favor action, but our elected officials are paralyzed to do anything?
Clearly this is a complex issue about which there are many points of view. In my opinion, our inability to confront this problem can be attributed to two factors: an uncertainty about what a poorly worded Second Amendment actually means and a toxic environment dominated by a blend of partisan politics, a quest for power, and a pursuit of profit.
Any discussion of gun violence in the United States has to address the Second Amendment to the Constitution. For much of our country’s history, the Supreme Court rarely dealt with the amendment. When it did, their rulings mostly related to the role of militias. It was not until “District of Columbia v. Heller” in 2008 that the court ruled that the Second Amendment actually guarantees an individual’s right to own a gun. In affirming this right, the court did not rule that the Constitution protects a right to own any and all weapons. As with the free speech clause of the First Amendment, there are limits necessary to living in a civil society.
Our country has always been plagued by gun violence, but what we have experienced since the 1990s is different. In 2024, there were more than 500 mass shooting incidents in the United States. Over the past four decades, the “gun issue” has become highly political and partisan. While the polling numbers show there is a mandate for action, our politicians are more concerned with using guns as a wedge issue while promoting the interests of the gun lobby over the needs of the American people.
How do we move forward? For me, the only viable answer is to join with the majority of Americans who believe enough is enough. We cannot continue to live in an American society founded on the principle that “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” are fundamental human rights when random gun violence threatens those very rights. In our actions, we must support commonsense change that respects the rights of gun owners while reducing the senseless acts of violence that define life in 21st century America.
In the past, we have come together on this issue. There is common ground to be found on this issue. It will involve compromise on both sides. We can and must do it again for our children, ourselves, and our future.
John H. Taylor is a faculty member at Adams State University. These views are his own and do not reflect those of the university.