Free Daily Headlines :

  • COVID-19
  • Vaccine Info
  • Money
  • Politics
  • Education
  • Health
  • Justice
  • More
    • Environment
    • Economic Development
    • Gaming
    • Investigations
    • Social Services
    • TRANSPORTATION
  • Opinion
    • CT Viewpoints
    • CT Artpoints
DONATE
Reflecting Connecticut’s Reality.
    COVID-19
    Vaccine Info
    Money
    Politics
    Education
    Health
    Justice
    More
    Environment
    Economic Development
    Gaming
    Investigations
    Social Services
    TRANSPORTATION
    Opinion
    CT Viewpoints
    CT Artpoints

LET�S GET SOCIAL

Show your love for great stories and out standing journalism
CT VIEWPOINTS -- opinions from around Connecticut

On Guns and Security: A Parent’s Plea for Reason

  • CT Viewpoints
  • by Josiah H. Brown
  • January 3, 2013
  • View as "Clean Read" "Exit Clean Read"

I was in Manhattan on Sept. 11, 2001. The events in Newtown have affected me as nothing else since 9/11, now that my wife and I have children, ages 7 and 5. We try to shield them from a climate of anxiety that already seemed pervasive.

The National Rifle Association’s call for paramilitary school vigilance is — as New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said — “paranoid.” The NRA’s Wayne LaPierre warns of “genuine monsters” and the need “to stop a monster from killing our kids.”  Such a warped vision could make LaPierre the monster of children’s nightmares, if parents cannot deflect his ghastly portrait of schools, life, and risk.

The NRA is funded by gun manufacturers and distributors; their interest is selling guns. LaPierre urges Congress to “act immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every single school in this nation.”

Imagine if this country were to “act immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary” to ensure the success of “every single school in this nation.”

Most don’t need armed guards. As the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report, what young people need are fewer “adverse childhood experiences” — less stress, neglect, abuse, and violence. Much of that violence is made lethal by easy access to guns and ammunition. Too many shootings plague families and communities, including New Haven.

According to CDC data for 2010, deaths by firearm — from either suicide or homicide — ranked third among injury deaths, accounting for more than 30,000 funerals that year in the United States. Firearms caused 43 deaths of children ages 1 to 4 and 58 deaths of children ages 5 to 9. Firearms were associated with 107 homicides and 80 suicides among children ages 10 to 14, as well as more than 3,800 homicides and 2,000 suicides among ages 15 to 24, and so on, and on, and on.

One-third of the nation’s schools already have armed guards. Given real budget reductions in state and local government in recent years, the opportunity cost of arming tens of thousands of additional schools would be substantial.  With states and districts having cut back on teachers, librarians, and classroom aides, educators in many schools would recognize higher priorities than having someone “packing heat.” If armed volunteers were used systematically to supplement professional security personnel, deadly accidents would happen.

We don’t station firefighters everywhere or ban matches. Instead, we insist on measures — building codes, smoke detectors, sprinklers, regulation of explosives — to limit the risk of fire, to prevent a major conflagration.

It would be absurd to restrict adults’ access to kitchen knives because some individuals deploy them as weapons. Only a nihilist would declare that because an insane young man murdered his mother and attacked a school of innocents, all parents should routinely fear for their children’s safety.

But certain weapons and ammunition are different; it’s reasonable to minimize potentially dangerous use of them, particularly by unstable people. Closing the gun-show loophole to increase background checks, improving those background checks and databases, and limiting access to assault weaponry — including high-capacity magazines –should be part of a public safety effort that includes better mental health protections.

Schools are generally safe, notwithstanding concerns that led to metal detectors as well as armed guards in certain schools. School safety can be improved, but violence in our society — amid easy access to guns — is the bigger problem.

My father owns rifles and hunts. My grandfather was a hunter who owned many guns and gave me a .22 caliber rifle for my 11th birthday. The NRA doesn’t speak for us.

If zealots want to help schools and families, they should lock away their guns and calm their rhetoric. Volunteer to help a child learn to read. Mentor a child with an absent father. Coach a youth sport that doesn’t involve gunplay.

This is about how we define security, its reality and its perception. What actually makes our communities and families secure? What makes our children feel secure?

When my children are fearful, I soothe them. The mantra: Bad things can happen, so we take precautions to minimize risks while keeping those risks in perspective. Cars get into accidents, so wear a seatbelt. Smoking kills, so don’t smoke. Nutrition and fitness matter, so cultivate healthy habits.

Further stoking fear and swelling the gun supply would not be healthy, least of all for children.

Sign up for CT Mirror's free daily news summary.

Free to Read. Not Free to Produce.

The Connecticut Mirror is a nonprofit newsroom. 90% of our revenue comes from people like you. If you value our reporting please consider making a donation. You'll enjoy reading CT Mirror even more knowing you helped make it happen.

YES, I'LL DONATE TODAY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

SEE WHAT READERS SAID

RELATED STORIES
Redistricting in Connecticut 2021: It is worth your attention
by Patricia Rossi

This is the year for redistricting in the United States. Maps drawn in 2021 will define which voters can vote for which candidates for the next ten years.  That means ensuring that the 2021 maps are fair and representative of their communities is critically important.

Lembo: Legislators should let constituents share the success of their health plan.
by Comptroller Kevin Lembo

The health care crisis in Connecticut continues. Bills under consideration in Connecticut expand subsidies, attempt to lower prescription drug costs and address long-standing health care inequities. There is room to incorporate the best of each if it helps make health care in our state more affordable, equitable and accessible. But Senate Bill 842 is the only bill that provides short and long-term help for small businesses, nonprofits and certain labor unions.

Will the Comptroller open the state-run healthcare plan’s books?
by Wyatt Bosworth

What choices do you have when you cannot defend a policy issue on its merits? One path is that chosen by former New Britain Democratic Town Committee chair Bill Shortell in his April 14 Viewpoints opinion piece, “Debunking the CBIA’s takedown of the public option healthcare bill.” Instead of defending any perceived merits associated with the proposed expansion of state-run healthcare in Connecticut, Shortell attacks the messenger. In this case, two organizations that have raised legitimate —and unanswered— questions about that proposal.

Climate action now to insure Connecticut’s future
by Commissioners Andrew Mais and Katie Dykes

Connecticut has had nine weather-related federal disaster declarations in the past 11 years, totaling more than $362 million in damages. For Storms Irene, Sandy, and the 2011 October Nor’easter, insurers paid out more than $1 billion to cover insured damages in Connecticut. The climate crisis is upon us. The science is clear. We must act now.

College students in Connecticut should be vaccinated now
by Dayna Vadala

If the state of Connecticut wants its institutions of higher learning to return to normal in the fall, it’s going to have to get shots into the arms of the students.

Support Our Work

Show your love for great stories and outstanding journalism.

$
Select One
  • Monthly
  • Yearly
  • Once
Artpoint painter
CT ViewpointsCT Artpoints
Opinion Redistricting in Connecticut 2021: It is worth your attention
by Patricia Rossi

This is the year for redistricting in the United States. Maps drawn in 2021 will define which voters can vote for which candidates for the next ten years.  That means ensuring that the 2021 maps are fair and representative of their communities is critically important.

Opinion Lembo: Legislators should let constituents share the success of their health plan.
by Comptroller Kevin Lembo

The health care crisis in Connecticut continues. Bills under consideration in Connecticut expand subsidies, attempt to lower prescription drug costs and address long-standing health care inequities. There is room to incorporate the best of each if it helps make health care in our state more affordable, equitable and accessible. But Senate Bill 842 is the only bill that provides short and long-term help for small businesses, nonprofits and certain labor unions.

Opinion Will the Comptroller open the state-run healthcare plan’s books?
by Wyatt Bosworth

What choices do you have when you cannot defend a policy issue on its merits? One path is that chosen by former New Britain Democratic Town Committee chair Bill Shortell in his April 14 Viewpoints opinion piece, “Debunking the CBIA’s takedown of the public option healthcare bill.” Instead of defending any perceived merits associated with the proposed expansion of state-run healthcare in Connecticut, Shortell attacks the messenger. In this case, two organizations that have raised legitimate —and unanswered— questions about that proposal.

Opinion Climate action now to insure Connecticut’s future
by Commissioners Andrew Mais and Katie Dykes

Connecticut has had nine weather-related federal disaster declarations in the past 11 years, totaling more than $362 million in damages. For Storms Irene, Sandy, and the 2011 October Nor’easter, insurers paid out more than $1 billion to cover insured damages in Connecticut. The climate crisis is upon us. The science is clear. We must act now.

Artwork Grand guidance
by Anne:Gogh

In a world of systemic oppression aimed towards those of darker skintones – representation matters. We are more than our equity elusive environments, more than numbers in a prison and much more than victims of societal dispositions. This piece depicts a melanated young man draped in a cape ascending high above multiple forms of oppression. […]

Artwork Shea
by Anthony Valentine

Shea is a story about race and social inequalities that plague America. It is a narrative that prompts the question, “Do you know what it’s like to wake up in new skin?”

Artwork The Declaration of Human Rights
by Andres Chaparro

Through my artwork I strive to create an example of ideas that reflect my desire to raise social consciousness, and cultural awareness. Jazz music is the catalyst to all my work, and plays a major influence in each piece of work.”

Artwork ‘A thing of beauty. Destroy it forever’
by Richard DiCarlo | Derby

During times like these it’s often fun to revisit something familiar and approach things with a different slant. I have been taking some Pop culture and Art masterpieces and applying the vintage 1960’s and 70’s classic figures (Fisher Price, little people) to the make an amusing pieces. Here is my homage to Fisher -Price, Yellow […]

Twitter Feed
A Twitter List by CTMirror

Engage

  • Reflections Tickets & Sponsorships
  • Events
  • Donate
  • Newsletter Sign-Up
  • Submit to Viewpoints
  • Submit to ArtPoints
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Commenting Guidelines
  • Legal Notices
  • Contact Us

About

  • About CT Mirror
  • Announcements
  • Board
  • Staff
  • Sponsors and Funders
  • Donors
  • Friends of CT Mirror
  • History
  • Financial
  • Policies
  • Strategic Plan

Opportunity

  • Advertising and Sponsorship
  • Speaking Engagements
  • Use of Photography
  • Work for Us

Go Deeper

  • Steady Habits Podcast
  • Economic Indicator Dashboard
  • Five Things

The Connecticut News Project, Inc. 1049 Asylum Avenue, Hartford, CT 06105. Phone: 860-218-6380

© Copyright 2021, The Connecticut News Project. All Rights Reserved. Website by Web Publisher PRO