Gun safety solutions are school safety solutions: Senator César J. Blanco
El Paso, Midland, Odessa, Fort Hood, Dallas, Sutherland Springs, Santa Fe, and now Uvalde. The State of Texas has suffered 8 mass shootings in the past 13 years - more than any other state in the United States.
As Texans continue to mourn the tragic mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde that claimed the lives of nineteen kids, two teachers, and one heartbroken husband and father, Texans are looking to their leaders and lawmakers for answers and solutions. Twenty-two families will never be the same. Instead of planning summer vacations and summer camps, these families are burying their children and will spend years in mourning. This is heartbreaking and tragic. What is also tragic, is that gun violence is preventable, and little to nothing is being done. Things have to change and I am hopeful that this time is different.
Our schools should be safe environments for children to learn and grow, not have anxiety. Parents should not have to fear for the safety of their children when they drop them off at school. Teachers should be focused on teaching, not worrying about being a human shield for their students or being asked to engage a gunman. Children should not have to attend the funerals of their friends and classmates who lost their lives to a preventable tragedy.
As a veteran, I know first-hand that semi-automatic assault rifles do not belong in our communities. These weapons are designed to inflict maximum bodily damage and target casualties as quickly as possible. No parent should ever have to bury their children. Moreover, no parent should ever have to bury their children in a closed casket because bullets leave them unrecognizable. This is the carnage these weapons inflict, mass shooting after mass shooting in our state and country.
Our kids and all Texans deserve better.
Thoughts and prayers not enough
After every mass shooting, leaders offer up thoughts and prayers, which are important, especially for the families grieving their loved ones - but they're not enough to prevent the next tragedy. These families want solutions to heal and prevent the next tragedy. I heard from them having attended their loved ones' funerals. They want their kids' lives to have meaning. We should be doing everything we can to keep our kids and communities safe. Not just some things; everything needs to be on the table.
Following the 2018 Santa Fe High School Shooting, the Texas Legislature passed more than 17 laws related to school safety. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent to harden schools and address mental health. There's no denying that mental health and school hardening is important and that we can do drastically better. However, little to nothing has been done to curb the extremely easy access to assault rifles in Texas. Any comprehensive and credible school safety solution must include strategies to keep guns, especially assault rifles, out of the hands of criminals and dangerous people.
Gun safety is school safety
Gun safety is school safety. After all, if more guns and easier access to guns made us safer, we'd be the safest country on Earth. But instead, guns are the number one killer of kids in our country, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In recent years, the Texas Legislature has extensively studied and discussed school safety and mass shootings in roundtables, commissions, and previous interim committee hearings. We have common-sense recommendations and solutions ready to go. In an environment where many people can't agree on much, the vast majority of Texans agree on expanding background checks, red-flag laws, and curbing access to semi-automatic assault rifles.
The Texas Legislature must find the courage to turn anguish into action. We cannot accept doing anything every time a tragedy like this occurs. Every day that passes without action is a dereliction of duty as lawmakers to protect our communities. Enough is enough. We must pass gun safety legislation to protect our children, teachers, and schools. Not just for the Uvalde community. Not just for the El Paso community, but all of Texas.
César J. Blanco represents District 29 in the Texas Senate
This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Gun safety solutions are school safety solutions: César J. Blanco
