A First Graders Shocking Answer to ‘How Was Your Day’

This post is coming from the perspective of a mom, that just wants her kids to be ok.

“We are having a drill in case a guy with a gun comes into the school with a gun and tries to shoot us” That was the answer my 1^st grader gave to “how was your day?”
The school had sent out a message earlier in the day that due to the recent events in Parkwood, sometime this week they would be completing a drill but that teachers and students would not be aware when it would happen as they had been in the past. The message made me want to cry. It’s not the schools’ fault, and I know they would prefer not do these drills but it’s necessary. I do my best to shield my kids from a lot of the news because there are things they can’t process and things they process differently than adults. All I could imagine when reading the notification earlier in the day was my kid having nightmares or developing a fear of going to school. Then… I get that reply to “how was your day?”.
I grew up in a house with guns (hunting rifles). Gun safety was drilled into us. I don’t have a fear of guns, I get that guns don’t kill people- people kill people. I get all of that. What I do not understand is why your everyday person would need a semi-automatic/automatic weapon. You want a gun to hunt with? Go for it. (Disclosure: You should be eating what you kill and not doing it just for the sake of killing it- but that’s another topic.)
It doesn’t make sense and if someone can give me a good, solid reason I’m willing to listen. Everyone wants to cling to the “second amendment right to bear arms” but do you know what the second amendment actually says?
“A well-regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed.”
That amendment was put into effect December 15, 1791. 1791. Well before automatic weapons can’t we agree? So, if a gang wants to refer to themselves instead as a militia and shoot people in their “territory” because they feel threatened it should be legal?
The Right To Bear Arms. What Does The Second Amendment Really Mean?
Overcoming Delusions About The Second Amendment

I have every right to defend my home

“If someone breaks into my home I have every right to defend myself and shoot them.” Ok, I see what you’re saying. My problem though with this defense is that as any gun safety material will tell you, your ammunition is supposed to be kept separately from your gun. So, you can’t make a quick decision on the simplest of questions, you can’t function in the middle of the night if you have to wake up to check on one of your kids BUT if there were an intruder you would go right into ninja mode and be able to get the gun, get the ammunition and aim.

I should be able to defend myself and carry my weapon on me

Let’s be real for a minute. If the world comes to the point where I need to carry a weapon on me out of fear that I need to defend myself on a daily basis- I don’t even think I want to be here. That’s just scary. You should consider changing where you hang out if this is your concern.

I guess next we will ban knives too?

That’s an excellent defense mechanism. That’s like, we ban heroin what’s next are we going to ban Tylenol? It’s irrelevant. An assault rifle compared to a knife which has multiple valid reasons for use?
Oh, because criminals go through legal methods to get these guns.
Well, the guy at Parkwood did. I understand that other criminals don’t but does that mean that we don’t do everything we can to prevent it? Even at best there are not accurate systems in place to keep guns legally out of the hands of mentally ill people. On top of that, how far do you judge it? That individual’s mental health? The mental health of their immediate family and the likelihood they could snap at some point?

Giving Teachers Guns Is Not The Solution

The idea that giving teachers guns to protect students is not the solution for a few reasons. First, are you going to pay their overtime for a required amount of shooting range practice and training each month? Making sure they can keep the weapon and bullets separate and load it and fire in a moment’s notice. Secondly, you hear about (although rare) teachers smacking a kid or throwing something at them. Do you think that particular teacher would hesitate with a gun? How about we take that energy and effort and put it into training teachers for signs of problems and having counselors to help those kids? I’m even all for hiring a security guard to walk the school but the idea of suggesting that we should give teachers guns is ridiculous. I’m surprised the suggestion hasn’t been to make Kevlar Vest and Helmets part of every school uniform.

This is how is starts….

The other common argument is, this is how it starts with them taking your guns away!! Ok. I’m not really seeing that but for argument’s sake- so we can’t control the use of opioids so let’s just put it in the shelf. Drug addicts are going to get it anyway. Just because we can’t get a handle on that doesn’t mean we take Tylenol off the shelf does it? Does that make sense?

We OWE Our Kids More

Let’s not be petty. We owe our kids so much more than that. I don’t understand how anyone can watch the kids from Parkwood travel to Tallahassee to plead with the government to make changes so this never happens again, say that we don’t need some type of gun control. Our children should not have to go to school in fear of a guy coming in with a gun to shoot them. I fully understand gun safety conversations with kids, but a conversation about staying super quiet so a gunman doesn’t come shoot them? That’s just not right.
I do not think the government should control everything that we do. There are things I think go overboard. The gun issue comes down to us, the people of the United States of America- coming together to say this is ridiculous and your everyday citizen has no reason for an assault rifle so why have them available?
Let’s not let this issue go. Don’t let it be the news of the week and then suddenly something else grabs our attention. THIS needs to be front and center. THIS needs a solution. We’re going around and circles and it’s to the point where kids themselves are having to go to Washington to try and fight for themselves.