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On guns, we're as paralyzed as I was the day my nephew was shot: Montana governor

People want action on guns. But arming teachers is absurd and mental health is a separate challenge. We need to focus on what works to make us safer.

Steve Bullock
Funeral for Christian Riley Garcia, 15, killed May 18 in the Santa Fe High School shooting, Crosby, Texas, May 26, 2018.

In the spring of 1994 I was pulled out of my last class before graduating from Columbia University School of Law. That afternoon I learned my 11-year old nephew had been shot and killed on a playground by another student in Butte, Montana. Jeremy Bullock was the unintended victim of what was, at the time, our nation’s youngest school yard shooting. I felt paralyzed.

Last fall on opening day of hunting season, my son shot his first deer. He was prepared. We practiced the fundamentals of fair chase and reinforced his hunter safety course. As it has been for generations of Montanans that came before, it was a moment he and I will never forget.

Both experiences shape my views of gun policy, as a policymaker and a parent.

After the tragedy in Santa Fe, Texas, I once again heard the concerns expressed by parents and students. And, like governors across this country, I once again ordered our flags be lowered to half-staff.  In the five and a half years I have served as governor, it was the 13th time we as a nation have lowered our flags due to a mass shooting. 

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There are 22,000 suicides and 13,000 homicides involving guns each year. Literally hundreds of thousands of parents and loved ones have felt the way I felt since that day in 1994, and how I feel to this day.

As a nation, we are becoming really good at lowering the flag and offering thoughts and prayers. Yet, when it comes to confronting gun safety and gun violence, we are as paralyzed a nation as I was that day as an uncle.

Despite this paralysis, we know all Americans want to keep our families safe.

Americans calling for restrictions on weapons want their families to be safe. I know because I also support keeping guns out of the hands of people who should not have them. Every parent wants to drop their kids off at school knowing they aren’t in danger.

Americans calling for protection of the Second Amendment want their families to be safe. I know because I’m a gun owner who believes in the Constitution, yet also recognizes its limits. Two-thirds of Americans who own guns say one of the main reasons is to protect themselves and their families.

If we approach gun violence from the shared value of protecting our families and focus on what we have in common rather than what divides us, I am convinced we can make meaningful progress. We need to work towards a society where mass shootings and schoolyard deaths are not only illegal, they are unheard of.

Let’s dispense with shiny objects intended to distract from the issue. Arming teachers is absurd; period. Those licensed to carry concealed are not trained law enforcement officers, and we shouldn’t confuse the two. And mental health, while critically important for our nation to address, is a challenge requiring a separate set of solutions.

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Let’s focus on what works. Most gun owners are law abiding, yet too often guns get into the wrong hands. That’s why the first step ought to be universal background checks and cracking down on straw purchases of guns.

The overwhelming majority of Americans support comprehensive background checks. We know in the 19 states that have enacted them they have reduced gun violence and saved lives: 47% fewer women are shot to death by intimate partners, 47% fewer suicides by gun, and 53% fewer law enforcement officers shot and killed in the line of duty.

States across the country are implementing “red flag laws,” which save lives by allowing law enforcement or family members to ask a court to temporarily remove guns from those who might pose a danger to themselves or others. We also need to better protect victims of domestic violence from firearm violence.

After Parkland, the president called for a ban on bump stocks and placing age limits on who can purchase firearms; let’s hold him to his word. While we’re at it, let’s place greater limits on access to high-capacity magazines and weapons enabling those intent on terror to kill dozens in seconds.

Thoughts and prayers are not solutions. They are excuses.

As governor, I hear directly from the people I serve. They want action. They recognize that like most policy issues, there is no single proposal or prescription that will solve the issue of gun safety. But they are tired of the enormity and complexity of the challenge being the excuse for inaction.

As individuals and as a nation, we can no longer be paralyzed. We have to act.

Democrat Steve Bullock is the governor of Montana. Follow him on Twitter: @GovernorBullock

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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