Dear Editor:
Over a quarter of a million students have experienced gun violence at school since the Columbine High School shooting in 1999. Since 2001, more school-aged children have died from guns than on-duty police officers and active-duty military combined. So far in 2022, not even halfway through the year, there have been 250 mass shootings.
School is supposed to be one of the safest places in the country. However, mass shootings and gun violence is an all-too-often phenomenon that is happening in our country’s schools and communities. I graduated high school just a few months after the Columbine school shooting in 1999 and have spent the last nineteen years as a teacher in what has become known as the “mass-shooting generation.” Lockdown drills, emergency evacuations, and metal detectors have become part of the normal school routine. In fact, I don’t remember a time since becoming a teacher when the threat of a school shooting wasn’t a possibility. Just a few weeks ago during a middle school student government meeting, the school was forced into lockdown because a student was shot at seventeen times while walking home from school.
As a social studies teacher, I understand how embedded the second amendment is in America’s social fabric. However, the constitution was written to promote general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty. Surely one could argue that all rights in this country are not absolute. Individuals cannot yell fire in a crowded theater or present a clear and present danger. The same should be true in terms of gun safety legislation. One’s right to bear arms should not supersede another’s right to life.
In today’s highly polarized society, the solutions on how to tackle gun violence span the spectrum of arming teachers to outlawing certain types of semi-automatic firearms. The stark reality is that students shouldn’t have to live in fear during the school day thinking they’re next and parents shouldn’t have to worry if it’ll be the last time they’ll see their child when they leave for school each morning.
It’s time to demand common-sense gun safety legislation to protect the most vulnerable citizens: our nation’s children. There has to be a number where Americans say “that’s just too many children,” a number that will force our elected officials to enact legislation that will stop this carnage. Twelve dead at Columbine wasn’t enough, twenty-six dead at Sandy Hook wasn’t enough, and nineteen in Texas won’t be enough. What’s the number, America?
Paul Donnelly
Teacher
American History and Government
Poughkeepsie High School
Poughkeepsie, NY
The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Mid-Hudson News.
