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Yesterday 21 people were killed in an attack by a lone gunman at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas. The 18-year-old gunman was killed by police. Why tragedies like this happen again and again in the United States? Buffalo, Laguna Woods, Sandy hook, Santa Fe High, El Paso, and so many others.
March 13, 1996. 26 years ago, a gunman entered Dunblane Primary School in Scotland, killed 16 kids and a teacher. The UK government responded by enacting tight gun control legislation. Since then there has been a total of zero school shootings in the UK.
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Ten days ago, it took the US Senate about twenty minutes to unanimously pass a bill extending security protection to the family members of Supreme Court justices when it looked like a house might be picketed. It is all a matter of whose families are worth protecting, and for what. They get extensive security, and you get thoughts, and prayers.
Remember in 2008 that the Roberts Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision – over a withering dissent by Stevens – threw out democratically passed gun control laws. They invented a new 2nd Amendment and a false banner to rally around to stop basic protection of children. The lawmakers bear the greatest responsibility. But remember that the Court bears responsibility too. The gunman is never alone.
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Then some propose to have more police in the school. But there were three armed people in Uvalde scholl who did not stop the gunman with an AR15. The approach of “Let’s solve the gun problem with more guns!” has never worked. A black father comments that if the school has police, he has to worry about two threats to his kid instead of one.
In the school, they train the kids how to respond to the school shooting. How to find a shelter, how to buttress the door, and how to run for their lives. And good luck is in fact the only thing offered.
The moment to stop Uvalde was right after Sandy Hook. The US Senate and Congress could stop it right after the very first tragedy, but they chose not to stop it. Why? The obvious reason is their power over the lives of other people’s kids.
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The existing institutions are always there to protect the rich and the powerful instead of the poor and the weak.