The Kids Played Dead & Called 911

The stories and scenes from Uvalde, Texas this week made me cry. When, I spoke aloud in my empty living room, when will America say Enough is Enough? By the end of the day, 19 children from the Texas school, Robb Elementary, and two of their teachers were senselessly killed by an 18-year-old neighbor who had severely injured his grandmother and fired at others after he wrecked her truck while driving to the school. The children were 9, 10, and 11 years old and killed in their classrooms. The husband of one of the deceased teachers collapsed and died while he was preparing for her funeral. They left four children. Many of the dead and injured were related; some were cousins or nieces and nephews to others in this small town.

The shooter earlier wrote on an internet site he was going to shoot up a school. He had over 300 rounds of ammunition, many of which he fired in the school. The rifle he used is modified slightly from the weapons carried during the Iraq and Afghanistan wars by soldiers. It is a killing machine, and despite claims to the contrary, has no civilian uses. It destroys bodies, which is why parents were asked to provide DNA samples to identify the bodies of their children. As the parents in Uvalde were mourning their dead children, residents of Buffalo were burying the last of their dead from their massacre only ten days earlier.

Why are we continuing to allow disturbed 18-year-olds to purchase all the guns and ammunition they can afford? Why are none of their contacts on various odd chat spaces not reporting their threats and mutterings for death and destruction? Why cannot we enact universal background checks with at least a three-day waiting period? You cannot convince me that anyone has an emergent need for a semi-automatic rifle. Where are the red flag laws to remove guns from the homes of people who are having mental health issues? Why is there a federal law that requires a purchaser to be 21 for a revolver or other handgun but one can be 18 for an AR-15 style purchase? Why can't we have sensible lawmakers who could reinstate the assault weapons bans?

Why, why, why? I have a lot of questions but too few answers. Why do we have politicians that care more about lobbyists than dead constituents? Time to make some changes in Washington, we always hear. We don't need Mitch McConnell and his study committees. Did you see bipartisan police reform enacted, Senator Tim Scott? Whatever happened to Voting Rights reform and your bipartisan committee, Senator Manchin?  Where are the promises made to the Progressive caucus? Where were the bipartisan votes for a national right to choose law? We are not Charlie Brown playing football with Lucy; we are serious. Serious business is not getting done and certain things need to happen.

The stories coming from the scene are heart-wrenching. One girl, whose friend died and was covered in blood, lay on top of her and played dead, then called 911 and whispered her call for help. Another student crouched under his desk called 911 and told the operator to send the police now. Several students made nine whispering calls over 45 minutes, gave the operator their room numbers, and asked for help, but help was delayed. Sadly, the police were outside in the hallway, apparently unaware that live students were still in two of the classrooms alongside their dead and wounded teachers and classmates. Reports of the police inaction and treatment of the issue as a barricade situation instead of a live fire action with potentially more victims will long be debated and hopefully never repeated. Misdirection created by law enforcement officials and the Texas Governor about this issue angered many in the town and the media. The decision-making in this matter is now under review by the Department of Justice.

Interviews with a boy at the hospital showed a boy who was wounded by bullets in his shoulder who had not yet cried and was sober in his conversation. He apologized for losing his glasses and ruining his shirt. What does that child have to apologize for? Nothing that happened that day in Uvalde was his fault; no, it was adults making poor decisions that have allowed these situations to happen again and again. How can that child forget seeing his friends die and his teacher shot? How will the children mentioned above ever feel safe at school again? What are we doing to our children?

Today the Washington Post printed interviews with teens who had been in school at Sandy Hook during the shootings there, but who escaped and who are now graduating from High School. All three of the girls reported issues, from jumping at loud noises, not wanting to be alone, or increased anxieties with panic attacks or migraines. One girl, who was close to one of those children killed, remains afraid to have a best friend because she might have to go through the pain again of losing someone close to her. Another, who is an adult, survived the shootings at Columbine, worried for years about being chased, as she was one of many students who dashed out of doors and ran for their lives, hearing gunshots as they ran. She thought she had overcome her fears until years later, as a school counselor, she crouched in a darkened library in a "shooter drill" and heard someone rattle the doorknob. Her panic then led her into therapy.

A therapist interviewed for the article said children look to adults for protection and when they learn traumatically that the protection is not a given, their comfort with the world around them can crumble. He said that the more a traumatic experience shatters a worldview, the harder it is to recover.

Again, I ask, just what are we doing to our children? Thousands of students since Columbine have been exposed to school shootings; thousands of other families have been exposed to massacres in churches, synagogues, supermarkets, theaters, nightclubs, and public spaces. Facebook postings this week read:

ISN'T IT A SHAME THAT AMERICA LOVES ITS GUNS MORE THAN ITS' CHILDREN?

Can't we all make a group effort to make that statement false?

Amanda Gorman, a poet for our times, but one so young, understands in her poem

Hymn for the Hurting

Everything hurts,
Our hearts shadowed and strange,
Minds made muddied and mute.
We carry tragedy, terrifying and true.
And yet none of it is new;
We knew it as home,
As horror,
As heritage.
Even our children
Cannot be children,
Cannot be.

Everything hurts.
It's a hard time to be alive,
And even harder to stay that way.
We're burdened to live out these days,
While at the same time, blessed to outlive them.

This alarm is how we know
We must be altered —
That we must differ or die,
That we must triumph or try.
Thus while hate cannot be terminated,
It can be transformed
Into a love that lets us live.

May we not just grieve, but give:
May we not just ache, but act;
May our signed right to bear arms
Never blind our sight from shared harm;
May we choose our children over chaos.
May another innocent never be lost.

Maybe everything hurts,
Our hearts shadowed & strange.
But only when everything hurts
May everything change.

To this, I can only add–Amen.

Meanwhile, in Texas, the world continues, the National Rifle Association held its convention in Houston and all the Republican apologists for the gun industry showed up mouthing fealty to the gun industry. Senator Cruz kept tripping over his words, afraid to say anything negative about the availability of guns, and refused to answer a reporter's question about why this only happens in America. The gun industry by itself is doing just fine. The manufacturer of the latest killing machine, the AR-15 type rifle or DDMV4 rifle, Daniel Defense, has long marketed to children using cartoon or Star Wars figures and children in their semi-automatic rifle advertising (although such ads were taken down this week and replaced with the well-used "thoughts and prayers go out" phrase). A private company, it is known for aggressive marketing and opposition to any restrictions. However, after the shooting, the company removed its display at the NRA Convention and left the convention. Sales of bullets used rose this week as did the stock market prices for gun manufacturers.

In a few days, most schools will start their summer vacations, so we should have a few weeks free from school shootings. Wonder what venue will next catch the fancy of a young man with a gun, emboldened by videos, or internet fantasies and made braver by his simple ability to purchase body armor which cannot be stopped by the usual sidearm of local law enforcement. Wonder what tragedies will mar our summer because our elected officials will not do their jobs. By the way, semi-automatic weapons and large magazines are currently banned in Maryland, so stay away, bad guys!

According to the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence, several other states have restrictions on guns and ammunition currently:

State Assault Weapons Bans

Seven states and the District of Columbia have enacted state-level assault weapons bans. States with assault weapons bans include California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, and New York.

State Large Capacity Magazine Bans

Nine states and the District of Columbia have enacted large capacity magazine bans. These states include: California, Colorado (limit of 15 rounds), Connecticut, Hawaii, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Vermont (limit to 15 rounds for handguns).

Maryland also recently restricted sales of ghost gun kits, Gun carry restrictions in New York are currently being appealed and are under review by this Supreme Court.

So laws can be passed if there is a will and, apparently, a blue state legislature!

'Til next week, let's send thoughts of peace to all families in this world troubled by violence.