Scioto County "Second Amendment Sanctuary": A Symbol Of What?

This map shows all of the counties in the state of Ohio that have passed a resolution, ordinance, preservation act, or another form of declaration in support of the Second Amendment or are covered by similar legislation at the state level. Please be aware that this map only includes sanctuaries that were declared prior to March 1, 2021.

Early in 2020, commissioners in three counties (Cincinnati’s Clermont, Meigs and Scioto) declared them “Second Amendment Sanctuaries.” Why did these counties deem it necessary to make such a designation? Simply declaring the obvious wastes precious time and effort. The amendment speaks for itself, doesn't it?

In these troubled and divisive times, if the commissioners were being proactive in some mysterious way, why not make Scioto a First Amendment sanctum that guarantees freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of the press, and freedom to petition the government. Or, why not declare it to be a Sixth Amendment Sanctuary, a place that guarantees every citizen the right to a fair and speedy trial and legal representation.

They chose, like so many other counties in Ohio, to designate Scioto County a Second Amendment Sanctuary. Did you ever wonder why? Did they really want to assure the formation of a well-regulated militia?

Actually, designating a county (or anyplace else in Ohio) a Second Amendment Sanctuary is redundant. Since 2006, the legislature, with state Supreme Court connivance, has forbidden local governments from regulating guns. So, to the legislature, everywhere in Ohio is a Second Amendment Sanctuary – with one startling exception.

Perhaps, more’s the wonder that the General Assembly hasn’t declared the Statehouse a Second Amendment Sanctuary, too. An Ohio voter, no matter where she or he lives, may want to ask the local state representative or state senator about that.

In fact, the Ohio Administrative Code says “firearms or other weapons, concealed or otherwise, are prohibited within the capitol buildings without the express written permission” of the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, which manages the Statehouse – and which is a “capitol building.”

Thomas Suddes, member of the cleveland.com editorial board, wrote …

“So far, no one has asked the Capitol Square board to bring a gun into the Statehouse. But why should anyone have to ask? Given the legislature’s pro-gun frenzies, if anyplace in Ohio should be a Second Amendment Sanctuary, it should be the Statehouse. But it’s not. And the reason for that isn’t the legislature’s forgetfulness. It’s the legislature’s hypocrisy.”

(Thomas Suddes. “The Ohio Statehouse is effectively a Second Amendment Sanctuary already.” https://www.cleveland.com/opinion/2020/01/the-ohio-statehouse-is-effectively-a-second-amendment-sanctuary-already.html. January 19, 2020.)

Scioto Commissioners And Second Amendment Resolution

In January 2020, Scioto County Commissioners voted to adopt a resolution declaring the opposition of the county to any restrictions on the Second Amendment.

The resolution itself declared the opposition of Scioto County to any restrictions on the Second Amendment and stated the Board of Commissioners in Scioto County wish to resolve to protect the right to bear arms in Scioto County, Ohio, even if state and federal laws are passed restricting ownership or possession.

Commissioners reminded the public that their resolution would only serve as documented support for the Second Amendment by the county and would not alter or create any new laws. Their need to reinforce the obvious is puzzling, is it not?

“We are reaffirming our support for the Second Amendment,” said Commissioner Bryan Davis. “Some people have asked us, “Why waste the time?” Well, we do resolutions for retirees. Why do we take the time to do that? It’s important. We take time to honor law enforcement and firefighters and people like that. Why do we do that? Because it’s important. I believe our Second Amendment is important as well as all 27 amendments to our constitution are important.”

“Our founding fathers that created these used great wisdom in doing so, we’re not here to debate laws. We’re here to merely support the Second Amendment,” said Davis.

(Ivy Potter. “Scioto County becomes 2A sanctuary county.” Portsmouth Daily Times. January 16, 2020.)

“We” in Mr. Davis's statement must include “me,” as I am a lifelong resident who cares about truly “important” matters in my home county. “I” want to tell Davis and the other commissioners I am not here to “merely support” anything as a vague, blanket designation without the possibility for needed reform.

I have always thought this sanctuary commission was slyly slipped into official governmental business as both an unwarranted decree and as a doctrine of questionable integrity. I believe in sensible gun control and in measures to help stop the epidemic of gun violence. Jingoism – aggressive or bullying policy – and groundless fear have no place in this issue.

Symbolic?

The commissioners say these resolutions are largely symbolic, as county commissioners don't pass laws. Yet, in Ohio, they also see the state laws passed by a Republican-controlled legislature as strong, particularly the pre-emption law. That law means local municipalities can't further restrict gun ownership beyond state law. Commissioners may not pass laws as part of their job; however, they surely influence the state legislature to do so.

Even, Dean Rieck, the executive director of the state's largest gun-rights group, the Buckeye Firearms Association, told The Cincinnati Enquirer in 2020, he doesn't see a need for Second Amendment sanctuaries in Ohio, given the strong protections at the state level. Yet, the local public servants insist on pushing the highly political platform of resistence to reform.

Hamilton County Board of Commissioners President Denise Driehaus said: "I'm concerned about gun safety, school safety and responding to the fears and concerns of constituents, as opposed to doing something like that that's probably meaningless."

(Scott Wartman. “Who's against Second Amendment sanctuaries? An Ohio gun rights group.” The Cincinnati Enquirer. January 16, 2020.)

Scioto – a Second Amendment Sanctuary? Redundant resolution and meaningless words? Not so fast. The Republican commissioners knew exactly what they were doing. The move is political and the symbolism is real. The public was not canvassed to support the Second Amendment designation – so you can also safely say the GOP commissioners took it upon themselves to do this without authorized representation.

The designation's purpose is to stoke fear. And, once emotions are ignited, the public then slides down a slippery slope of believing they need to commit to the “sanctuary” idea because they are afraid the government is going to take their guns away. Nothing could be further from the truth. Gun safety laws do not infringe on Ohioan's constitutional rights. And – how ridiculous – law enforcement and local governments can't categorically refuse to enforce public safety laws based on a political or theoretical ideology.

Let's be clear – Second Amendment Sanctuary designation in Ohio is all about a dangerous push from the gun lobby to remain relevant.” And, it was in response to Governor DeWine’s proposals to include requiring background checks for nearly all gun sales in Ohio, allowing courts to restrict firearms access for people perceived as threats, increasing community support to identify mental health risks, expanding use of the state’s school safety tip line, and beefing up social media monitoring. Sensible and life-saving reforms? I believe so. In the frenzy of misinformation, now these proposals are history.

Political Pressure And Negative Effects

But recently (March 2022), due to his party's political pressures, the weasel DeWine signed a bill that will allow eligible adults to carry a concealed handgun without a license or training – questionable conveniences in a time of unprecedented gun violence.

For example Mayor Andrew Ginther of nearby Columbus, Ohio, declared gun violence a public health crisis in February 2022, after he said the city set a record number of homicides for the second year in a row. Ginther said the city had 180 homicides in 2020 and 204 homicides in 2021. Of the homicides that occurred last year, 91% involved the use of a firearm, he said.

"We are less than, as a community, because of gun violence," Andrew Ginther said at a press conference. "This issue is plaguing our city to a staggering degree."

"Unfortunately the state and federal levels of governments have not made it easy or in many cases have made it almost impossible to take the sort of action that this moment requires," he said.

"Laws passed in the state house and congress as well as legal decisions handed down by the courts have severely limited our ability to move the needle on gun violence. And just as destructive as these laws can be, inaction is equally infuriating," Ginther said.

The "Columbus Alliance Against Illegal Guns," a coalition of residents, community leaders, faith leaders and medical professionals to "demand common sense gun reform from the state house and congress” was formed last year "to help reduce gun violence by disrupting illegal firearms trafficking in key regions across the country," according to the Department of Justice.

Ginther also said he wants Columbus to join the U.S. Justice Department’s firearms trafficking strike forces. The coalition launched in July includes New York City, Chicago, the San Francisco Bay Area/Sacramento, Los Angeles and Washington D.C.

"We are asking the president and the attorney general to expand that list and include the City of Columbus," Ginther said.

(Nadine El-bawab. “Columbus mayor declares gun violence a public health crisis amid rising homicides.” ABC News. February 16, 2022.)

Gun rights groups and GOP legislators argue that the new Ohio law, set to take effect in mid-June, removes costs and barriers for law-abiding people to exercise their constitutional right to bear arms and for self-defense, while critics argue that it will increase gun violence.

Once in effect, the new law will still allow Ohioans to apply for concealed carry permits, but undergoing training and background check to legally carry a concealed handgun will be optional.

"Nowhere in the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution does it say you have to have training to defend yourself or to bear arms," Scioto County Republican and state Sen. Terry Johnson, who sponsored Senate Bill 215, said last fall.

When stopped by police, a person will no longer have to "promptly inform" the officer that they're carrying a concealed handgun, though they will have to disclose that they have a concealed handgun when an officer asks them.

The law also lowers the penalty for not telling a police officer about a concealed handgun from a first-degree misdemeanor to a second-degree misdemeanor and does not allow a police officer to arrest a person solely because they didn't promptly show their concealed carry license.

(Veronica Stracqualursi. “Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signs permitless concealed carry bill into law.” CNN. March 15, 2022.)

Mike Weinman, a retired Columbus, Ohio police officer who now lobbies for the Fraternal Order of Police of Ohio, worries about negative effects of the new law. The Ohio Fraternal Order of Police “strongly” opposes it.

The Columbus Dispatch reported the shooting accuracy of trained deputies and police officers drops to about 40 percent in high stress situations. And, that’s for an expert shooter. Now, we are going to have people carrying that have no training.

States with looser concealed-carry laws have higher rates of handgun homicide, according to a 2017 study.

(Michael Siegel, Ziming Xuan, Craig S. Ross, Sandro Galea, Bindu Kalesan, Eric Fleegler, and Kristin A. Goss. “Easiness of Legal Access to Concealed Firearm Permits and Homicide Rates in the United States.” American Journal of Public Health 107. 2017.)

Politics runs rampant. There's more in the Buckeye state.

In 2021, Ohio House Bill 62 was introduced aiming to “Designate Ohio a Second Amendment Sanctuary State,” resisting the imposition by federal law of any “tax, levy, fee, or stamp,” or any “registering or tracking” of firearms, firearm accessories, ammunition, or firearms owners “that might reasonably be expected to create a chilling effect on the purchase or ownership of [firearms] by law-abiding citizens.”

That statewide – yes, statewide – designation would also veto the enforcement locally of any restrictions on sales and transfers (which could affect the application of any expansion of background checks), and any laws allowing for the confiscation of weapons from ““law-abiding citizens” (such as “red flag” laws).

According to these gun rights extremists, common-sense gun safety laws infringe on their Second Amendment rights. But the truth is that the Second Amendment is not under threat — and coordinated efforts to purposefully mislead the public or refuse to enforce public safety laws are dangerous.

I guess anyone claiming counties designating sanctuaries is “just ceremonial” or “symbolically supportive” needs to look at Ohio House Bill 62 because it would circumvent any federal laws enacted to forbid gun ownership, tax guns and ammo, or track guns and owners.

My Last Words

It is both unfortunate and ironic that the places across the U.S. passing resolutions in opposition to common-sense gun safety laws are those that would benefit the most from such laws, particularly with respect to suicide prevention.

(“What Are So-Called “Second Amendment Sanctuaries?" https://www.bradyunited.org/act/second-amendment-sanctuaries.)

God knows we have tremendous mental health problems in Scioto County, which annually ranks as the worst in the state for health outcomes. Add the opioid epidemic to that mix and it becomes clear that more guns … especially more unrestricted guns … create more deaths.

Finally, following the massacre in Uvalde, Ohio GOP legislators want to put us only a few steps away from allowing adults to carry guns in schools with just two hours of hands-on firearm training.

Controversial House Bill 99 has its second hearing in the state Senate Tuesday. The bill already passed the House, despite the overwhelmingly negative testimonies from the public. Normally, bills with this much publicity will have more than two hearings, however – the committee schedule has it listed to be possibly voted on.

The bill would allow any adult in a school to carry a firearm with just two hours of hands-on training. Someone would only be required to complete 20 hours of training. Only two of those hours will the individual be holding or practicing with the gun.

Technically, there is also no explicit direction that an 18-year-old student can't carry a gun – but that is because concealed firearms permit can only be given to those 21 and older. In the very rare likelihood that there is a 21-year-old student in high school, however, it is possible they could bring a gun.

(Morgan Trau. “Ohio gets closer to allowing adults to carry guns in schools https://www.news5cleveland.com/news/politics/ohio-politics/ohio-gets-closer-to-allowing-adults-to-carry-guns-in-schools. May 30, 2022.)

An Ohio school district has come under fire after a group of First Graders discovered a gun that was left unlocked and unattended.

According to The Hill (Alexandra Sakellariou, August 17, 2019), the scary incident happened in March and involved students from Highland Elementary School in the South Bloomfield Township, though it is only making the news now. The gun was meant to protect students in the case of a school shooting, and although none of the children involved in the situation were harmed, the results could’ve been disastrous if the gun had accidentally gone off.

And, in a final irony for my fellow teachers, let's be clear: the lawmakers who are pushing for guns in schools are the ones who are cutting funding for the programs they actually need.

Gun sanctuaries? Please, see through this political posturing and oppose such designations. Fears of gun owners are being manipulated by those who seek to retain office. If these officials believe firearms must have a sanctuary – a consecrated place such as an altar in a church (By the way, the term was specifically chosen by the GOP for its historic and religious significance.) – then, I guess some would also make Ohio schools “Second Amendment Sanctuaries” too.

The county and state officials supporting sanctuaries know what they want you to believe. How hypocritical when they also want to deny their precious designation in the Ohio State Capitol Building. Do you wonder why they would do so? Could it be they value their own lives more than yours? Or, could it be that their “bad ass” stance reflects their own flawed logic to justify a legitimate need? 

Please sign this petition to rescind the Scioto County designation of a “Second Amendment Sanctuary.” I will present it to the county commissions. It is a simple stop toward helping stop the gun violence epidemic. Thanks. Simply click here: https://www.change.org/p/abolish-the-designation-of-scioto-county-as-a-second-amendment-sanctuary?recruiter=9840246&recruited_by_id=ba364890-eb59-012f-991a-404040c4a56f&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink&utm_campaign=petition_dashboard&fbclid=IwAR32iT6Jc4pqKpg03B8G_nibyw3jBwCvaSDJ90JJUqMH0k0MpjCo69RkIFU

It's a little hard keeping track of what's gone wrong
The covenant unravels, and the news just rolls along
I could feel my memory letting go some two or three disasters ago
It's hard to say which did more ill
Citizens United or the Gulf oil spill

And I'm a long way gone
Down this wild road I'm on
It's going to take me take me where I'm bound
But it's the long way around

It's never been that hard to buy a gun
Now they'll sell a Glock 19 to just about anyone
The seeds of tragedy are there
In what we feel we have the right to bear
To watch our children come to harm
There in the safety of our arms
With all we disagree about
The passions burn, the heart goes out

And we're a long way gone
Down this wild road we're on
It's going to take us where we're bound
It's just the long way around

– Jackson Browne, lyrics from “The Long Way Around”

 

GOP Gives Ohioans the Old Short Shrift: No Compromise In Partisan Redistricting

 

A panel of 3 federal judges is ordering Ohio to use state House and Senate maps already ruled unconstitutional by the state’s Supreme Court in a primary election that is set to happen on August 2.

The maps were approved by the Ohio Redistricting Commission during the third round of map drawing. The Supreme Court ruled that the maps, drawn by Republicans, unfairly favor the GOP.

The federal judges, in a 2-1 ruling, ordered that the state can only use the maps for this year’s elections.

The GOP victory came by way of a federal court ruling by judges who said they felt obligated to approve a map to ensure Ohio could hold its elections, even if that map was one the state Supreme Court had declared unconstitutional.

"Between the standoff among state officials and the delay in getting the case, our options were limited. So we chose the best of our bad options," the federal court wrote in an order that moved the legislative primary to Aug. 2. It was initially scheduled for May 3.

The court's ruling dealt a major blow to the state's efforts to reform its redistricting process.

(Jane C. Timm. “Ohio GOP wins favorable state voting maps, flouting reform attempts.” NBC News. May 27, 2022.)

Unfair redistricting maps that go against the Ohio Supreme Court's decision? Much-needed reform denied. What in the world? This is a prime example of the stagnation of politics and lawmakers inability to compromise.

It seems people these days don't want “fair” or “compromise” when it comes to most issues. The same can be said about politics. In the present state of division, politicians refuse to compromise to legislate important changes.

Pursuing the common good in a pluralist democracy is not possible without making compromises. The uncompromising mindset has come to dominate the task of governing. To begin to make compromise more feasible and the common good more attainable, we need to appreciate the distinctive value of compromise and recognize the misconceptions that stand in its way.

A common mistake is to assume that compromise requires finding the common ground on which all can agree. That undermines more realistic efforts to seek classic compromises, in which each party gains by sacrificing something valuable to the other, and together they serve the common good by improving upon the status quo.

Amy Gutman, American academic and diplomat who was the eighth president of the University of Pennsylvania, explains …

“Institutional reforms are desirable, but they, too, cannot get off the ground without the support of leaders and citizens who learn how and when to adopt a compromising mindset.

“Compromise is essential for cultivating the respect necessary for cooperation in democratic politics. It can in this way serve the common good without itself containing only common goods …

“If legislators themselves do not recognize the value of compromise, then voters need to use elections to show that they do. Voters must choose representatives who care enough about governing to take the risks of compromising. This does not mean accepting candidates who abandon their principles or forgo partisanship. But it does mean choosing candidates who are able to set aside their uncompromising mindsets long enough to craft the compromises necessary to improve on the status quo and serve the common good.”

(Amy Gutmann and Dennis F. Thompson. “Valuing Compromise for the Common Good Daedalus. A publication of the American Academy of Arts & Sciences. Spring 2013.)

Despite the the need for compromise, representatives from both parties often stubbornly refuse to sacrifice. Evidence of the same old partisan gap reveals that 66 percent of Democrats favored compromise, compared with 36 percent of Republicans who did.

On average, there is now a 36-percentage-point difference between Democrats and Republicans across important questions about subjects like gender, the environment, and the military.

(The Partisan Divide on Political Values Grows Even Wider.” Pew Research Center. October 05, 2017.)

Consider this hypothetical shared by Maggie Koerth, American science journalist and senior science editor at FiveThirtyEight …

“One man’s vandalism is another’s political dissent. Back in 2012, researchers from Kent State University presented survey respondents a hypothetical news story: A partisan political group has been caught swiping yard signs and defacing campaign ads.

“Then they asked the respondents to rate both the seriousness of crime (which, technically, it is) and how justifiable it was to break the rules. The overwhelming response: It’s not that big of a deal and it is reasonably justifiable – at least, as long as the party affiliation of the group doing the vandalism matched the affiliation of the person answering the question.

“If the other guys are doing it, well, by jove, Geoffrey, that is just not how things are done. Drawing squiggly mustaches upon an opponent’s face is fine for me … but not for thee.”

(Maggie Koerth. “Why Partisans Look At The Same Evidence On Ukraine And See Wildly Different Things.” FiveThirtyEight. October 03, 2019.)

Shankar Vedantam, a fellow at the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard University and host/creator of Hidden Brain radio show distributed by NPR, says …

“At least at a cognitive level, people believe that getting stuff done requires compromise … but many voters also hate it if politicians from their own party should compromise with the other side. That could be considered giving in.

“Basically, people want compromise, but when they see compromise, they see it as caving in. The uncharitable view is that we want compromise so long as it's the other side that's compromising.

“I've talked with different psychologists about this, and one of the dominant opinions is that we believe that consistency and the ability to hold firm is a core trait of leadership, that great leaders are people who can look out into the horizon steer towards a distant point and not get sidetracked by all manner of differences.”

(Steve Inskeep and Shankar Vedantam. “Why Compromise Is A Bad Word In Politics.” NPR. March 13, 2012.)

This is called the hyper-individualistic norm. Vedantam says …

“In the United States we tend to see human behavior as driven by individuals. So psychologists have this term, they call it the 'fundamental attribution error.' And the fundamental attribution error says when I do something, when I look at my own behavior, I tend to see it in context. So I think of myself as being a safe driver, but if I'm driving fast today, it's because I'm running late for an appointment.

“But when I look at another person driving quickly, I say this person is a reckless driver, so I see it as being dispositional. And what Conway is suggesting is that Americans may have a tendency to see human behavior as more disposition or driven by the individual as opposed to driven by the context.”

(Steve Inskeep and Shankar Vedantam. “Why Compromise Is A Bad Word In Politics.” NPR. March 13, 2012.)

Ideological Polarization

Gun control, abortion, Ohio redistricting – people's increasing ideological polarization makes political compromise more difficult on these and so many other issues, What is the result? It's evident: the common good and the status quo go out the window in favor of serving partisan political positions. Stalemates beget inaction, and in the case of Ohio redistricting, the inaction also begets unconstitutional adherence.

How unfair and how detrimental to us all. Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican, a liberal or a conservative – ultimately this will bite you in the ass. Our democracy is in the balance. Moisés Naím – Distinguished Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace listed in the British magazine Prospect as one of the world's leading thinkers, explains:

“A democracy needs political parties. We need permanent organizations that earn political power and govern, that are forced to articulate disparate interests and viewpoints, that can recruit and develop future government leaders and that monitor those already in power.”

(Moises Naim. “Why We Need Political Parties.” The New York Times. September 19, 2017.)

Consider these functions of parties that help explain their need:

• Political parties serve an important function in holding the opposing party accountable.

• Political parties ensure that the minorities have a voice and are not drowned out by the majorities will.

• Political Parties help represent different ideas and beliefs among the people.

  

Ohioans Given “The Short Shrift”

The expression “short shrift” means “brief and unsympathetic treatment,” and “to make short shrift of means to dispose of quickly and unsympathetically.” The expression is first recorded in The Tragedy of King Richard the Third by William Shakespeare (1564-1616). In the work, Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later King Richard III, orders the execution of Lord Hastings, who has remained loyal to King Edward IV’s sons:

So, Ohio Republicans, we see your intentions very clearly. The conclusion that Republican members of the Ohio Redistricting Commission do not want Ohio voters to enjoy free and fair elections is unavoidable. They want to rig the game to enshrine their power and will stop at nothing to do exactly that. It's the old, proverbial short shrift.

An Associated Press review settled on one key finding: After hundreds of days of time with government statisticians, lawyers, judges and politicians, the public was the group given that short shrift. The public airing of the legislative and congressional maps combined included a scant 64 days for their input.

(Julie Carr Smyth. “Ohioans got short shrift as political map fight dragged on.” Associated Press. May 24, 2022.)

My Conclusion

Dirtbag GOP sensibility claims that Ohio must give your party an unfair majority. It flies in the face of the Ohio Supreme Court's demand that districts be in line with the Ohio Constitution – that voters overwhelmingly amended in 2015.

Nevertheless, that's what Ohio Republican Statehouse politicians confronted with the possibility they may have to finally actually compete in competitive elections did. They are trying to cheat their way into reelection with rigged districts.

Ohio Republicans have chosen to pass unconstitutional maps again and again and blatantly ignore the will of voters in order to protect their seats.

No compromise. No adherence. Only partisan cheating to win elections.

The Republican-dominated Ohio Redistricting Commission didn't even try. They simply tweaked the third set of maps and essentially re-submitted them. My conclusion: they are no longer listening to the will of the people. Instead, they voted for the GOP agenda and ignored what the majority of voters support. Thou leathern-jerkin, crystal-button, knot-pated, agatering, puke-stocking, caddis-garter, smooth-tongue, Spanish pouches! Short shrifted, for sure.

RATCLIFFE

Come, come, dispatch. The Duke would be at
dinner.

Make a short shrift. He longs to see your head.

HASTINGS

O momentary grace of mortal men,
Which we more hunt for than the grace of God!
Who builds his hope in air of your good looks
Lives like a drunken sailor on a mast,
Ready with every nod to tumble down
Into the fatal bowels of the deep

LOVELL

Come, come, dispatch. ’Tis bootless to exclaim.

HASTINGS

O bloody Richard! Miserable England,
I prophesy the fearfull’st time to thee
That ever wretched age hath looked upon.—
Come, lead me to the block. Bear him my head.
They smile at me who shortly shall be dead.

• From The Tragedy of King Richard the Third by William Shakespeare

As the bloody War of the Roses enters its final phase, Richard Duke of Gloucester rounds up everyone he deems an enemy, including his former accomplice Hastings. According to Richard's henchman Ratcliffe, Hastings's execution is holding up Richard's dinner. He advises the doomed Hastings to repent his sins as quickly as possible—to "make a short shrift"—so that his execution may proceed apace.

Hastings suddenly realizes that Richard's courtesies to him were all manipulations, and that his own efforts to seek the grace of powerful men like Edward IV and Richard were doomed to fail. The grace of men is a sometime thing, determined by self-interest; only the grace of God endures.

Some use "short shrift" as the equivalent of "quick work,” while others seem to mean "inadequate time." Both meanings indirectly stem from Shakespeare's. "Shrift" means "confession," from the verb "shrive"—a priest "shrives" someone by hearing confession and allotting a penance. We use the phrase very differently today: short shrift is now something you are "given" rather than something you "make" or perform.

(E notes. https://www.enotes.com/shakespeare-quotes/short-shrift.)

 

10-Year-Old Noah Survives Uvalde Mass Shooting And Now Reflects

 

Noah Orona still had not cried.

The 10-year-old’s father, Oscar, couldn’t understand it. Just hours earlier, a stranger with a rifle had walked into the boy’s fourth-grade classroom at Robb Elementary School and opened fire, slaughtering his teachers and classmates in front of him. One round struck Noah in the shoulder blade, carving a 10-inch gash through his back before popping out and spraying his right arm with shrapnel. He’d laid amid the blood and bodies of his dead friends for an hour, maybe more, waiting for help to come.

But there he was, resting in his hospital bed, his brown eyes vacant, his voice muted.

“I think my clothes are ruined,” Noah lamented.

It was okay, his dad assured him. He would get new clothes.

“I don’t think I’m going to get to go back to school,” he said.

“Don’t worry about it,” his father insisted, squeezing his son’s left hand.

“I lost my glasses,” the boy continued. “I’m sorry.”

(John Woodrow Cox. “What school shootings do to the kids who survive them, from Sandy Hook to Uvalde.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/05/28/survivors-school-shootings-uvalde-sandy-hook/. The Washington Post. May 28, 2022.)

Body counts of children and adults who die in school shootings dominate headlines and consume the public’s attention. However, the effect of such tragedies do not end there. Fragile, innocent children who survived the murderous crossfire of school shootings reveal the true scope of this epidemic in the United States. Hundreds of thousands of children’s lives have been profoundly changed by school shootings.

More than 360 children and adults, including Noah, have been injured on K-12 campuses since 1999, according to a Washington Post database. And then there are the children who suffer no physical wounds at all, but are still haunted for years by what they saw or heard or lost.

Please, read John Woodrow Cox's accounts of these young survivors by clicking here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2022/05/28/survivors-school-shootings-uvalde-sandy-hook/?utm_campaign=wp_must_reads&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&wpisrc=nl_mustreads&carta-url=https%3A%2F%2Fs2.washingtonpost.com%2Fcar-ln-tr%2F36f5bde%2F62921bf2956121755a964dd0%2F5e60092f9bbc0f2194729950%2F36%2F119%2F62921bf2956121755a964dd0

As I read Noah's story, I think of the horrible aftermath of the massacre at Robb Elementary School. The grief, the pain, the PTSD – you must consider the broad scope of the shooter's deadly actions. As a youngster, Noah even worried about his ruined clothes and his lost glasses. These concerns speak volumes about the reality of what happened in Uvalde, Texas. They speak specifically of the tremendous impact gun violence has on the everyday lives of American children.

On May 24, 2022, a deranged 19-year-old there fatally shot nineteen students and two teachers, and wounded seventeen other people. People will remember his heinous act as the deadliest school shooting in modern Texas history. However, that ungodly distinction does not begin to relate the impinging fear and dread suffered by the innocent students. Surviving a war zone, they now cope with a lifetime of anxiety triggered by this terrifying event. 

A woman cries as she hugs a child, during a community gathering at the Uvadle County Fairplex, following a mass shooting at the Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas.

No One Can Heal All the Damage Done

Uvalde is a small town built around ranching and farming, where “everybody knows each other.” The town has a population of about 15,000 people, and it is the seat of a mostly rural county of the same name with a total population less than double that number. The town’s population is majority Hispanic.

Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District serves about 4,000 students and employs more than 730 full-time staff members across eight campuses. It has as its motto “Loyal and true.” For many of its residents, the idea that the town’s schools would be anything other than a place of learning and safety was inconceivable.

At El Taco Madre food stand on Evans Street, Mike Palacios sells street tacos, nachos and other Tex-Mex favorites. In recent years, Palacios said, Uvalde has kept crime at a minimum and is mostly a peaceful place. Once a predominately white town, it has become “a melting pot” with a thriving Hispanic community, he said.

At El Taco Madre food stand on Evans Street, Mike Palacios sells street tacos, nachos and other Tex-Mex favorites. In recent years, Palacios said, Uvalde has kept crime at a minimum and is mostly a peaceful place. Once a predominately white town, it has become “a melting pot” with a thriving Hispanic community, he said.

“We’re just a small community that sticks together,” said Palacios, who has lived in Uvalde for 14 years. “You’re driving down the road, and the opposite car’s saying hi, and everybody is just real friendly.”

“I believe that we will get through this,” said Palacios, the food stand owner. “We are Uvalde and we are Uvalde strong,” he said.

(Shari Biediger, Brooke Crum and Raquel Torres. “A snapshot of Uvalde: A town built around ranching and farming, where ‘everybody knows each other.'” San Antonio Report. May 29, 2022.)

Hundreds of mourners packed the bleachers lining the Uvalde Fairplex rodeo arena for a somber prayer vigil Wednesday night, just a day after the shooting. Many of the devastated mourners, who mostly wore Uvalde High School merchandise emblazoned with a coyote mascot, became hysterical when a solo violinist closed the vigil with a rendition of “Amazing Grace”.

“We pray for the little children who saw what happened to their friends,” Baptist Temple Church pastor Tony Gruben said.

“And we pray that God will heal their little hearts and their little souls. God is within Uvalde, she will not fall.”

(Jack Morphet and Jesse O’Neill ‘Heal their little hearts and souls:’ Uvalde residents hold tearful prayer vigil.” New York Post. May 26, 2022.) 

 Uvalde community members grieve at a vigil Wednesday, May 25, 2022 remembering the victims of the Robb Elementary School massacre.

Time will heal much. As Palacios said, Uvalde will strengthen. As Gruban prayed, healing will occur. But, nothing will erase all of the aftermath of the massacre. Nothing will stop the impressionable children who survived from worrying about their school, the clothes they wear, their personal effects, and now about whether such an unthinkable act could happen again.

I mourn for the souls lost in school shootings, and I mourn that we all must imagine and fear a deadly world where children suffer for the cruel transgressions of hateful killers with guns. In a nation where so many put their preference for deadly firearms above their concern for young lives, I mourn for what may be yet to come.

I'll end with the words of Dr. Gerard Lawson, a licensed professional counselor and longtime Virginia Tech professor, Tuesday’s massacre brought back gut-wrenching memories of an all-too-familiar experience. As Lawson recalls being locked down on his university’s campus on April 16, 2007, as a gunman went on a rampage throughout the school, killing 33 people.

“There is a feeling of powerlessness that keeps coming back up for people that have been down this road,” Lawson told Yahoo News.

Fifteen years after that firsthand experience with violent tragedy, he continues to help those affected – including survivors, their families and the immediate community – grieve through something that, he says, continues to haunt many of them to this day. It’s the trajectory of a healing process he suspects many members of the Uvalde community have begun to grapple with as well.

“There’s going to be an evolution in how they experience this,” Lawson said, which will vary for fellow students, teachers, first responders and community members.

After such an extreme tragedy, he said, there will be the immediate feelings of grief, loss and fear engulfing the Texas town. He predicts that the community will come together to share resources, but eventually those resources will subside and, before long, another tragedy will draw the focus away.

“There’s some disillusionment after a while when that honeymoon period sort of leads to ‘I've got so much still to do’ and ‘Are we truly safe?’” Lawson said.

(Marquise Francis. “The Uvalde community will experience an 'evolution' of trauma in the coming days, weeks and months, say mental health experts.” Yahoo News. May 26, 2022.)

“Are we truly safe?” Those words haunt us because we have never come together as a nation of concerned individuals to address the epidemic of gun violence. And, one thing is indisputable in the available data – and the data is limited since until recently the federal government was effectively barred from gathering it. The indisputable fact is that where there are more guns, there are more gun deaths.

Studies have found this to be true at the state and national level. It is true for homicides, suicides, mass shootings and even police shootings. It is an intuitive idea: If guns are more available, people will use them more often.

I must sadly report that there are more gun deaths in Texas, by far, than in any other state, according to data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Texas suffered 4,164 gun deaths in 2020, the most recent year for which the CDC has published data. That's a rate of 14.2 deaths per 100,000 Texans.

God bless the children in Uvalde. I pray Americans will finally realize we must protect all vulnerable people from the violence of firearms. The first step is working together to study the research about the problem and then pass much-needed legislation to help stop the slaughter.

GOP Politicians Take Millions From the NRA: Money For Guns

 

                                                  Heston: "From my cold, dead hands."

In the wake of the mass shooting at the elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, Utah Senator Mitt Romney tweeted …

"Grief overwhelms the soul. Children slaughtered. Lives extinguished. Parents' hearts wrenched. Incomprehensible," Romney wrote. "I offer prayer and condolence but know that it is grossly inadequate. We must find answers."

Jemele Hill, a contributing writer for The Atlantic, tweeted in response to Romney: "Grief does not overwhelm the soul nearly as much as $13M from the NRA overwhelms your bank account. The answer you seek is the money you continue to take."

Broadcaster Soledad O'Brien added: "The NRA gave you just under 14 million dollars, sir. I frequently call this man a coward. Maybe one day the words he says and what he actually does, will match."

(Ewan Palmer. “Full List of Republican Senators Who Receive Funding From the NRA.” Newsweek. May 26, 2022.)

Big money from the National Rifle Association – make no mistake, Republicans like Senator Romney receive it and thus feel indebted to the organization. No wonder these American politicians refuse to have a national dialogue on the epidemic of gun violence. And, as you can see by Romney's tweet, he wants the public to believe that he honestly seeks “answers” to the problem. Hypocrites and their manufactured lies perpetuate this ungodly practice of GOP open palms for blood money.

According to data compiled by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence in 2019, about two dozen sitting Republican senators have received contributions from the NRA. Of those senators, 16 have received more than $1 million.

Topping the list is Utah Senator Mitt Romney, who received more than $13 million in NRA contributions. The NRA money donated to Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee, was raised by a number of social media users after Romney tweeted his condolences in the wake of the Uvalde mass shooting.

Included in the list of Republican politicians who receive huge sums of money from the NRA are the following characters we here in Scioto County know so well:

Rob Portman (Ohio) $3,063,327

Mitch McConnell (Kentucky) $1,267,139

Shelley Moore Capito (West Virginia) $341,738

Rand Paul (Kentucky) $104,456

And Texas, home to this last terrible school massacre, has a recent regrettable history of mass shootings. Past shootings targeted worshippers during a Sunday sermon, shoppers at a Walmart, students on a high school campus and drivers on a highway. These tragedies in Texas – which resulted in more than 85 dead in all – occurred in the last five years.

(Paul J. Weber. “School massacre continues Texas’ grim run of mass shootings.” KMTV 11. Twin Falls. May 25, 2022.)

The cycle in Texas – a mass shooting followed by few if any new restrictions on guns – mirrors GOP efforts to block stricter laws in Congress and the ensuring outrage from Democrats and supporters of tougher gun control.

Meanwhile, the National Rifle Association has spent millions of dollars lobbying Texas state lawmakers. In the last five years, the NRA has shelled out more than $2 million to lobby the Texas Legislature – more than double what it spent in any other state, according to Open Secrets, a nonprofit that tracks money in politics. Over that time, the GOP-led Legislature expanded rights for gun owners and sellers.

Exactly one year before the Uvalde shooting, the GOP-controlled Legislature voted to remove one of the last major gun restrictions in Texas: required licenses, background checks and training for the nearly 1.6 million registered handgun owners in the state at the time.

Texas Governor Abbott signed the measure, which came at the end of what was the Texas Legislature’s first chance to act after the Walmart attack.

A year later, a man went on a highway shooting rampage in the West Texas oil patch that left seven people dead, spraying bullets into passing cars and shopping plazas and killing a U.S. Postal Service employee while hijacking her mail truck.

Following a shooting at Santa Fe High School in 2018 that killed 10 people near Houston, Abbott signaled support for so-called red flag laws, which restrict gun access for people deemed dangerous to themselves or others. But he later retreated amid pushback from gun-rights supporters.

Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who won the GOP nomination for a third term Tuesday, told Fox News after the Uvalde shooting that the best response would be training teachers and “hardening” schools.

In Texas, any changes to gun access would not come until lawmakers return to the Capitol in 2023. In the past, calls for action have faded.

(Paul J. Weber. “School massacre continues Texas’ grim run of mass shootings.” KMTV 11. Twin Falls. May 25, 2022.)

And, as the NRA held their annual convention this weekend in Houston – just 280 miles east of Uvalde, Former President Donald Trump and other GOP leaders rejected efforts to overhaul gun laws and mocked Democrats and activists calling for change.

“The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” Trump said — repeating a refrain that Texas Sen. Ted Cruz had used onstage less than an hour earlier.

But Trump also nodded to the political reality that gun rights advocates represent a core constituency for Republicans, and for the former President in particular. “You are the backbone of our movement,” he said on May 27.

Donald Trump showed how little he cared about the victims of the Uvalde shooting by dancing at the end of his speech.

(Jason Easley. “Trump Danced After Speech Where He Read The Names Of 19 Dead Uvalde Children.” https://www.politicususa.com/2022/05/28/trump-danced-uvalde.html. May 28, 2022.)

How Do They Sleep At Night?

Matt Grossmann, a political science professor at Michigan State University who has studied the NRA, said the organization is weaker and less powerful politically than it was, but its real strength is its army of members willing to engage in politics.

“It is all about playing to the arch-conservative base,” said Robert Spitzer, chairman of the political science department at the State University of New York at Cortland, who has written extensively on politics and gun control. He said that since the 1994 vote when the Democratic-controlled Congress – with opposition from the NRA – narrowly passed a 10-year federal ban on assault-style weapons. the NRA “locked itself into a pattern of ever more apocalyptic, extremist, uncompromising rhetoric.” The progression, he said, coincided with the Republican Party’s shift to the right.

The NRA is about fear and stifling any progress for tighter gun control. Their political payoff money is meant to thwart efforts to finding evidence-based solutions to gun violence. No one denies the clout and the influence of the NRA even if it has suffered lately. GOP politicians are glad to receive NRA payments for their support. And, sadly, many people see nothing wrong with greasing their palms.

If you are a Republican who supports “draining the swamp” and “fewer crooked politicians,” how can you justify this money?

Now … unbelievably … Donald Trump, Jr. is lashing out at "wokeness" as he ranted in defense of guns following Tuesday's school shooting in Uvalde, Texas.

Trump Jr. said in a video posted to Rumble …

"It's the gun, it's not the sociopath wielding it, folks. If it wasn't for the gun, this kid would be a well-adjusted, reasonable individual, he'd be a wonderful human being, right? He wouldn't have done the exact same thing with a bat or a bomb or some sort of improvised device or a machete, he's a great kid, don't judge him.”

Trump Jr. continued …

"We can't acknowledge what the actual causes are, it's not a drug-addict mother and a missing father and a lack of religion, indoctrination programs in our schools, crazy teachers teaching some of the crap I've talking about in these videos. It's none of those things. It never ends man … No one can admit somebody is actually a piece of garbage and screwed up."

(Bob Brigham. “Trump, Jr. lashes out at 'crazy teachers' as an 'actual cause' of school shootings." Raw Story. May 28, 2022.)

What a time to blame teachers for gun violence. Two lay dead after trying to defend the innocent children in their classrooms. But, perhaps that's the next strategy of the good old NRA and their Republican cronies. Who knows? Using money to influence public opinion in efforts to ignore the devastation wrought by firearms is evil. The GOP knows this all too well.

You know it too – you know how wrong it is that an 18-year-old purchased assault rifles and hundreds of rounds of ammunition when all signs pointed toward his evil intentions to commit deadly acts. A “bat” or a “machete” is the same as the AR-15s – someone who uses that logic today is definitely “screwed up.” Live with the blame, Jr.

And, guess what? One place you wouldn't be able to find firearms in Texas after the Robb Elementary School massacre is the National Rifle Association's forum. That does not surprise me. Daddy may have been in danger. 

Schools scared to death.
The truth is, one education under desks,
Stooped low from bullets;
That plunge when we ask
Where our children
Shall live
& how
& if

“It takes a monster to kill children. But to watch monsters kill children again and again and do nothing isn’t just insanity—it’s inhumanity. The truth is, one nation under guns. What might we be if only we tried. What might we become if only we’d listen.”

Poem and quote by Amanda Gorman, 24-year-old US poet who rose to fame for her performance at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration. Written on May 24, 2022.

 

11-Year-Old Miah: The Story of a Uvalde Survivor

 

11-year-old Miah was in the Uvalde classroom on May 24 with her other classmates watching the Disney classic Lilo and Stitch. Her room was shared by two teachers, Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia.

Miah relates …

When the teachers received word a shooter was in the school, one teacher went to lock the door, but the shooter was already at the door, and shot out its window.

It all unfolded so quickly. The teacher backed away from the door, into the classroom, and the gunman followed.

The shooter made eye contact with the teacher and said "Goodnight," and then shot her. He then opened fire, shooting the other teacher and many of Miah's friends as she watched.

The bullets whizzed passed her, and that fragments ended up hitting her shoulders and head. (She was later treated at the hospital and released with fragment wounds; she told CNN that clumps of her hair are now falling out.)

Miah said that after shooting students in her class, the gunman went through a door, into an adjoining classroom.

She heard screams, and the sound of shots in that classroom. After the gunfire ceased, she claims the shooter started playing loud, "sad" music.

Miah found one of her dead teacher's phones, called 911, and simply told a dispatcher, "Please come ... we're in trouble."

Right after, Miah rubbed her friend's blood all over herself and played dead.

Miah said it felt like three hours that she lay there, and assumed, in that moment, the police were still on the way.

She said afterward, she overheard talk of police waiting outside the school.

As she recounted this part of the story to CNN, she started crying, saying she just didn't understand why they didn't come inside and rescue them.

(Chris Harris. “Girl Who Survived Texas School Shooting Played Dead by Rubbing Blood on Herself.” https://people.com/crime/texas-school-shooting-survivor-miah-cerrillo-played-dead/. People. May 27, 2022.)

The indescribable horror is all too real. I relate the story of this child because our nation needs to realize the gut-wrenching details of the massacre – children murdered and maimed for no reason. Those who lived through the nightmare will be forever scarred both physically and emotionally.

Once more we mourn the tremendous loss of a mass shooting. Will we, once more, simply excuse guns from the deadly equation and refuse to pass needed restrictions on firearms? I fear we will.

Firearms are the leading cause of death for American children, according to recently released data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 5 deaths per 100,000 Americans between the ages of 1 and 19 were due to guns in 2020, the most recent year for which the CDC has data.

That number represents a nearly 30% increase in firearms deaths among children over 2019, according to an analysis of the data published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The increasing firearm-related mortality reflects a longer-term trend and shows that we continue to fail to protect our youth from a preventable cause of death.

(Evan Simko-Bednarski. “Guns now leading cause of death for American children, CDC says. New York Post. May 26, 2022.)

Insane motives, weapons of mass destruction, battlefield terror … instantaneous death. And now, the aftermath. How have we become a nation of such preventable carnage?

A Prayer For Miah

Please, all Americans, think of Miah Cerrillo and how she recounted her story of facing a very real monster inside her fourth grade classroom at Robb Elementary School. I assume some will call her “one of the lucky ones” and go about your day. However, I want you to consider her narrative, one like that of so many other survivors, and think about what she did to save her own life. Her teachers murdered and her cries for help largely ignored, Miah fought for her life, and thank God, she succeeded. How she did it is simply dreadful. Pray for Miah and all of the victims.

No child … NO CHILD … should have to face this trauma. Don't tell me “it's not the gun, but the person wielding the weapon.” Don't tell me “a criminal will use any other weapon to commit such a massacre.” Don't tell me “the Second Amendment confirms your right to keep and bear assault rifles.” Don't tell me “it's horrible but it can't be prevented with tighter restrictions.” I don't want to hear it. I've heard it every time the blood of innocents spill onto the killing fields in the land of the free and the home of the brave. Even shooting the killers with “a bigger gun” is not an acceptable answer. Gun advocates who ignore the problem of gun violence can go straight to hell. God damn you if the shoe fits.

The image of Miah rubbing the blood of her friend all over herself, then playing dead and calling for help on her dead teacher's phone should be seared into the memory of every caring adult in the nation – anti-gun people, pro-gun advocates, weapons manufacturers, politicians, everyone.

That blood came from innocent victims of the gun violence at Robb Elementary on May 24. You can trace the carnage to the shooter, his maniacal purpose, his insane purchase, and the unrelenting round after round of bullets he fired into the bodies of those he most certainly hated. With his bloodthirsty finger on the trigger, he satisfied his ungodly desire to reap untold havoc in Uvalde. And, of course, he died in the process.

The young murderer – just turned legal age himself – worshiped violence … and the AR-15 and the handgun and the body armor and the 375 rounds of ammunition he bought on May 18 – all birthday presents he lavished upon himself to enable his self-righteous massacre.

Tell me how to take the weapons out of the story. Tell me how to justify the shooter's right to own these guns whose only purpose is to end human life. And, explain away the the blood-lust so prevalent in the hateful hands of those who use these firearms to satisfy their “twisted and sacred” right to bear arms. I know many of you will say that the breakdown of the family and the loss of religion cause it all. Did you ever consider that the largely unfettered gun culture needs to own up to its role in gun violence?

If you are not willing to take actions to stop this cause of death, you will be content to let Uvalde and everything that happened there sink into yet another inky statistic of mass gun massacres. That cold, black ink effectively ignores the red blood shed in these horrible narratives – lifeblood sacrificed by so many children whose lives were taken by the violence of a gun.

The school district in Uvalde has opened an official account with First State Bank of Uvalde to support Robb Elementary families affected by the tragedy. People can send checks through the mail (payable to the "Robb School Memorial Fund") or donate money through Zelle to robbschoolmemorialfund@gmail.com. People can also donate by calling 830-356-2273. 

 Teachers Eva Mireles and Irma Garcia

Classrooms And "Wrong" Tactical Decisions: Lives-In-The-Balance In Uvalde, Texas

 

“Of course it was not the right decision; it was the wrong decision period.”

– Col. Steven McCraw, Director Texas Department of Public Safety (May 27, 2022.)

Nineteen police officers were massed outside the Uvalde classroom but stopped from trying to break through the locked door by an incident commander who believed no more lives were at risk. Frantic 911 calls from children inside, however, proved that decision was a mistake, the state's top law officer said Friday.

In a briefing Friday, May 27, the on-scene commander made the call that the carnage at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday had gone from an active shooter situation to a “barricaded suspect” situation.

McCraw said with the benefit of hindsight, it was clear there were still students inside and in danger.

The admission came as police revealed the first time that shooter marched in through an unlocked door that had been propped open by a teacher.

The teacher propped the door at 11:27 a.m. a minute before 18-year-old gunman Salvador Ramos crashed his car into a ditch near the school Tuesday.

Authorities are scrambling to explain why it took an hour to take out the shooter, whose rampage at the school Tuesday left 19 children and two teachers dead.

(Mark Lungariello. “Top Texas cop admits cops botched Uvalde school response: ‘Wrong decision, period.'” The New York Post. May 27, 2022.)

The gunman who killed 19 students and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, was on the premises for up to an hour before law enforcement forcibly entered a classroom and killed him, officials said Wednesday, May 25.

The 18-year-old shooter was in a standoff with law enforcement officers for about a half-hour after firing on students and teachers, Rep. Tony Gonzales, whose district includes Uvalde, told CNN’s Jake Tapper, citing a briefing he was given.

“And then (the shooting) stops, and he barricades himself in. That’s where there’s kind of a lull in the action,” Gonzales said. “All of it, I understand, lasted about an hour, but this is where there’s kind of a 30-minute lull. They feel as if they’ve got him barricaded in. The rest of the students in the school are now leaving.”

(Isabelle Chapman, Daniel A. Medina, Nicole Chavez, Dakin Andone and Elizabeth Wolfe, “Uvalde school shooter was in school for up to an hour before law enforcement broke into room where he was barricaded and killed him.” CNN. May 26, 2022.)

The horror of the school massacre continues to unfold in Uvalde. Mistakes now seem to have played a major role in the terrible tragedy. Time will surely tell more about the unspeakable crime.

Reality And Risk

Life-and-death decisions by authorities during the proverbial “fog of war” in an active shooter attack are complex and full of risk. I know many now support teachers and other school staff carrying guns on public school campuses. Wrong decisions, like those Uvalde, can be devastating. Even highly trained police officers can and do make critical mistakes. The knee-jerk reaction simply to have guns in the hands of trusted adults on campus is fraught with dangers.

The truth is that to safely carry and use a concealed weapon on campus during an active shooter attack, teachers must first receive intensive, on-going firearms training. The National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO), which opposes arming teachers, says the training of teachers should be done under simulated and high-stress conditions, and should prepare them to take the lives of students if they are the assailants. Because firearm skills degrade rapidly, training must be on-going and frequent.

Robin Hattersley-Gray – Editor-in-Chief of Campus Safety, who has authored award-winning editorials on campus law enforcement and security funding, officer recruitment and retention, access control, IP video, network integration, event management, and crime trends – says …

“Considering all of the challenges campuses have with adequately maintaining their cameras, locks, two-way radios and other equipment, the idea that faculty members would stay current on firearms training is delusional. What’s more, not staying up-to-date on firearms proficiency is potentially much more deadly than not maintaining your security equipment. If a camera, radio or lock isn’t maintained, it most likely just won’t work, but it won’t kill anyone, unlike the misuse of a gun.

“Additionally, most CCP qualification standards aren’t very demanding and don’t address the training capabilities I’ve just mentioned.”

(Robin Hattersley-Gray. “Should School Teachers Carry Guns? Campus Safety. April 03, 2018.)

According to Northern Virginia Community College Lt. John Weinstein, who is an ardent gun rights supporter, it’s possible to receive a CCP in his state without actually demonstrating live fire proficiency. This lax standard probably applies to other states as well.”

Additionally, according to Weinstein, those who receive training on a range most likely won’t be adequately prepared to respond to an active shooter.

“First, most ranges don’t allow shooters to draw from holsters, both on the hip and concealed,” he says. “Second, most ranges do not allow shooting and moving, an essential firearms combat skill.”

Even individuals who have received active shooter firearms response training from local police have performed poorly during active shooter exercises. Weinstein recalls the time he witnessed a church active shooter exercise a few years ago involving church team members who were trained and went through some simple scenarios: “During various scenarios, innocent civilians were shot, as were police (actors) responding to the scene. Team members crossed in front of other members’ aimed weapons. In short, it was a nightmare, not to mention a gigantic potential liability for the church.”

(Robin Hattersley-Gray. “Should School Teachers Carry Guns? Campus Safety. April 03, 2018.)

The fact is that police officers who do receive adequate firearms training more often than not miss their targets when they are under the severe stress of an incident.

Here’s a list of several other reasons why arming teachers is a bad idea:

• It increases the risk of teachers being shot by responding police officers who could mistake them for the assailant (friendly fire)

• It increases the potential for negligent discharges

• It increases the chances of students or other unauthorized individuals getting the gun either by force or if the teacher accidentally leaves it somewhere

• The teacher could be tempted to go after the shooter and abandon his or her class

• A small concealed firearm is much less accurate than a long gun, which is used by law enforcement

• It would require teachers to receive initial and then periodic background checks and mental health screening on par with those conducted on applicants for law enforcement positions.

• The presence of a gun actually encourages hostile confrontation, according to a recent study by the National Bureau of Economic Research. This is an important point to remember since most school incidents do not involve active shooters. Hostile confrontation might be exactly the wrong response to a situation.

• It’s expensive. According to the Brookings Institute, arming 10-20 percent of our nation’s 3.2 million public school teachers would cost more than $650 million, and that estimate is conservative.

• It’s unclear whether the presence of an armed individual acts as a deterrent. The Parkland, Fla., shooter certainly wasn’t deterred, despite the fact that there was an armed SRO on campus. Additionally, many active shooters are suicidal. 

  

Conclusion

The Uvalde, Texas shooting reopened the debate over whether teachers should be armed. 28 states, including Texas, allow it but with restrictions. Arguments against arming teachers and school resource officers highlight the elevated risk of accidents and negligent use of firearms as more adults in schools are armed.

The Associated Press reported, for instance, that there were more than 30 incidents between 2014 and 2018 that involved a firearm brought to a school by a law enforcement officer or that involved a teacher improperly discharging or losing control of a weapon (Penzenstadler, Foley, and Fenn, 2017).

(Penzenstadler, Nick, Ryan J. Foley, and Larry Fenn, “Accidental Shootings Involving Kids Often Go Unpunished,” Associated Press, May 24, 2017.)

This compares with around 20 active-shooter attacks at schools over a comparable period (Cai and Patel, 2019).

(Cai, Weiyi, and Jugal K. Patel, “A Half-Century of School Shootings Like Columbine, Sandy Hook and Parkland,” New York Times, May 11, 2019.)

When even trained police officers have been found to successfully hit their intended targets in just 18 percent of incidents involving an exchange of gunfire (Rostker et al., 2008), critics question whether teachers can be expected to effectively return fire without inadvertently injuring the children they mean to protect (Vince, Wolfe, and Field, 2015).

(Rostker, Bernard D., Lawrence M. Hanser, William M. Hix, Carl Jensen, Andrew R. Morral, Greg Ridgeway, and Terry L. Schell, Evaluation of the New York City Police Department Firearm Training and Firearm-Discharge Review Process, Santa Monica, Calif.: RAND Corporation, MG-717-NYPD, 2008. As of October 6, 2019.)

(Vince, Joseph J., Timothy Wolfe, and Layton Field, Firearms Training and Self-Defense: Does the Quality and Frequency of Training Determine the Realistic Use of Firearms by Citizens for Self-Defense? Chicago, Ill.: National Gun Victims Action Council, 2015.)

Finally, if teachers are holding guns or engaged in gunfire, it may make the job of law enforcement officers more difficult and dangerous when they arrive at the scene. Officers could mistake the teacher for an active shooter or could themselves be inadvertently shot by the teacher.

More guns mean more gun deaths. In addition, a 2017 Pew Research Center survey found that more than half of U.S. adults (55%) would oppose allowing teachers and officials to carry guns in K-12 schools, including 36% who said they would strongly oppose such a proposal. Still, a sizable minority (45%) said they favored allowing teachers to carry guns in schools.

Educators see themselves as agents of change, not guardians of the status quo like the police. This means that teacher-educators try to help novices adopt an expansive professional vision that enables them to imagine possibilities for all students, welcomes them despite differences they might have with one another and the teacher, and encourages decision-making in the moment that is informed by such a perspective.

Teachers serve the public best when they see the human potential in each child and actively work over time to remove barriers that prevent children from growing into their limitless selves.

To contrast the training, police are taught to respond with routines that reflect both attunement to danger and an admittedly biased model for determining who is good and bad.

The professional vision of the police is ultimately narrow – they are taught to look for trouble, make decisions based on limited information, and act quickly. These decisions primarily defend a sense of security for dominant groups and preserve current social norms.

Would armed teachers make some terrible judgments due to their conflicting primary concerns on campus? I believe the answer is “yes.” Professional law enforcement officers on a public school campus face unique, challenging obstacles if and when they decide to use their weapons. Poorly trained teachers with guns would struggle mightily when confronted with those same impediments.

I also believe teacher who pack guns send the wrong message to their students – these youth can come to believe that they need their own firearms to meet threats of aggression.

One survey released by the research firm RAND and funded by the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers asked a nationally representative sample of public school teachers a battery of questions in late January and early February 2021.

More than three in four teachers reported frequent job-related stress, compared to 40% of other working adults. Perhaps even more alarming: 27% of teachers reported symptoms of depression, compared to 10% of other adults.

(Elizabeth D. Steiner, Ashley Woo. “Job-Related Stress Threatens the Teacher Supply.” https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA1108-1.html. Key Findings from the 2021 State of the U.S. Teacher Survey.)

Are proponents sure they want to arm our nation's public teachers in these stressful conditions? It could turn out to be another “wrong decision, period.”