An Open Letter to My American Friends
Realistic steps to making schools safer and to stop school shootings.
I have traveled, lived and been all over the United States from New York to Texas. from Boston to Washington and Baltimore to Los Angeles. I have seen America. I have met many wonderful Americans. As a Canadian, Americans have been very good neighbours. Because we are neighbours, we have a unique perspective on American life and when we see these mass school shootings we are as shocked as the rest of the world is, perhaps even more so. And I want to give my perspective and possible ideas and solutions to this terrible problem of the killing children in high schools.
First, most importantly, everyone needs to understand that America has guns and they will have guns in the future. It is in their constitution and it is part of their culture and part of their history. They fought the British using guns to take over the country. Canada did not do this to become a country. But America did. And they followed that up with a Civil War. In Canada, we’ve had a culture of gun laws and gun control. In 1871, Canada enacted our first gun laws and we have continued all the way up to the most recent times of trying to control gun usage. So from the beginning of Canada we had gun laws but in America they had the second amendment which protects people's rights to carry and have guns. So we must accept that Americans will carry guns and will have guns in their possession and at least half of the country want guns or want the second amendment protected as a right. We must accept - whether we agree or disagree, like or dislike, it is a fact and a truth.
Now for those of you who want gun laws and gun control. that may be possible, and good luck to you - as a Canadian I can say that most of us agree with you - but it’s going to take dozens of years before any gun control has an impact on what is happening in America. In Canada, we had our major gun control laws happen in 1969 and by 1996 we still had 22% of people in Canada owning and carrying guns. That's almost 40 years of gun usage even though we had strong gun laws. So even if you win the gun control battle, you’re not going to get rid of your guns. That doesn’t mean don’t stop fighting for it but let's realistically expect a gun problem to continue for the next several decades. And that means school shootings will continue.
The second most important truth that we must realize is honesty. CNN and Time Magazine released an article stating that in 2018 there were 22 school shootings. Basically one school shooting a week. If you read the article and it’s posted on my website, it is categorically incorrect. There were shootings on school grounds or parking lots, or there were children playing with BB guns or there were adults shooting other adults at or near a University. This article is wrong. And it hurts the gun control movement. It is not factual. When we think about school shootings we think about someone walking into high school and shooting children. The media cannot lie and say there have been 22 school shootings in America. That is false. There were other types of shootings but they were not school shootings. So we must be honest to understand the problem. In actual fact, there have been three school shootings (Kentucky, Florida and Texas) where an adult or a child went into a school and tried to kill multiple students. To my American friends, this is high and unacceptable. While you can point to school shootings in other countries, the fact is that we have had six school shootings in Canada...in my lifetime. And I am 47 years old. That is one school shooting in every 7.8 years that I've been alive. You have had 3 school shootings in 2018. That's one every other month in 2018.
The last major point that we must except as a truth is that in each school shooting the child or the adult shooter had mental issues. It could have been depression. The shooter could have been bullied. The person had a mental issue. And that’s a fact gathered from a Secret Service research document that states characteristics of school shooters. They were loaners with mental issues. Their mental issues built and built and built upon themselves. They may have considered suicide. They may have also been mocked or teased thus the need for revenge. When we look at the boy in Texas or Florida both appear to have been bullied and were seeking revenge. So as teachers, we need to be very careful to watch this type of behaviour and build respect in our classrooms.
Therefore, we have three truths:
So how do we fix it?
First, we need to except mental illness as a serious problem that needs to be focused on in schools and among parents. There needs to be mental health specialists hired by schools and school boards to speak to kids and to parents so that we can recognize certain behaviors before they become worse. In Texas or Florida and even in the case of Toronto Van Attacker, these people had mental issues that were growing developing and getting worse up until the point that they snapped. So it is critical to get people into schools and into the parent groups and get that discussion happening. Education is essential but also having professionals on site for students to talk to is equally important. Arming teachers with guns or bringing in more security guards or building elaborate metal detection systems is not the answer. Hiring people to help kids navigate the teenage years and the issues they are facing and making them feel ok, is much more important to prevent mass shooters.
Next, the issue of background checks needs to be improved in the US. The background checks are not working. Most killers in these mass shootings obtain them legally through gun dealers. How? Well they have no criminal background and their mental illnesses have not been documented by physicians or mental health specialists. Many of these killers are also under the age of 25 or close to the age of 25 so there is an argument that the US could raise the age of gun purchase to 25 years old. Now I understand many gun owners disagree with this so I propose that if someone under the age of 25 wishes to buy a gun then they need to go through a thorough background check which would include a visit to a mental health specialist. Only with a doctors certificate could a young adult under the age of 25 be given a gun. In addition, individuals under 25 would need a guarantor who would help teach the young adult about guns, about gun safety and about gun laws. This person could be a family member or another individual who is over 25. I know the argument is that when someone is 18 or 21 they are considered adults under the law and and they can serve in the military and fight in wars but would not be able to buy a gun in America? While that is true, those people serving in the military are trained, they are taught how to use a gun and they are taught gun safety - so that argument doesn’t wash with me. If a person under 25 is professionally trained, then of course they could bypass this 25 year old condition. Now, if you want to lower the age from 25 to 21 or 18 or whatever your state feels comfortable doing, that’s an acceptable compromise but someone still needs to be responsible. You could even say: OK if you’re 18 and you buy a gun then you need to graduate up and take certain tests or exams until you reach a point where the state, the government, the guarantor feels comfortable that you are ready to be a responsible gun owner. Background checks need to be combined with gun training, gun knowledge and gun respect under the supervision of a guarantor who is a responsible gun owner.
Lastly, I would suggest that the United States needs to strengthen some of their gun laws in order to hold criminally liable people who are the guarantors. If you are allowing your child to have a gun, if you are a doctor giving permission for this child to have a gun or even if you are a gun dealer who is selling to people under the age of 25, then these people need to accept responsibility for gun control over young people. And if a young person goes out and mass murders their schoolmates then these individuals who approved their children having guns or they had guns in their house in their gun safe and didn’t have enough protection then these people need to be held responsible. My thought process goes to drinking and driving laws where bar owners and servers can be held responsible for people who get into their cars, drunk, and go out and kill a family in their car. Bar owners and servers need to take positive steps to prevent drinking and driving from happening. Likewise, guarantors of gun holders need to ensure the public that they are doing all they can to ensure gun safety, gun respect and gun training.
In summary, my theory for America to get a better handle on school shootings is to
Many of you out there may think that my idea is not enough. Or even too much. Why doesn't the US just ban guns. Why don’t they ban automatic weapons. This cannot happen in the United States. It is part of the American culture and constitution. For those that want to try to change and make gun control realistic - I say good luck - but remember even if you are successful tomorrow you will still have guns and their effects for the next 30-40 years of your life as gun control laws take effect. Therefore, the US needs to take these realistic steps now to protect children in schools so they can study safely, without the fear of being shot.
First, most importantly, everyone needs to understand that America has guns and they will have guns in the future. It is in their constitution and it is part of their culture and part of their history. They fought the British using guns to take over the country. Canada did not do this to become a country. But America did. And they followed that up with a Civil War. In Canada, we’ve had a culture of gun laws and gun control. In 1871, Canada enacted our first gun laws and we have continued all the way up to the most recent times of trying to control gun usage. So from the beginning of Canada we had gun laws but in America they had the second amendment which protects people's rights to carry and have guns. So we must accept that Americans will carry guns and will have guns in their possession and at least half of the country want guns or want the second amendment protected as a right. We must accept - whether we agree or disagree, like or dislike, it is a fact and a truth.
Now for those of you who want gun laws and gun control. that may be possible, and good luck to you - as a Canadian I can say that most of us agree with you - but it’s going to take dozens of years before any gun control has an impact on what is happening in America. In Canada, we had our major gun control laws happen in 1969 and by 1996 we still had 22% of people in Canada owning and carrying guns. That's almost 40 years of gun usage even though we had strong gun laws. So even if you win the gun control battle, you’re not going to get rid of your guns. That doesn’t mean don’t stop fighting for it but let's realistically expect a gun problem to continue for the next several decades. And that means school shootings will continue.
The second most important truth that we must realize is honesty. CNN and Time Magazine released an article stating that in 2018 there were 22 school shootings. Basically one school shooting a week. If you read the article and it’s posted on my website, it is categorically incorrect. There were shootings on school grounds or parking lots, or there were children playing with BB guns or there were adults shooting other adults at or near a University. This article is wrong. And it hurts the gun control movement. It is not factual. When we think about school shootings we think about someone walking into high school and shooting children. The media cannot lie and say there have been 22 school shootings in America. That is false. There were other types of shootings but they were not school shootings. So we must be honest to understand the problem. In actual fact, there have been three school shootings (Kentucky, Florida and Texas) where an adult or a child went into a school and tried to kill multiple students. To my American friends, this is high and unacceptable. While you can point to school shootings in other countries, the fact is that we have had six school shootings in Canada...in my lifetime. And I am 47 years old. That is one school shooting in every 7.8 years that I've been alive. You have had 3 school shootings in 2018. That's one every other month in 2018.
The last major point that we must except as a truth is that in each school shooting the child or the adult shooter had mental issues. It could have been depression. The shooter could have been bullied. The person had a mental issue. And that’s a fact gathered from a Secret Service research document that states characteristics of school shooters. They were loaners with mental issues. Their mental issues built and built and built upon themselves. They may have considered suicide. They may have also been mocked or teased thus the need for revenge. When we look at the boy in Texas or Florida both appear to have been bullied and were seeking revenge. So as teachers, we need to be very careful to watch this type of behaviour and build respect in our classrooms.
Therefore, we have three truths:
- guns are not going to go away quickly in America even with gun control law
- the media needs to be honest about the school shooting problem
- the shooters felt like loaners, had mental issues and considered suicide
So how do we fix it?
First, we need to except mental illness as a serious problem that needs to be focused on in schools and among parents. There needs to be mental health specialists hired by schools and school boards to speak to kids and to parents so that we can recognize certain behaviors before they become worse. In Texas or Florida and even in the case of Toronto Van Attacker, these people had mental issues that were growing developing and getting worse up until the point that they snapped. So it is critical to get people into schools and into the parent groups and get that discussion happening. Education is essential but also having professionals on site for students to talk to is equally important. Arming teachers with guns or bringing in more security guards or building elaborate metal detection systems is not the answer. Hiring people to help kids navigate the teenage years and the issues they are facing and making them feel ok, is much more important to prevent mass shooters.
Next, the issue of background checks needs to be improved in the US. The background checks are not working. Most killers in these mass shootings obtain them legally through gun dealers. How? Well they have no criminal background and their mental illnesses have not been documented by physicians or mental health specialists. Many of these killers are also under the age of 25 or close to the age of 25 so there is an argument that the US could raise the age of gun purchase to 25 years old. Now I understand many gun owners disagree with this so I propose that if someone under the age of 25 wishes to buy a gun then they need to go through a thorough background check which would include a visit to a mental health specialist. Only with a doctors certificate could a young adult under the age of 25 be given a gun. In addition, individuals under 25 would need a guarantor who would help teach the young adult about guns, about gun safety and about gun laws. This person could be a family member or another individual who is over 25. I know the argument is that when someone is 18 or 21 they are considered adults under the law and and they can serve in the military and fight in wars but would not be able to buy a gun in America? While that is true, those people serving in the military are trained, they are taught how to use a gun and they are taught gun safety - so that argument doesn’t wash with me. If a person under 25 is professionally trained, then of course they could bypass this 25 year old condition. Now, if you want to lower the age from 25 to 21 or 18 or whatever your state feels comfortable doing, that’s an acceptable compromise but someone still needs to be responsible. You could even say: OK if you’re 18 and you buy a gun then you need to graduate up and take certain tests or exams until you reach a point where the state, the government, the guarantor feels comfortable that you are ready to be a responsible gun owner. Background checks need to be combined with gun training, gun knowledge and gun respect under the supervision of a guarantor who is a responsible gun owner.
Lastly, I would suggest that the United States needs to strengthen some of their gun laws in order to hold criminally liable people who are the guarantors. If you are allowing your child to have a gun, if you are a doctor giving permission for this child to have a gun or even if you are a gun dealer who is selling to people under the age of 25, then these people need to accept responsibility for gun control over young people. And if a young person goes out and mass murders their schoolmates then these individuals who approved their children having guns or they had guns in their house in their gun safe and didn’t have enough protection then these people need to be held responsible. My thought process goes to drinking and driving laws where bar owners and servers can be held responsible for people who get into their cars, drunk, and go out and kill a family in their car. Bar owners and servers need to take positive steps to prevent drinking and driving from happening. Likewise, guarantors of gun holders need to ensure the public that they are doing all they can to ensure gun safety, gun respect and gun training.
In summary, my theory for America to get a better handle on school shootings is to
- provide better education and better opportunities to meet mental health specialist in schools for both parents and students.
- Second raise the age to 25 for the purchase of a gun unless they have doctors permission that states they are mentally stable and can handle a gun and/or someone would act as guarantor or be responsible for them such as a parent until the age of 25.
- If these young adults go out and commit a crime with the gun or a mass shooting then the guarantors, the doctors, the gun dealers could be held liable.
Many of you out there may think that my idea is not enough. Or even too much. Why doesn't the US just ban guns. Why don’t they ban automatic weapons. This cannot happen in the United States. It is part of the American culture and constitution. For those that want to try to change and make gun control realistic - I say good luck - but remember even if you are successful tomorrow you will still have guns and their effects for the next 30-40 years of your life as gun control laws take effect. Therefore, the US needs to take these realistic steps now to protect children in schools so they can study safely, without the fear of being shot.
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