The Columbine shooting on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, occurred when two teens went on a shooting spree, killing 13 people and wounding more than 20 others, before turning their guns on themselves and committing suicide. The Columbine shooting was, at the time, the worst high school shooting in U.S. history and prompted a national debate on gun control and school safety. The debate continues.
About six weeks after Columbine, one of our Britton students pulled a false fire alarm. We identified the perpetrator as one of the high school seniors who was about to graduate. The school code of conduct called for an immediate ten-day suspension. The student was suspended, and his parents appealed our action to the Board of Education. The suspension took him through the end of the school year, and as a result, he wouldn’t be able to take part in the graduation ceremony.
During the hearing, a board member who thought we were being too tough asked, “What do you think this is? Columbine?” A year prior, a school shooting in Arkansas began with a pulled fire alarm. The perpetrators pulled the alarm and shot students as they exited the building. I did what I did, because I thought it was the right thing to do. The Board upheld the suspension, but he was allowed to “walk” in graduation.
The following year the school districts in our county brought in a gun safety expert to aid with the development of lockdown procedures and gunman in the building protocols. I recall standing next to him as we walked our hallways and he pointed out our “shooting lanes”, single points where a shooter could do the most damage without entering a classroom. There have been over 230 school shootings since that pulled fire alarm, and no one knows when the next alarm will result in more deaths.
The school shooting in Uvalde, Texas is the most recent in a series of senseless shootings. As the shootings continue, the public, and our politicians continue to debate the issue of gun regulation. There are no easy answers, and no matter what action might be taken, there will be more shootings. While some would have us turn in all our guns, the naysayers point out that the bad guys will find some no matter what we do. Surrendering all of our guns is not the answer. We can, however, take action to curtail some of the violence.
A gun waiting period is the legal requirement of a certain number of days that must pass after purchase before a buyer can take possession of a gun. The idea behind having a waiting period for guns is that it creates a buffer, or “cooling off” period. By delaying immediate access to the weapon, it can aid in the prevention of gun violence. The gun waiting period for purchasers depends on the state the person is buying it in or from. How long it takes to buy a gun could be anywhere from a matter of minutes to several days. State and federal laws mandate different waiting periods for guns.
Michigan has several proposed changes to current law that could help deal with the issue. They address waiting periods for prospective purchases, the safe storage of guns, universal background checks, magazine capacity limits, and protecting the victims of domestic abuse. The federal government has proposed legislation ready to be voted upon as well, but both our state and federal legislators are holding these changes hostage. It’s time to say yay or nay so we know where our leaders stand. If we don’t like the position they take, we’ll have the opportunity to vote others in. Doing nothing, and maintaining the status quo, is not the answer.
No legislation will prevent bad people from doing bad things. News of gun violence will continue, no matter what we do, but we must do something. As for me, I’ll be letting my elected leaders know where I stand, and I’ll ask them to do the same, because I’ve had enough