Enough of your thoughts and prayers
ZWF #16: Sunday, May 29, 2022
For the last sixteen weeks, Zander’s Weekend Facts has provided authentic, unopinionated facts on the latest headlines. For some, this may have been a welcome relief from the more opinionated, but still evidence-based, stances taken on the Zander’s Facts podcast. However, now is not the time to sit idly by after the recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. I cannot proceed without offering my two cents on the massacre, along with America’s gun epidemic as a whole. Please read the following.
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. Santa Fe High School. Columbine High School. Sandy Hook Elementary School.
Just a couple of the over 98,000 ordinary public schools in the United States. But you instantly recognized every one of them when your eyes met the words on your screen.
Why?
Perhaps because these are the sites where innocent American children have died due to senseless gun violence.
Add Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas to that list. On Tuesday, May 24, in the middle of the day, an 18-year-old high school student shot and killed 21 people, 19 children included, inside that elementary school. 17 more individuals were wounded.
Add Robb Elementary School to the list of deadly school shootings that have occurred in the United States of America. A list too long to effectively summarize quantitatively and emotionally.
Add Robb Elementary School to the list of mass shootings that have occurred in the United States of America. Another list too long to effectively summarize quantitatively and emotionally.
21 lives lost in Uvalde, Texas. 17 lives lost in Parkland, Florida. 33 lives lost in Blacksburg, Virginia. There’s another one, Virginia Tech. 27 lives lost in Newtown, Connecticut.
With details still coming in, the situation in Uvalde is made worse and worse. In the hours after the first reports, the death toll seemed to keep growing. In the days that have followed, we have discovered that the shooter began his rampage by shooting his grandmother in the forehead after an argument. She ultimately survived. The shooter then drove his grandmother’s car to Robb Elementary School, crashed the car, and fired his AR-15 style rifle for nearly 12 minutes outside the building. He then entered the building and remained for the next hour while police failed to engage. He was eventually shot and killed by U.S. Border Patrol.
The police response, or lack thereof, to the situation, has led to another level of aggravation in an already tense-heightened period. The shooter was in the building alive for up to an hour? What were police waiting for? Why were police more focused on stopping parents from obtaining their children instead of stopping the active shooter? Were police scared of a lone individual with an AR-15 style rifle?
The answer appears to be yes since it took a U.S. Border Patrol agent to finally end the situation. But not before 21 people lost their lives. The more that is being learned, the more that a lack of competence is being found in the leaders that the Uvalde community was supposed to trust.
But remember, we are talking about the state of Texas. The state whose governor, Greg Abbott (R), has pushed and now signed into law, bills that have loosened gun restrictions in Texas. This is the same man who proudly declared Texas a “second amendment sanctuary state” when he signed those bills in 2021, two years after 23 people were killed in a shooting at an El Paso Walmart. The same man who in 2015, tweeted “I'm EMBARRASSED: Texas #2 in nation for new gun purchases, behind CALIFORNIA. Let's pick up the pace Texans. @NRA.” The same man who signed a bill outlawing abortions after six weeks in Texas, with no exceptions for rape or incest, and responded when asked about criticism of the bill, “rape is a crime and Texas will work tirelessly that we eliminate all rapists from the streets of Texas by aggressively going out and arresting them and prosecuting them and getting them off the streets.” So, like, were you not doing that before?
On Wednesday, Texas officials held a press conference to discuss the tragedy. The elected officials that took part included Abbott, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (R), who suggested seniors should risk their lives in March 2020 in order to reopen the economy during Covid lockdowns, Uvalde Mayor Don McLaughlin (R), who has appeared on Fox News numerous times to decry the Biden administration, and Senator Ted Cruz (R), self-explanatory, among other prominent Texas Republicans.
There was one moment in that press conference that ignited a fury among the Republicans on stage. But it had nothing to do with any of the 19 children and two adults that had died. It occurred when Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Beto O’Rourke, interrupted the press conference that was airing on national television. As the officials were yelling at O’Rourke to leave, they were showing the most emotion any of them had expressed publicly in the 24 hours since the shooting had occurred. A funny thing, isn’t it?
When the head basketball coach of the Golden State Warriors shows more emotion than any Republican on the issue of gun violence, there may just be something wrong.
After O’Rourke left the building the press conference was being held in, he addressed reporters located outside. O’Rourke proposed four simple solutions to combat the onslaught of mass shootings Texas and the United States are facing. Stop selling AR-15s (the gun that the shooter used), have universal background checks, red flag laws or extreme-risk protection orders, and safe storage laws. Actual solutions that would work to eliminate weapons from dangerous individuals.
What have those Texas politicians on that stage proposed? Any proposals restricting access to guns?
Nope.
Cruz was asked by the U.K.’s Sky News if now was the time to reform gun laws. His answer attacked the interviewer for going into the topic and denied that gun control bills proposed by Democrats would have stopped the shooting. Instead, Cruz has claimed that only having one door into and out of the school is the solution. But hey, at least he’s actually in Texas and not in Cancun this time.
Most of the focus from Republicans has gone towards school safety and mental health. Republicans are now trying to put more guns in the classroom by pushing to arm teachers. In regards to mental health, Abbott said in that Wednesday press conference that mental health was to blame for the Uvalde shooting. Republicans are arguing that mental health is the main cause of the Uvalde and other mass shootings. That guns are not the root cause of mass shootings in the United States.
They’re wrong.
Yes, mental health is a serious issue in this country that needs to be addressed. But if Republicans actually cared about mental health, why did Abbott sign a bill cutting the state’s mental health budget by $211 million this year? If mental health was the true underlying issue, then wouldn’t every country be dealing with mass shootings in the same vein as the United States?
In 2019, 16.9% of the U.S. population was suffering from a mental health disorder. That number was 19.4% in Australia, 15.0% in Canada, 19.0% in New Zealand, and 15.1% in the United Kingdom. The United States ranked 13th in mental health disorders in 2019, on par with other first-world nations.
Mental health issues are not solely an American problem. Mass shootings are.
Cruz, Abbott, and others have suggested that the only way to prevent these bad guys with guns are good guys with guns. But there were good guys with guns inside of the school.
At least seven officers were inside of the school at the time. 21 lives were still lost.
There was an armed security guard at the front of the grocery store in Buffalo. 10 lives were still lost.
There was an armed officer at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. 17 lives were still lost.
Is the only answer to arm everyone inside of a school? Should teachers be carrying around handguns on their waists while teaching math? The only answer is to make our schools look like war zones? They’re pushing for this now in states such as Texas. The results have been a drastic failure, as we just witnessed.
There are solutions that work. We know this because the United States of America is the only developed country in the world where this keeps happening. The firearm-related death rate per 100,000 population in 2022 stands at 12.21.
In Australia, a 1996 shooting in Port Arthur that left 35 people dead led to a ban on all semi-automatic rifles, along with all semi-automatic and pump-action shotguns. Nearly 650,000 firearms were collected in a buyback program, and new restrictions were placed on handguns after a 2002 shooting at a university. A license is also required to use or possess a firearm. So far in 2022, the firearm-related death rate per 100,000 population sits at 1.04. That number was 2.84 in 1996.
In Canada, a 2020 shooting in Nova Scotia that left 23 people dead led to a ban on assault-style weapons. Prior to 2020, a law passed in 1995 required individuals to obtain a license in order to buy a gun and required all guns to be registered. Automatic weapons were banned in 1977. In the wake of the Uvalde shooting, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is now promising new gun control measures. The firearm-related death rate per 100,000 population in 2020 is 2.05.
In New Zealand, a 2019 shooting at a Christchurch mosque that left 50 people dead led to a ban on the sale of automatic and semi-automatic weapons. The next year, New Zealand banned other weapons, including short semi-automatic rifles, and created a national registry of guns that are bought and sold. A mandatory buyback program collected over 50,000 firearms and over 200,000 gun parts. This year, the firearm-related death rate per 100,000 population stands at 1.07.
In the United Kingdom, a 1996 school shooting at Dunblane Primary School that left 17 people dead in Scotland led to a ban on high-caliber pistols. Earlier reforms stemming from the aftermaths of previous mass shootings banned pump-action shotguns, self-loading rifles, fully automatic and semi-automatic weapons. The United Kingdom is not a gun-free state, as guns are still allowed. However, the measures have lowered the firearm-related death rate per 100,000 population to 0.23 so far this year. In 1996, that number was 0.42.
In all four of those countries, assault-style firearms were used in mass shootings. In all four of those countries, assault-style firearms have been heavily regulated and outright banned in some cases.
Those were those countries’ responses to mass shootings. So why is our response to criticize how many doors are in a school? Why is our response to only blame mental health? Why is our response to berate those seeking change now, saying it’s too soon?
Those other countries still deal with gun violence, but as evidenced, at a much lower rate than the United States. Mass shootings have been basically nonexistent after major firearm reforms were instituted in those countries.
Instead of worrying about their own nations, foreign news outlets now have to cover the carnage taking place in America. Here’s a screenshot of BBC.com on Wednesday evening (U.S. time):
Two of the five top stories are dedicated to the epidemic of gun violence in the United States.
Here’s another screenshot of BBC.com on Saturday morning (U.S. time):
Four days after the shooting occurred, and it still occupies the top spot on the website of Britain’s largest media outlet.
World leaders are having to take time out of their schedules to offer condolences to the United States. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated, “I would like to express my condolences to all of the relatives and family members of the children who were killed in an awful shooting in Texas in a school.”
Think about that. The President of Ukraine, a country undergoing a major assault on its freedom and independence during an unjustified invasion by dictatorial Russia, has to use up some of his invaluable time to express his condolences to those in the United States after a deadly school shooting. Think about that. What does that say about this country?
Ted Cruz angrily argued that the United States is “the freest, most prosperous, safest country on earth.” But is it?
Heritage’s 2022 Index of Economic Freedom found that the United States ranked 25th in the world. The Cato Institute’s Human Freedom Index placed the U.S. at 15 in 2021. On the Legatum Prosperity Index, the U.S. placed in 20th last year. On the 2021 Global Peace Index, the U.S. topped out at a whopping 122nd place on the list of most peaceful countries.
Now those rankings certainly aren’t bad and are better than most countries (with the notable exception of the Global Peace Index), but they contradict Cruz’s claim with data and facts. Clearly, there are countries that are freer, more prosperous, and definitely safer. Australia, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom ranked above the United States in all four studies.
So why do we allow conservatives to continue parroting these talking points that America is the best and no one beats us? It’s clearly not true.
The same people that we allow to grasp at straws every time another mass shooting happens in the United States. First, the problem is mental health, then it’s doors in schools, now it’s critical race theory and ‘wokeness.’ Every time, when guns are brought into the discussion, it’s “too soon.” Just another deflection away from a losing issue for Republicans.
A new CBS News/YouGov poll found that 54% of Americans believe gun laws should be stricter than they are now. Only 16% believe they should be less strict. A 2021 Morning Consult poll found that 84% of Americans support universal background checks. A Morning Consult/Politico poll released on Thursday showed that 88% of Americans support universal background checks. Also in that poll, 84% support banning sales of firearms to individuals reported as dangerous by mental health providers. 77% support requiring all gun owners to store their firearms in safe storage units. 75% support creating a nationwide database for all gun sales. Finally, 67% support banning assault-style weapons.
There are solutions to fix this problem. We have other countries to look at, and the American people are behind these proposals.
We should not let soulless organizations such as the National Rifle Association get in the way of actual change that would better our country. The same NRA, mind you, that banned guns from their conference held in Houston this past Friday.
Gun control solutions need to be implemented in order to stop the senseless mass shootings we have sadly become accustomed to. The data does not lie.
So far this year, 213 mass shootings have occurred in the United States. It is only May. Additionally, 288 school shootings have taken place in the U.S. this year. That is by far the most out of any country in the world. The second highest was Mexico. They had eight.
No wonder teachers are leaving the classroom at record levels. They are literally under attack from every angle imaginable. False critical race theory conspiracies, criminally low pay, and school shootings are leading to an exodus of teachers from schools.
No wonder students are falling behind in the classroom, and stress levels among children are reaching alarming numbers. They are literally the targets at the ends of high-capacity murder weapons in their own classrooms.
Our children are taking time out of their education to practice hiding from school shooters. We have to do this because our children are getting slaughtered in the places they are supposed to be learning. The only thing the children in Uvalde learned on Tuesday is that their elected officials have failed them.
We have a choice to make in this country. We can choose to keep our guns that fire hundreds of rounds per minute that have been banned in most of the developed world, or we can choose to spare the lives of innocent children and many other Americans that have been harmed by gun violence.
Many Republicans appear to have made their choice. Instead of following them towards more gun violence, now is the time for all of us to make the right choice in this scenario. One the rest of the developed world has already made. If we don’t, the U.S. will just continue to slide down the list of peaceful nations.
Am I optimistic any necessary change will occur in the near future? Absolutely not. In fact, I’m near certain that the cycle we have been a part of for years will only continue. A mass shooting will occur, outrage will ensue, nothing will be done, another mass shooting occurs, repeat. But that doesn’t mean we need to stop trying. Change can come slowly, but that doesn't mean it won’t come at all.
Remember, 21 lives were lost on Tuesday in Uvalde, Texas.
Two women lost their lives trying to protect the students for whom they cared for an entire school year. Two families whose lives have been shattered because of America’s endless school shooting epidemic.
Actually, make that 22 lives lost. The husband of one of the two teachers that lost their lives passed away on Thursday of a heart attack just after dropping flowers off at the school.
19 children lost their lives in a place they were supposed to feel safe and secure. 19 families whose lives have forever been altered due to another shooting inside of a school full of young children. Older siblings who will never be able to mentor and play with their siblings again. Younger siblings who are wondering where the siblings they had looked up to their entire lives have gone.
And the worst part about all of this? These lives didn’t have to be lost. No life in this country lost to gun violence is necessary, and nearly all of them could have easily been prevented.
It’s okay to feel sad. It’s okay to feel angry. If you don’t, you’ve probably come to the realization that this is going to keep happening and there’s nothing we can do.
However, it’s time to put all that emotion to good use. No more useless Facebook comments stating, “thoughts and prayers.” Enough.
How about voting for candidates that will actually enact change once in office. It doesn’t matter if it’s for your local city, county, or town, your state, or federal office. If there is an election, you need to be voting. In a democracy, our voice can be heard the loudest at the ballot box.
Things don’t have to be this way. Mass shootings do not have to be the norm in the United States of America. Innocent lives in this country can be saved.
All it takes is a voice.
Make that voice yours.
