Uvalde, Texas, massacre spurs grief and anger from East Tennessee residents | Featured letters
It's not too late to prevent the next mass shooting
As I write this, on the morning after the shooting in Uvalde, Texas, I’m sitting in one of the thousands of classrooms around Knox County. It’s the last day of school and I’m thinking about my four nieces and nephews who are Knox County students. I’m thinking about my own children. And I’m thinking about the parents who, yesterday at this time, were saying goodbye to their own babies for the very last time without knowing it.
I grew up shooting guns. At the age of 17, I achieved the National Rifle Association Junior rank of Distinguished Expert. I own two guns, hidden under my bed, far from the ammunition they fire. Because I know that if those guns are handled irresponsibly, they could take away somebody’s child in an unchangeable instant.
It’s PAST time to do something. My plan, if I ever hear gunfire at the school where I teach, is to stash 30 kids in the closet while I wait with the largest, heaviest object I can find, thankful for the bullet-stopping cinderblock walls around us. I will keep these kids safe because I can envision too well the death their parents — YOU — will die every single day if I lose even one.
It’s past time for common-sense legislation. Reduce magazine capacity. Eliminate tactical stocks. Ban bump stocks. Mandatory background checks for any firearm transaction, public or private, sale or trade. We need a license and insurance to drive a motor vehicle, so how can we require less to own a firearm, an item whose sole purpose is to kill?
It’s too late for the kids at Robb Elementary, the people in Buffalo, Las Vegas, Parkland, El Paso, Sandy Hook, Columbine and so many others. But it’s not too late to prevent the next one.
Justin Mertz, Maynardville
Either/or approach to gun legislation isn't working
Following the mass shooting that killed 19 students and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas, politicians have generally responded in two different ways.
Appalled Democrats want to tighten weak gun laws and require universal background checks, noting that the mentally disturbed Uvalde shooter had no difficulty legally purchasing two assault rifles soon after his 18th birthday.
Concerned Republicans say tighter gun laws are not the answer. Instead, they argue we should limit and secure school entrances by hiring more armed security guards and training teachers to use and carry firearms. The thinking is that having more gun-carrying school personnel will deter potential attackers, or if a shooter does enter, armed teachers and security guards could swiftly respond and nullify the threat.
Ten years ago, the tragic Sandy Hook school shooting sparked urgent calls for action, but all legislative attempts to address the problem failed to pass. And despite repeated mass shootings since then, nothing has changed in Washington. If anything, the current polarized political climate makes it even less likely that either party will secure enough votes to pass meaningful gun safety legislation.
But what if instead of pursuing the same old "us against them," "either/or," "all or nothing," "my way or the highway" approach, truly caring politicians tried a "both/and" approach? What if our representatives in Congress took these tragedies to heart and worked together to create legislation that combines the best of both parties' proposals?
Polls show that most Americans favor some form of basic gun controls, including background checks. Also, increasing security at school entrances and having trained personnel ready and equipped to respond to any attacks seems sensible. Come on, lawmakers: No more "either/or" rhetoric, we need a "best of both" approach to gun violence now.
Bob Webber, Knoxville
Republicans are hypocritical about protecting life
Members of the Republican Party in Texas and across the country are guilty of the grossest hypocrisy. They pride themselves on defeating any efforts at gun control in the name of defending the Second Amendment, which in their minds is pro-life. The mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde make a mockery of their pro-life position. Texas Republicans enact the most stringent anti-abortion legislation to protect the unborn. But where is their protection for students from unfettered access to guns? Thinking it's OK to protect the unborn but not those already living is a gross hypocrisy that needs to be called out and somehow reversed.
Raphael Panitz, Knoxville
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Uvalde, Texas school shooting: East Tennessee residents mourn victims
