A good friend of mine, who by happenstance is a superintendent of a school system, was talking with me last week, and the subject of the Minnesota school shooting came up.
Here we are, just a couple of weeks into the new school year, and this report comes our way.
I asked my friend whether this news was of concern to the staff and students in his district, and he assured me that safety of the children in his charge, as well as the teachers and support staff, is of paramount importance.
It got a little more difficult on the subject of guns, but it gave me an insight into the issues face by schools. Many will agree that regardless of the cause, the children need to be and feel safe, and they want to do whatever it takes to accomplish that goal.
It’s clear to anyone that whatever measures taken so far have not stemmed the tide of violence. To me, that means that more of the same will not make a difference.
Minnesota has very stringent gun-control laws, including designating a host of areas, especially schools, as gun-free. The state also requires background checks for all weapons, including long guns that have a pistol grip, and even for private sales and gun shows.
There also is the Extreme Risk Protection Order, allowing judges to temporarily remove guns from people who are “deemed a significant risk of harming themselves or others.”
In our conversation, my friend and I were of the same thought that unless the root cause of violence is addressed, nothing will change.
In my estimation, society has become so accustomed to the lack of consequences that any reaction to negative stimuli can be excused. In this particular case, the shooter was identified as a 23-year-old trans woman; given that in many circles, transgenderism is viewed as a disorder (gender dysphoria), it should have meant that this person should not have access to firearms.
Banning “assault” weapons did not stop this shooting. The fallacy of a gun-free zone did not stop this shooting. Background checks did not stop this shooting. All of the laws and good intentions did not stop this shooting.
There was ample evidence, had a caring society bothered to look, of this person’s exceedingly angry mental state. It was there that the tragedy could have been stopped. Treat those that need help, incarcerate those that commit crimes, and send a message that these actions will no longer be tolerated.
The shooting didn’t stop the choir of voices calling for more gun control, gun bans, and the like. Conservative politicians were immediately lumped in with guns in the tragedy blame game, with the silent part being they should be banned, too.
However, punishing law-abiding people for the actions of criminals serves no purpose and solves nothing, because the problem is not the gun, but the intent to use the gun. That is what needs to be addressed.
Tony Farkas is editor of the Trinity County News-Standard and the San Jacinto News-Times. He writes opinion columns and his views do not necessarily reflect those of this newspaper. He can be reached at tony@polkcountypublishing.com.
