School shootings in the USA
Lot of people wanting stronger gun safety measures. Lot of people wanting parents to be held accountable. Lot of people wanting both the kid and the parent(s) to be punished.
Me too. To me, nobody under 21 should be allowed unrestricted access to any gun, let alone an AR type rifle.
But I am afraid that, by punishments only, and gun safety measures only, we will only be trying to address the tip of the iceberg.
Let us not forget the other side of these incidents, which hardly anybody seems to really care about. Getting picked on - bullying - at school or via social media - is not something trivial. Kids can be extremely cruel to each other - especially groups against individuals. We adults need to realize this. If a group of kids can mentally or physically attack an individual kid, that is then overwhelming force (mental or physical). Usually this does not happen as an isolated incident, but happens continuously over an extended period of time. Which then becomes a psychology-altering experience for the victim. It leaves the victim badly hurt and feeling helpless. While the perpetrators (and even their parents) would label it as just pranks.
Are we adults even fully capable of feeling what these kids are going through? Have we talked to them at length and analyzed their feelings, or only just put them on a 'watch list'? Have we punished the perpetrators of the bullying with just a tap on the wrist and then just let it go?
It does not surprise me that such a kid will feel the need to take revenge against such overwhelming force against them, through the use of another overwhelming force. Most can only fantasize about this and do not have the means to act. But a few do end up acting if and when the opportunity is presented. Then we learn about those few i.e. we get to see a little of the tip of the iceberg. The others - the rest of the iceberg - who are really potential shooters, remain hidden. A few of these will also eventually get an opportunity, and will become school shooters of the future.
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What I am trying to point out here is that our society in general - not just gun owners - also bears some responsibility towards creating these kids who have the need to lash out. And a responsibility to help them recover. Moreover, we have the responsibility to prevent the creation of such kids in the first place.
Just gun safety alone is not going to cut it.
I need to say here that it is totally crazy is to give a kid in such a position a gun, let alone an AR. Instead the situation should have been discussed with school authorities and appropriate action taken. Maybe the parent did, and nothing happened, I don't know. If nothing happened, may be the kid should have been moved to another school, away from the bullies. If the school authorities knew about the bullying and did nothing, they also have some responsibility in creating this troubled kid.
For every kid in a bullied situation who had access to an AR, I am certain there are hundreds who don't have such access, but who could do with help. They are incidents waiting to happen. And we complain loudly about why this keeps on happening. Sometimes we vaguely talk about mental health issues of the shooters. But we rarely see them as victims themselves. And rarely dig deep enough to catch the people who turned them into what they are.
Through gun safety measures, we can, and should, reduce this type of violence from the tiny percentage of tortured kids that were able to get a hold of guns. But what about the other vast majority who might just be waiting for such an opportunity - perhaps from an accidental misplacement by a parent, or perhaps from crossing the age-threshold when they can buy legally?
I do believe in the second amendment rights, for mentally competent adults. For me, it is not about hunting and such (personally, I don't believe in killing anything for fun - even fish). But I believe in it for self defense. Sometimes one needs protection when there is a possibility that one can be placed in places with an overwhelming possibility of danger.
P.S.: ?One another point I will introduce here but not elaborate on, since this article has already become too long. I grew up as a child where nobody had guns. At a time when there were no movies or videos which showed shooting as normal. As a result, I never mentally fantasized about shooting people who I hated. Shooting people with guns is something we are teaching to the kids now as normal, through movies and video games. Correct parental guidance about guns is just not enough for these tortured kids to overcome such constant programming from these movies and video games.
Let us work to keep our children safe. Having a wider perspective will help in this.