After the Parkland Massacre, Lawmakers Want to Arm Teachers. Students Want to Vote the Bastards Out.
Why does this keep happening? And what can be done to stop it?
These questions elicit a familiar routine in the wake of mass shootings like the Valentine's Day slaughter of seventeen students and teachers in Parkland, Florida. Gun control advocates decry the gun lobby and document the NRA's contributions to Republicans offering "thoughts and prayers" to the victims. Wayne LaPierre, the executive director of the NRA, serves platitudes about armed Americans stopping "bad guys with guns" and warns Second Amendment enthusiasts that the lefties are coming for their weapons. We watch the families of the deceased mourn, and we hear anguished survivors beg lawmakers for tougher gun laws.
Each time, people wonder if this will be the mass shooting that sparks change. And each time—at least to date—those hopes have been dashed by inaction.
Amid it all, North Carolinians have spent the last two weeks trying to make sense of the news. Some packed town halls, while others absorbed the updates quietly. Parents discussed school safety with their children, and lawmakers proposed policy changes. Reactions to the shooting and suggestions for preventative measures ran the gamut.
For some Republicans in the General Assembly, the conversation quickly turned to giving teachers guns. House Speaker Tim Moore, after announcing the formation of a school safety committee, floated the idea of arming teachers if school districts and police stations were on board. (If that happens, North Carolina would join eighteen states that already allow teachers to bring guns to school.)
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