Texas has made national news headlines again for the
horrific mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas that ended the lives of 19 elementary
school students and two teachers. The pictures of the children and teachers who
lost their lives from this senseless act that has saddened and angered all of
us. It is no secret that Texas has
become a fertile ground for mass shootings in recent years, facilitated in
large part by gun-friendly laws supported by Gov. Abbott and Republican
lawmakers. As illustrated by Figure 1 below, there have been 19 mass shootings
throughout the state since 1966. [i]
Robb Elementary, where the recent mass shooting took place, is a predominantly
Hispanic school in South Texas (shown as ID =1 on the map).
Figure 1: Mass Shootings in Texas by Counties
Figure 2 below further illustrates that the number of killings in mass shootings have been accelerating since 2015, a likely consequence of gun friendly legislation more recently adopted under Gov. Abbott’s leadership. Killings for 2022 reflect only the first five months of the year and likely to exceed all previous years assuming that no future changes are made in Texas law related to gun control.
Figure 2: Number of Killings of Texas Shootings During Gov. Abbott’s Leadership
According to unfolding news reports, the gunman gained
access through an open door in the rear part of the school that was supposedly left
open by a school teacher. Contradictory
statements were made about the presence of an armed resource officer although it
was later confirmed that a resource officer was not present during this time. Armed with two AR-15 semi-automatic rifles
and nearly 1,700 rounds of ammunition, the gunman shot his victims – some who
were unidentifiable due to significant amount of missing tissue. These were mostly fourth grade children who had
also made repeated calls to 911 while they were in the classroom pleading for
police to intervene, while numerous parents had gathered outside of the school
attempting to enter the school to rescue their children. These parents became more enraged when police
restrained them from entering the school, using tasers and other restraints – when
it became obvious that the armed police were delaying a forceful entry into the
classroom to neutralize the shooter. An
interview with a Dept. of Public Safety officer by CNN (5-28-22) pointed to the likelihood that
some officers were actually afraid to engage the shooter for fear of being shot
or killed themselves.
The Chief of Public Safety for the Uvalde school district
explained that he mistakenly classified the shooting as a barricaded situation
instead of an active shooter situation and decided to wait for a better
prepared tactical team to arrive. Admitting later that this decision was a
mistake, the delay of nearly one hour allowed the shooter sufficient time to
murder 19 children and two teachers and wound various others. Experts on mass shooting protocols explained that
there should not have been any delay in neutralizing the threat, and that the
intervention should have been made to eliminate the threat even if only one
officer was present. [i] As explained by Chief of Houston Police Art Acevedo:
“We don’t have all of the particulars right now, but when
gunfire is ringing out with, police are trained, expected, and required to
engage, engage, engage. This is a moral and ethical obligation.”
Considerable concern is being raised by parents and law
enforcement experts about the decision to wait one hour for a tactical team to
arrive. A relevant question: why was the decision by the Chief of Police for
the school district not challenged by any of the other 19 officers waiting in
the school hallway? Presumably, all had
received previous training on protocols for mass shooter situations which
required immediate action to eliminate a shooter.
The Mental Health Theory: An especially troubling
aspect of the Uvalde mass shooting is the extent to which Gov. Abbott tried to
explain the probable cause of the mass shooting in a recent press conference. At the press conference, Gov. Abbott
attempted to show his grief and despair at the loss of so many lives, which he
explained was a consequence of the shooter’s “mental health challenge” and that
the state needed to “do a better job with mental health.” [ii] However, several mental health experts
challenged this statement by explaining that mass shooters are usually
rationale and plan their shootings over time. Although the shooter did not show
any documented history of mental illness or criminal behavior, there were
several signs that were missed in social media postings -- instances of animal
abuse, threats to classmates and plans for a school shooting. As one expert
explained, the bigger problem is that “Texas and many other states are awash in
weapons and have more guns per capita than any other state. Despite
attributions to mental health as the underlying cause of the Uvalde mass
shooting, it is notable that Gov. Abbott recently slashed $211 million from the
department that oversees mental health for the state. [iii]
Thus, Gov. Abbott’s “mental Health”
explanation for the mass shooting lacks merit and is being used by Republican
lawmakers to distract attention from the need for sensible gun safety
legislation.
What We Know About Guns and Mass Shootings
It is helpful to understand the large presence of guns in
America and the violence that guns create.
As summarized by recent analysis: [iv]
- In 2020, firearms were the leading cause of death for American children;
- America has six times the number of school shootings than 26 major countries combined;
- There are more gun deaths in states where gun safety is weaker; and
- America has nearly 20 times more guns per person than the rest of the world.
Clearly, our nation is paying a heavy price for gun
ownership, especially as the guns and AR-15s are employed as a method to
express hate and anger towards selected subgroups. Those who are most at risk are schools and churches
whose lack of security makes them more attractive targets to mass shooters.
Recent actions by Texas lawmakers have made it easier for
mass shootings and other types of gun violence to take place in our state. Consider
the following:
Gun Control: Recent legislation allows Texas residents to
purchase a gun without a permit or gun safety training. The open carry law
allows gun owners to display their weapons in public, and one can buy an AR-15
semi-automatic rifle and ammunition at 18 years of age. The Uvalde shooter, in
fact, had just turned 18 years when he purchased the two AR-15 weapons and nearly
1,700 rounds of ammunition. Arms manufacturers like Daniel Defense [v]
have experienced significant sales of the AR-15 semi-automatic weapon since the
Sandy Hook massacre. In 2020, Daniel Defense sold 53,000 AR-15 rifles using controversial
marketing practices targeted to young adults. As the owner explained it,
customers are living under an increased state of anxiety about their personal
safety and feel the need to increase their level of protection. Daniel Defense is a strong supporter of the
NRA and often makes financial contributions to Republican lawmakers. Daniel
Defense is facing potential lawsuits for their marketing practices of assault weapons.
[vi]
School Safety Is Not a Funding Priority in Texas: News reports tell us that about 40 percent of
the school’s budget was dedicated to security, suggesting that the school
district had adequate funding to secure Robb Elementary. However, a series of
security blunders were partly responsible for the school shooting,
including: (a) the absence of a security
resource officer at the time of the shooting, (b) an unlocked back door to the
building where the shooter entered, (3) the failure to implement the school’s
lock-down procedure, and (4) incompetence shown by the Chief of Police for the
school district when he ordered 19 officers to wait up to one hour for a better
prepared tactical team to neutralize the shooter. Clearly, the school resource officers were totally unprepared, perhaps not well trained on mass shooter protocols, and
violated mass shooter protocols that required them to eliminate a shooter
without hesitation to save lives. The District’s school resource officers appeared overly
concerned with their own personal safety once the shooter was initially
confronted and allowed the shooter sufficient time to murder the children and
teachers. There is clearly a need to
consider replacing the current school district security team as well as their
leadership. More funding is clearly needed as well which needs to be better
focused on compliance with mass shooter protocols and perhaps using improved
technology to alert law enforcement authorities about such events at the moment
that the threat is identified.
Rather than invest in improved school safety, however, Gov.
Abbott has been more concerned recently about securing the Texas border from
the surge of immigrants. He has authorized the spending of millions of dollars
to fund Operation Lone Star, his politically inspired program to “secure the
border” using federal funds that were previously allocated to pandemic-related
programs. By several news accounts, Operation Lone Star has been a complete
failure and has contributed little to further Gov. Abbott’s gubernatorial
campaign.
Disturbing and Misleading Messaging: In recent media
interviews, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has been advocating specific
messages about gun violence: “Can’t stop
bad people from doing bad things,” and that “Good people with guns is the
solution to bad people with guns.” [vii]
Okay, Mr. Paxton, but why make it easier for mass shooters to take the lives of
innocent children? There is significant
evidence that gun violence has been dramatically reduced in communities that
have adopted stricter gun control laws. Paxton firmly believes that a better
alternative to school safety is to encourage teachers and the public to carry
weapons to defend themselves when necessary.
As evidence is unfolding in Uvalde, even armed and resource officers
failed to engage the shooter and waited instead for one hour for the tactical team
to engage and kill the shooter. It should be obvious that untrained or poorly
trained individuals are not adequate substitutes for experienced and trained security
personnel. Even at the critical moment of need, it appears that even armed school
resource officers were thinking twice about risking their own personal safety. The Paxton clichés are disturbing and contribute
nothing to solving gun violence in schools.
Cozy Relationship with the NRA: Texas lawmakers make no pretense about their
support for the values represented by the National Rifle Association, and
reinforced their position by hosting the NRA convention in Houston, Texas. Out of respect for the loss of lives in
Uvalde, however, most of the musicians scheduled to perform at the convention
cancelled their performance. Several
Texas lawmakers, including Gov. Abbott, Senator John Cornyn, and Senator Ted
Cruz, were also scheduled to present at the conference. Recent news, however,
revealed that Gov. Abbott had cancelled his presentation at the NRA and opted
instead to visit the Uvalde community on that day – a decision that resulted
from criticism of his presence at the conference. [viii]
Texas lawmakers have had another very important reason to
continue their support of the NRA. As
shown by Figure 2, Texas congressmen have received substantial funding from the
NRA, assuring an unbreakable bond that will continue to undermine progress
towards sensible gun safety laws. One wonders how long their opposition to gun
control legislation would last if the money dried up from the gun lobby. Whatever happened to representing the needs
of the voters who consistently voice their support in opinion polls for the
need to control gun violence? Indeed,
how is it possible to be pro-life in opposing abortion rights but
simultaneously be pro-death by supporting legislation that threatens the
lives of school children? How do these
politicians explain this contradiction to their own children and families?
Figure 2: Congress Members in Texas with the Most Contributions
from Gun Rights Groups
The NRA funding must give these congressmen extra comfort in
knowing that their political careers are more financially secure as long as
their support for NRA’s position on gun control remains unchanged and they
embrace the explanation that the tragic loss of lives was a consequence of
failed mental health. Ironically, one can make a stronger argument that the distorted
reasoning of these NRA financed lawmakers requires a check of their mental
health since it poses a continuing threat to public health. It is unfortunate that many Texas Republicans
have chosen to become passive spectators regarding the history of mass
shootings in Texas – taking comfort in the financial support received from the
gun lobby, using the unsupported theory that mental health illness is the
primary cause for mass shootings, and knowing that their constituencies are
gullible enough to believe even incredible lies about the lost Trump election.
Next Steps
Beto O’Rourke was correct to interrupt the recent press
conference by Gov. Abbott to remind those present that the Uvalde massacre was
predictable and that Gov. Abbott was doing nothing to prevent a repeat of this
disturbing pattern in Texas. There is also some indication that Uvalde
residents agree with Beto. Gov. Abbott
and President Biden both made personal visits to Uvalde this past weekend to
offer the support and comfort to the aggrieved community members and received
quite different receptions. President
Biden was received warmly by the community leaders and Uvalde parents that were
present; however, news reports revealed that Gov. Abbott was booed during this
visit by several persons attending his visitation. [1]
This disturbing pattern of mass shootings in Texas is not likely
to change course without dramatic action.
Perhaps now is the time to encourage Texas voters to re-evaluate their
support for lawmakers who continue efforts to block gun control and safety
legislation.
Public protest for sensible gun safety laws following the
Uvalde massacre has already begun by students, sports teams, non-profits,
celebrities and various other groups. Some deliberations are taking place with
bipartisan lawmakers regarding gun control although the likelihood of
compromise is not great based on past history.
Following is some food for thought to get the momentum going
for gun safety laws and improving school safety:
·
Let’s target lawmakers that remain opposed to
sensible gun control legislation by removing some of the benefits that they
currently enjoy. You may recall that various efforts were made over the past
year to encourage COVID-19 vaccinations because of the threat to public health
by unvaccinated persons. Perhaps
lawmakers could be “encouraged” to support gun safety legislation by having
sports teams deny them admission to their games or moving national conventions
to more supportive states or cities. Supportive lawmakers and the districts
that they represent could be rewarded by private corporations, sports teams,
and others by providing additional benefits for their support. In a CNN
interview today, Gabe Kapler, Manager of the San Francisco Giants baseball
team, announced his decision to protest the national anthem during games until
more progress is made on gun reform. [2] Sports teams and celebrities can be strong
advocates when their collective voice is heard throughout these heavily
publicized and attended venues.
·
Large retailers should be encouraged to stop
selling firearms and ammunition and rewarded by public agencies and consumers
when such policies are adopted.
·
Programs
to buy back firearms should be initiated or expanded, a program that was
supported by Beto O’Rourke.
·
Demands should be made to allocate funds to
expand and improve security in schools.
It was quite obvious that a series of security blunders contributed to
the Uvalde massacre. This profound
negligence likely resulted from poor training, inexperience and poor judgement
--- all factors that can be addressed through professional training and perhaps
replacement of existing personnel that fail to meet strict standards.
·
Red flag laws could have alerted police
departments about the purchases of the weapons and ammunition by the Uvalde
shooter. While this does not address the
availability of these semi-automatic weapons or the minimum age of 18 years to
buy these weapons, it would at least alert the appropriate authorities about
the potential for violence.
·
Social media networks should be required to
develop alert systems that can detect postings that point to a threat to public
safety and health.
·
Gov. Abbott stated recently that he was “livid”
about being misled regarding the police response to the massacre. Perhaps Gov.
Abbott should also be “livid” about the gun friendly legislation that made it
easier for the shooter to access the AR-15 semi-automatic weapons to end the
lives of the Uvalde children and teachers.
The failure of Republican lawmakers
to support sensible gun safety legislation must change since it poses a public
health threat similar to contagious diseases or environmental disasters. Our nation would never tolerate public
agencies being passive spectators to such catastrophic events, and it makes
even less sense to allow the gun lobby and Republican lawmakers dictate the
health and safety of our children. It is
clearly time to act boldly to diminish the influence of the powerful gun lobby
and its legion of lawmakers who have chosen to prioritize their political
careers and profits over the lives of our children.
Reference Notes
[1] Wikipedia
(2022 May 5). List of school shootings in Texas. Accessed at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shootings_in_Texas
[2] Fechter,
J. and Oxner, R. (2022 May 26). Authorities
took an hour to stop Uvalde gunman, raising questions about law enforcement
response at: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/26/uvalde-school-shooting-police-response/
[3] Aguilar, J.
(2022 May 25). In Uvalde, Abbott
focuses on mental health, Dan Patrick says Americans should turn to God. KERA
News, Accessed at: https://www.keranews.org/texas-news/2022-05-25/in-uvalde-abbott-focuses-on-mental-health-while-dan-patrick-says-americans-should-turn-to-god
[4] Hixenbaugh,
M. and Siemasko. C. (2022 May 25).
Abbott calls Texas school shooting a mental health issue but cut state
spending for it. NBCNews.com, accessed at:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/abbott-calls-texas-school-shooting-mental-health-issue-cut-state-spend-rcna30557
[5] Dunford,
D., Rao, G., Borrett, A. (2022 May 26).
Texas school shooting: Every US state affected – maps reveal scale of gun
violence in America. Sky News. Accessed
at: https://news.sky.com/story/texas-school-shooting-the-six-maps-and-charts-which-show-the-state-of-mass-gun-violence-in-the-us-12621141
[6] Yaffe-Bellany,
D. and Silver-Greenberg, J. (2022 May 28). New York Times, Accessed at: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/05/28/business/daniel-defense-rifle-texas-shooting-gun.html
[7] Penzenstadler, N. (2022 May 25). AR rifle
maker tied to Texas school shooting facing scrutiny, possible future lawsuits. USA
Today.com, Accessed at: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/investigations/2022/05/25/guns-used-uvalde-shooting-prompt-outcry-could-lead-lawsuits/9929998002/
[8] Strauss,
V. (2022 May 25). Texas official wants to arm more teachers.
Bad idea. Washington Post. Accessed at: https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2022/05/25/bad-idea-texas-arm-teachers/
[9] Zhang,
A. (2022 May 26). Greg Abbott, Dan
Patrick cancel in-person NRA convention appearances in wake of Uvalde mass
shooting. Accessed at: https://www.texastribune.org/2022/05/26/greg-abbott-nra-uvalde/
[10] Stanton,
A. (2022 May 29). Texas Gov. Greg Abbott Booed Upon Arriving at Uvalde School
Shooting Site. Newsweek.com, Accessed
at: https://www.newsweek.com/texas-gov-greg-abbott-booed-upon-arriving-uvalde-school-shooting-site-1711227
[11] Dotson,
K. (2022 May 27). San Francisco Giants
manager: ‘I don’t plan on coming out for the anthem going forward until I feel
better about the direction of our country’.
CNN.com, Accessed at: https://www.cnn.com/2022/05/27/sport/gabe-kapler-uvalde-national-anthem/index.html
[i] Wikipedia
(2022 May 5). List of school shootings in Texas. Accessed at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_shootings_in_Texas
