I went to my children’s elementary school the Friday before Labor Day weekend to pick them up early for a short vacation. I was pleased to see they had changed their protocol for visitors. Over the summer, the school had installed a small window to the side of the main doors where you could check in and speak with a member of the staff. The front doors remained locked.
I signed my daughter and son out and waited for them just outside, also a part of the new protocol. In the 15 minutes I waited (I asked the staff member to make sure the kids go to the bathroom before coming out — we had a 5-hour car ride ahead of us), I started asking myself, how much safer is this really making our school?
As I sat on a bench, I looked around at the front double doors and wondered if the glass was bullet proof. I wondered if the glass in the new small side window could be shot through or the round silver speaker could be punched out. I gazed at the small horizontal window I knew went to the music room and thought someone small enough could climb through it.
It wasn’t exactly what I should be thinking about right before going on vacation with my family. And just a few days later, another school shooting in Georgia.
I realized, none of this mattered. If a shooter wants to get in, they will get in. The thing we need to do as citizens is take the assault rifle from their hands.
It’s the guns.
An assault weapons ban needs to happen.
It’s the guns.
Red flag laws need to be passed.
It’s the guns.
We need universal background checks.
It’s the guns.
We need to vote the GOP politicians taking millions from the NRA out of office.
It’s the guns.
We don’t want to take all of your guns away. We want to protect our children so they live to be adults.
This will continue to happen if we do nothing to change it. We don’t have to live like this. We are protecting our precious guns more than we are our own children. We need to do something. In November, I am voting like my children’s lives depend on it, because they do.
- Nicole L. Wroten-Craw, Beavercreek
The popular M*A*S*H TV show character “Hawkeye” once sent a telegram to President Truman with the question, “Who’s Responsible ?” On Sept. 7, CNN reported “Guns continue to be the leading cause of death for US children and teens.” That’s not the case elsewhere. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, in similar countries to the US, firearm deaths aren’t even in the top four causes of child deaths (KFF.org). The Washington Post on Sept. 4 also noted that the US has had 22 mass killings (as defined as 4 or more victims) using guns so far in 2024. As Prosecutor Ross boldly stated in the film” A Few Good Men,” “These are the facts, and they are not disputed.” To paraphrase Thomas Jefferson, the government we elect creates laws that control our lives, and the ability of Americans to live safely. “Who’s Responsible ?” We need only ask the mirror.
- Charles Cornett, Kettering