It is not uncommon for actual solutions to problems in America to be swallowed up by the vast politically-charged leviathan of mainstream rhetoric. Typically, competing interests suspend their antagonisms only when the precipice of an alarming situation is reached, thus resulting in a collaborative confrontation that ushers in real “common sense” change. Unfortunately, when it comes to school shootings, the phrase “never let a crisis go to waste” sets the narrative that both Republicans and Democrats see it as an opportunity to benefit.
Ever since the February 14 massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Broward County, Florida, not just the political world, but the public at-large has been embattled by a fierce debate on the nature and subsequent implementation of stricter gun control legislation. In response to greater calls to end school shootings and other gun-related violence in America, gun control activists filled the streets of Washington D.C. and other large cities across America late last month to show their solidarity for the victims of recent school shootings and express their disgust for elected officials who protect the Second Amendment.
Following the March for Lives, there have been calls by current and former elected officials, mainly Democrats, to revisit the 18th century document upon which this nation was founded and decide whether the Second Amendment is entirely necessary for an advanced society. Former Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens says politicians and demonstrators should seek more effective and more lasting reform by demanding a repeal of the Second Amendment that they claim will finally end the epidemic of violence in America.
In response to the progressive encroachment on this “God-given right,” conservatives have pushed back with demonstrations of their own. This past weekend, all across the country, pro-Second Amendment coalitions and organizations hosted demonstrations to show the government they have had “enough” of the subversive political rhetoric that threatens, what they argue, is the most crucial right of all. Midterm election candidates spoke to Second Amendment supporters donning “Guns Save Lives” stickers on their Trump T-shirts as they held their AR-15s and secured their sidearms in a public display of solidarity for those who are worried about government intervention and public disarmament.
Regardless of what “side” which one may claim membership, one thing is for certain when it comes to school shootings in America – both gun control and gun rights advocates are missing the point. School shootings are not about guns, they are defined by the violent nature that has stemmed from the loss of a cohesive family and community nature that enlivens a nation.
According to the Census Bureau, only 69 percent of America’s children live in a home where there are two parents present, down from nearly 90 percent in 1960. That was back in the days when children had shooting classes at some schools; in more rural areas gun racks were present on nearly every 4×4 truck in the parking lot, and “gun-free” zones were non-existent, yet school shootings were rare, very rare.
Moreover, during the time more school shootings have occurred, divorce rates have skyrocketed as over 50 percent of marriages end in divorce and subsequent second and third marriages fail at an even higher rate. Afterwards, homes are broken up, mothers and fathers are separated from being a combining force at the head of a family. Unfortunately, all of this has an effect on the collective American psyche, compounded in the nation’s children.
The problem is not that America is a more readily-armed society, but our values have changed. The way we see each other has changed. Our relationships with one another have changed. Our society has changed from a “we” generation to a “me” generation in the direction of individualism and away from communitarianism, causing the breakdown of the community and the family.
Furthermore, there is a cultural dismissal of men as valuable human entities via the rise of trigger warning-labled notion of “toxic masculinity,” throwing out the notion that a father, or even men in general, have something unique to offer. The ridiculous claims by radical feminists that a patriarchal social construct in the family has completely destroyed the fact that a solid family leads to a stable childhood, leading to a less violent American youth.
However, the mainstream media news cycles and advocates do not highlight the ever-prevalent epidemic of fatherlessness. That does not fit the narrative. The narrative from the left is gun control at any cost.
When its comes to providing better security for students, the nature of school shootings, according to progressives, is the tool used to carry out the feeling of violence. Therefore, banning the tool will keep the job from being completed right? Tools are a dime a dozen – violence will proliferate when it can.
That is America’s real problem. It is not guns, it is not bullets, they are only the tools used to carry out the violence they feel inside their heart.
Legislation will not fix this – one cannot legislate afflictions of the heart.
The solution is reversing the sense that only the individual matters. Gone are the days when people knew their neighbors, knew their community members, and interceded when things were wrong. Gone are the days of community solutions, which have been traded for government intervention.
School shootings will not be solved by marches, counter-protests, gun control, bullet control, or raising the age limit on firearms purchases. It will take every member of the vast American populous to reach out to their neighbor and build the community construct that has been lacking for decades. It will take leadership, not from politicians, but from everyone to combat the nature of violence itself.
