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Together Forward
Author: Will in Chicago
Date: 2012-12-20 11:00:46
It has been a little less than a week since the tragic events in Newtown, Connecticut where a man killed 20 children and six adults before turning the gun on himself. Even with the distance of time, the wound is still raw and many Americans ask how such a tragedy could happen in this country. We wondered why and search for answers to why this shooting happened and what can be done to prevent similar tragedies, a question that we have asked in the wake of other mass shootings since Columbine..
For myself, I was stunned as I have seldom been stunned. I have been a reporter, and covered murders. I have worked as a teacher and been in many classrooms. I have been in schools where several children in the surrounding neighborhood died each year. In one case, I showed up at a Chicago Public School where high school students walked out to protest the shooting of an honors student on a bus as he tried to push a friend out of the way of gunfire.
When I visited Northern Illinois University at DeKalb, Illinois in the wake of a shooting that left five people dead, I saw signs that said "Together Forward." In the wake of Friday's tragedy in Newtown, these words came back to me as I mourned and reflected on the deaths of the innocent and searched for answers.
The outpouring of sorrow and support for grieving families has been profound. There have been condolences offered throughout the world. Yet, we already have some politicizing of the tragedy.
Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), has called for more guns as ways to prevent gun violence. Some people are going even further.
The Washington Post reports that someone in Virginia wants teacher to be armed in the classroom.
In an article in Salon, The answer is not more guns, Alex Seitz-Wald examines the claim that more guns will make it safe and finds the argument wanting:
In the face of the public sorrow over the tragedy in Newtown, the president has called for a task force to look at our nation's gun control laws. According to a report in Reuters:
The story refers to a move by Cerberus Capital Management to get out of the gun manufacturing business.
For myself, I have always believed that dialog is crucial for democracy. If we do not speak up, the loudest voice in the room will often be the one with the biggest bankroll. Whether we are concerned with gun control, worry about Social Security changes under the( fiscal cliff negotiations that now appear to be stalled), global climate change or other issues, we must believe in our own power. As a student of history, it seems that the only thing that truly makes change is people putting pressures on leaders. Indeed, a good and moral leader needs to have the support of the public to help press for change if for no other reason than to help move others along.
I believe that we will be able to address the problems in our society and our world. We will need honest dialog and a variety of approaches. We will need both an outside strategy -- protests and actions by independent organizations -- and an inside strategy -- getting allies into positions of power. Whether it is through one small act , such as petitioning a member of Congress or protesting, or a larger act such as organizing mass movements or running for higher office, we have both the power and the responsibility to change this world. Even though the Occupy movement did not change all that it wished, it changed the national and international dialog on the issue of income inequality. Indeed, income inequality was perhaps the issue that brought down Mitt Romney with his remark on the 47 percent. (That remark was chosen as quote of the year by a Yale librarian who released his seventh annual list of memorable quotes.)
It is our task to remember that we can change the world and work to do so, in our own ways and in our own time. We may not all see the full growth of what seeds we plant, but others will harvest the fruit of the trees that we plant. The answer to horrific death and suffering is not to fall into despair and hatred, but to affirm life. The best way to honor the dead is to build a better world for the living.
For myself, I was stunned as I have seldom been stunned. I have been a reporter, and covered murders. I have worked as a teacher and been in many classrooms. I have been in schools where several children in the surrounding neighborhood died each year. In one case, I showed up at a Chicago Public School where high school students walked out to protest the shooting of an honors student on a bus as he tried to push a friend out of the way of gunfire.
When I visited Northern Illinois University at DeKalb, Illinois in the wake of a shooting that left five people dead, I saw signs that said "Together Forward." In the wake of Friday's tragedy in Newtown, these words came back to me as I mourned and reflected on the deaths of the innocent and searched for answers.
The outpouring of sorrow and support for grieving families has been profound. There have been condolences offered throughout the world. Yet, we already have some politicizing of the tragedy.
Congressman Louie Gohmert (R-Texas), has called for more guns as ways to prevent gun violence. Some people are going even further.
The Washington Post reports that someone in Virginia wants teacher to be armed in the classroom.
Va. bill would order schools to arm teachers
By Laura Vozzella, Updated: Wednesday, December 19, 11:54 AM
Del. Robert G. Marshall is proposing a bill that would require some teachers or other school staff to carry concealed weapons in schools.
Marshall (R-Prince William) requested that the bill be drafted in response to the mass shooting last week at a Connecticut elementary school.
Gov. Robert F. McDonnell (R ) said this week that there should be a discussion about whether school staff should be allowed to carry concealed weapons to protect children against intruders.
Marshall’s proposal goes beyond the governor’s comments, which were made in the course of a radio interview Tuesday. Marshall would not only allow staff with concealed handgun permits to carry them in schools, but require school districts to designate some staff members to do so. Those employees would have to be certified in gun safety and competence, Marshall said.
In an article in Salon, The answer is not more guns, Alex Seitz-Wald examines the claim that more guns will make it safe and finds the argument wanting:
Researchers at Harvard have conducted numerous studies comparing data across states and countries with different gun laws and concluded, quite simply, Where there are more guns, there is more homicide.
Daniel Webster, the director of the Johns Hopkins Center for Gun Policy and Research, explained in an interview: It's hard to make the case, as some have done, that right-to-carry laws will lead to an enormous increase in violence. That does not appear to be the case. But it also does not appear to be the case that there is any beneficial effect.
So if you want to argue that the reason we have so many mass shootings, the reason that the United States has a homicide rate about seven times higher than other developed countries, is because we don't allow enough concealed carry of firearms, the data just don't bear that out. And the thought experiment that you do is almost laughable," Webster added.
Colin Goddard, who became an advocate with the Brady Campaign after getting shot multiple times at the Virginia Tech shooting, put it another way: "If more guns would lead to less crime, then why is America not the safest place in the world, with 300 million guns?"
In the face of the public sorrow over the tragedy in Newtown, the president has called for a task force to look at our nation's gun control laws. According to a report in Reuters:
White House readies gun-control plan as more children laid to rest
By Edward Krudy and Peter Rudegeair
NEWTOWN, Connecticut | Wed Dec 19, 2012 6:15pm EST
(Reuters) - President Barack Obama assigned Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday to find ways to curtail gun violence in America to try to avoid tragedies like the elementary school massacre in Connecticut, where the town buried one of its heroes on Wednesday.
With Newtown still in mourning from last Friday's shooting, when a 20-year-old gunman shot dead 26 people at Sandy Hook Elementary School and then himself, Biden took the assignment to produce recommendations and to report back to Obama in time for the president's State of the Union address in late January.
Obama's initiative addressed national outrage over the shootings in Connecticut, which have prompted longtime gun-rights supporters to reconsider their positions and a major private equity firm to put its gun-making business up for sale.
The story refers to a move by Cerberus Capital Management to get out of the gun manufacturing business.
For myself, I have always believed that dialog is crucial for democracy. If we do not speak up, the loudest voice in the room will often be the one with the biggest bankroll. Whether we are concerned with gun control, worry about Social Security changes under the( fiscal cliff negotiations that now appear to be stalled), global climate change or other issues, we must believe in our own power. As a student of history, it seems that the only thing that truly makes change is people putting pressures on leaders. Indeed, a good and moral leader needs to have the support of the public to help press for change if for no other reason than to help move others along.
I believe that we will be able to address the problems in our society and our world. We will need honest dialog and a variety of approaches. We will need both an outside strategy -- protests and actions by independent organizations -- and an inside strategy -- getting allies into positions of power. Whether it is through one small act , such as petitioning a member of Congress or protesting, or a larger act such as organizing mass movements or running for higher office, we have both the power and the responsibility to change this world. Even though the Occupy movement did not change all that it wished, it changed the national and international dialog on the issue of income inequality. Indeed, income inequality was perhaps the issue that brought down Mitt Romney with his remark on the 47 percent. (That remark was chosen as quote of the year by a Yale librarian who released his seventh annual list of memorable quotes.)
It is our task to remember that we can change the world and work to do so, in our own ways and in our own time. We may not all see the full growth of what seeds we plant, but others will harvest the fruit of the trees that we plant. The answer to horrific death and suffering is not to fall into despair and hatred, but to affirm life. The best way to honor the dead is to build a better world for the living.
