This is a compilation of the ‘major’ school mass shootings since the horrific events of Columbine 23 years ago.1
1999: Columbine High School in Littleton, CO. Twelve students and a teacher were killed and 20 more were injured.
2005: Red Lake Senior High School, Red Lake, MN. Seven people killed
2006: West Nickel Mines School, Nickel Mines, PA. Five students killed
2007: Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA. Thirty-two people killed
2012: Sandy Hook Elementary, Newton, CT. Twenty first graders and six employees killed
2012: Oikos University, Oakland, CA. Six students and one staff member killed
2015: Umpqua Community College, Roseburg, OR. Nine people killed
2018: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, Parkland, FL. Seventeen people killed
2018: Santa Fe High School, Santa Fe, TX. Ten people killed
2022: Robb Elementary School, Uvalde, TX. Twenty-one people killed.
This list does not include the individual shootings that took place at various schools around the country. Just in 2022 up to this point, there have been 27 incidents at schools around the country where students have died violent deaths at school at the hands of other students.2 And as I have pointed out in previous posts, gun violence is now the leading cause of death in minors in this country.
One would think that in a reasonable society all of the data above would be sufficient for everyone to agree that 1) we have a problem and 2) we need to figure out a way mitigate this insanity. You would obviously be wrong. In the 23 years since Columbine, not only has there been zero progress in enacting any type of reasonable gun control measures, the fact is, access to guns and less restrictive gun laws have become the norm.
More and more states have enacted laws enabling almost anyone to carry a concealed weapon without a permit or training. That is certainly the case here in Montana. As I have pointed out previously, the Republican-controlled state legislature pushed through a law which was signed by the governor allowing students 18 years old to carry weapons on college campuses!!
The United States Supreme Court is poised to strike down a law in New York State that will ultimately allow more people to carry weapons in New York. If anyone has ever been to New York City and walked through Times Square in the summer or taken a crowded subway, you can see why allowing more people to carry weapons in New York is a really, really bad idea. It’s bad enough that here in sparsely populated Montana, you have to wonder when you’re at the supermarket or a restaurant how many of the people around you are ‘packing’. Translate that to an extremely high-density environment like New York City.
No other country on the planet would allow this. If you think that allowing every Tom, Dick and Harry to carry a concealed weapon will ‘Make America Great Again,’ I just have no words.
Since it is clear that the Republicans, no matter how many children are killed, will do nothing to enact laws restricting access to guns, or even push for universal background checks, it is necessary to look for other solutions. Senator Ted Cruz was arguing for making it more difficult to enter schools. I don’t agree with Ted Cruz on virtually anything but he might be on to something here.
Since Cruz and many other MAGA Republicans pushed so hard for Trump’s infamous border wall, I think it is only reasonable that they would support building impenetrable walls around our schools complete with man traps. Perhaps they’d also entertain building moats around the schools.
I can see it now. Students having to get to school up to 1 hour before classes begin so they can go through the security line, complete with metal detectors, in order get through the security fence. We can turn the schools into stalags in order to protect the kids since politicians are unwilling to do anything else.
I guess that’s the price we’ll have to pay to ensure we can live in a country where access to assault rifles and high-capacity magazines are more important than saving children’s’ lives.