The latest school shooting, Tuesday in Maryland, ended about as well as could have been hoped. A school resource officer quickly engaged the shooter, who wound up dead after wounding two students with a handgun.
It was not immediately clear whether the assailant was killed by the officer or by his own hand. But we applaud the officer’s quick action in helping to keep Lexington Park, Md., from joining the ranks of Parkland, Fla.; Newtown, Conn.; and Blacksburg, Va., among the ranks of the United States’ deadliest school shootings.
At the same time, we lament the depravity that has this nation celebrating the fact that only two innocent people were shot at a high school. It is a shameful indictment upon the United States that school shootings have become a matter of routine; since the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Connecticut, there have been about 250 shootings on American campuses.
This is not normal, nor is it acceptable in civilized society. In recent weeks, articles in The Columbian have appeared under headlines such as “Ridgefield School District holds Safety Night,” “Preparing for the Unthinkable” and “Talking to Kids About School Shootings.” Local officials are to be commended for considering worst-case scenarios, but the fact that such preparations are necessary is an embarrassment for this nation.
Meanwhile, elected officials have been slow to act, ostensibly hoping that the furor following the Parkland, Fla., shooting will die down — a strategy that has proven successful in the past. The Legislature declined to consider a bill that would have, among other things, raised to 21 the minimum age for purchasing a semi-automatic rifle. Congress has demonstrated little desire to address the issue, and President Trump has tried to turn the focus toward a plan for arming teachers.
Regarding semi-automatic assault rifles, the answers should be clear. There is no reasonable justification for private citizens to own military-style weapons. Banning weapons such as the AR-15 — which has become the weapon of choice for mass shooters — should represent the low-hanging fruit of the gun-control debate. Arguments over the minimum age for purchasing such weapons should give way to discussion about a ban upon all sales of them.
When it comes to arming teachers, there is more room for debate, but the plan falls apart upon examination. Proponents will point to Tuesday’s shooting in Maryland as proof that a good guy with a gun can stop a bad guy with a gun. But what if a teacher had pulled a gun to stop the shooter and was mistaken for the assailant by the officer? What if a teacher had attempted to shoot the assailant and hit a student? Reams of data indicate that more guns equal more gun deaths; schools are not the place to test this theory.
In two incidents last week, people trained in firearm safety accidentally discharged guns in schools. When that happens to good guys with guns who have extensive training, we fear what will happen if large numbers of teachers are carrying weapons.
We also believe that a vast majority of Americans see clearly on this issue, despite the outsized influence of the National Rifle Association. There is a reason that hundreds of marches to protest gun violence are scheduled for Saturday, including at Esther Short Park in Vancouver and in downtown Portland. The reason is that it is disgraceful for Americans to be thankful when “only” two innocent people are wounded in a school shooting.
