Memorial for the 21 victims of the Uvalde school shooting.Photo: Elaine Aradillas
In the wake of themass shootingat Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, Americans are grieving and looking for answers on how to stop gun violence from infiltrating more schools and communities.
The recent tragedy left19 elementary students and two teachers dead. The disturbing pattern of school shootings has shaken parents across the country. It’s been only 10 days since 10 people were killed in amass shooting in Buffalo, New York, in what officials described as a racially motivated attack that targeted Black people, and 10 years since the 2012Sandy Hook Elementary Schoolshooting, which killed 20 first-graders and six educators.
Parents have expressed fear over sending their kids to school, including a mother of a third-grade student who survived the shooting at Robb Elementary, who toldPEOPLE, “I do not want my son to go to school in America anymore. … This is too dangerous.”
Robb Elementary School.Brandon Bell/Getty Images
PEOPLE Every Day podcasthost Janine Rubenstein spoke to Shannon Watts, founder ofMoms Demand Action, to ask what Americans should know and what we can do now to help stop gun violence in our schools and communities.
PEOPLE: Do guns in schools make kids safer?WATTS:It’s not true. The data does not show us that arming teachers or school resource officers makes anyone any safer. In fact, what you see are people accidentally leaving their loaded guns in bathrooms or on desks. We also know that Black and brown students are disproportionately disciplined, and then you add guns in the mix … that would be terrifying for parents.
Mourners at a vigil for the victims.Brandon Bell/Getty Images
What is “hardening” schools and is there any evidence that it saves lives?[The “hardening” of schools pertains to adding visible security measures, like security cameras and metal detectors, to schools in an effort to alleviate fears and to show the community that schools are taking action to keep kids safe, according to a study published inViolence and Gender, a peer-reviewed journal.]
WATTS:When you look at things that lawmakers have blamed, it’s everything from too many doors, and now it’s not enough doors, violent video games, mental illness, godlessness, single parenting, Ritalin. The list goes on and on, and it’s always everything but easy access to guns, right?
Let’s put into perspective what we know. We know that [the Uvalde] school district had its own police force. We know that it had a security guard. We know they had invested tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars in security systems. It wasn’t enough to keep this 18-year-old with a semiautomatic rifle from massacring elementary school students and teachers. It isn’t about making our schools like prisons. It’s about keeping guns out of our schools in the first place.
Jordan Vonderhaar/Getty
Is mental illness connected to gun violence?WATTS:Mental illness is always a go-to [talking point] because it’s such an amorphous idea, that you can’t pin a lawmaker down on what they mean. When you look at America compared to peer nations, we rank ninth in mental illness issues. We are not more mentally ill, but we have a 26 times higher gun homicide rate than any peer nation. That would point to the fact that [the focus should be on] easy access to guns. I also want to say that it’s so stigmatizing to people who are mentally ill. People with mental illness are much more likely to be victims of violence instead of perpetrators.
Additional answers to frequently asked questions:
What are the deadliest school shootings to have occurred in the U.S.?The deadliest school shootings since 1970 include17 dead at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, in 2018,26 dead at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Connecticut, in 2012, and13 dead at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, in 1999,The New York Timesreports. Others include:
TheBureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF)states that shotguns and rifles, and ammunition for shotguns or rifles, may be sold only to individuals 18 or older. All firearms other than shotguns and rifles, and all ammunition other than ammunition for shotguns or rifles, may be sold only to individuals 21 or older. However, if state law or local ordinances establish a higher minimum age for the purchase or disposition of firearms, then the licensee must observe the higher age requirement.
Although you must be 21 to buy firearms from a licensed dealer under federal law, Texas law only requires you to be 18 or older to purchase any type of firearm, which is how the Uvalde gunman was able to legally purchase two AR-15s right after his 18th birthday.
Which U.S. Lawmakers receive the most money from the NRA?U.S. lawmakers have continued to rack up millions of dollars in donations from gun rights groups. OpenSecrets, the non-partisan campaign finance research group, maintains a list of the top recipients of NRA and gun rights groups' funds, with data updated as recently as May 16, 2022.
Mitt Romney.Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call
Below are the lawmakers who received the most funding from the NRA — either directly or indirectly — according to OpenSecrets data.
For detailed accounts on what each lawmaker has received, their recent take on the shooting and when each of them are up for reelection,read here.
Tips for calling members of Congress from theAmerican Psychological Associationinclude:
source: people.com
