Time for action against mass violence

This latest school tragedy at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, which killed at least 19 students and two teachers, has played out too many times in the U.S. and it must stop.

What is being done and what can be done?

Recently, in response to gun violence around schools in Philadelphia, the school district told families that “periodic weapons screenings” will be conducted at six schools per day for students in grades six through eight. The effort aims to “avoid potentially dangerous situations,” the district said.

“In Harrisburg, we could pass meaningful gun reform, if we had enough elected leaders who actually gave a damn,” state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta said.

Kenyatta also underscored his three-point plan to address gun violence in Pennsylvania: Declaring a state of emergency, passing stalled gun safety legislation and addressing root causes of violence and investing in the youth.

“Too many communities here and across the nation have known the terror of a mass shooting, and too many communities deal with gun violence every day that may not make nationwide headlines but still leave fear, grief and heartbreak in their wake,” Gov. Tom Wolf said. “Gun violence has become entrenched in our nation, and the fact that our legislators at the state and national levels seem to be just fine with that is the greatest tragedy of all. I am heartbroken. I am angry. But I refuse to give up on calling on our lawmakers to enact common-sense legislation that protects Pennsylvanians.”

The governor has repeatedly vetoed bills from the state’s Republican-led General Assembly that would have loosened gun restrictions.

Wolf has also supported CeaseFire PA’s common-sense agenda to end gun violence, calling for the following basic gun laws to be legislated:

Require reporting for lost and stolen guns within 72 hours.

Close loopholes and require background checks on all gun sales.

Require safe storage of firearms to keep guns out of the wrong hands to prevent accidental injury/death and suicides.

Create “red flag” laws to protect those who may be a danger to themselves or others.

“Guns kill more Pennsylvania children than anything else because too many legislators have decided that has to be their fate. It’s not a law of nature, it is the law of man,” said CeaseFirePA Executive Director Adam Garber.

On the federal level, U.S. Senate Democrats are pushing bills that would expand background checks for gun purchases. Republicans seek better security measures for schools against violent attacks.

There are also common-sense gun laws we should push for both on the federal and state levels.

Since the Texas school massacre, a small bipartisan group of U.S. senators is pushing a federal “red flag” bill. The bill would allow authorities to temporarily seize firearms from people who are found to be a danger to themselves or others.

Please know that these legislative actions will not take away anyone’s Second Amendment rights. That is a myth.

What personal actions can each of us take? Help fix violence in your own homes and cities, by joining a town watch group, and if you see something, say something; make your home a “safe gun zone” or “gun-free zone,” if you legally have a gun at home, you can get free gun locks; if you find a gun in your home take it to a gun buyback event or any police station with no questions asked.

If you still want to know the importance of all of these actions becoming reality, just look at the violence in U.S. schools alone (never mind our supermarkets, churches and malls):

1999: Columbine High in Littleton, Colo. (13 killed)

2005: Red Lake Senior High in Red Lake, Minn. (Seven killed)

2006: West Nickle Mines Amish School in Nickel Mines, Pa. (Five killed)

2007: Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, Va. (32 killed)

2008: Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Ill. (Five killed)

2012: Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn. (26 killed)

2012: Oikos University in Oakland, Calif. (Seven killed)

2014: University of California-Santa Barbara in Isla Vista, Calif. (Six killed)

2014: Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Washington state (Four killed)

2015: Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, Ore. (Nine killed)

2018: Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Fla. (17 killed)

2018: Santa Fe High in Santa Fe, Texas (10 killed)

2021: Oxford High in Oxford, Mich. (Four killed)

Just in this list of school incidents and the Texas killings, 166 people died — not including the perpetrator or anyone killed off-site.

The only people who are going to save us — is us.