It’s way past time that we love our kids more than we love our guns. Firearms are the number one cause of death for our youth.
We just witnessed another tragic shooting in a Georgia high school. The shooter was a 14 year old with an assault rifle he should never have had access to. The tragic loss of four innocent lives, and injuries of multiple others, will traumatize the 1900 students, staff, and families for the rest of their lives.
Why does this keep happening? Our Minnesota legislature passed common sense gun safety laws that if passed on a national level could save countless lives
According to a 2021 national firearm survey, “4.6 million American children live in households with at least one loaded and unlocked firearm.” If we care about our kids, we can act now to demand a national safe storage law, and hold accountable those who allow youth to have access to weapons used in firearm related crimes. Reports suggest that authorities had investigated whether the shooter had access to firearms in his home a year ago and determined he did not. Obviously, authorities were misled or the situation in the home changed.
Other common sense laws that have been shown to save lives include extreme risk laws, also called red flag laws, banning the sale of semi automatic assault style weapons to those under 21, and requiring background checks on all gun sales.
It is also important that schools are adequately staffed to meet the mental health needs of their students. School counselors, nurses, social workers, psychologists, teachers, resource officers, and support staff all play vital roles in establishing a safe and supportive environment in our schools. Too many of our public schools do not even have a nurse, or have large student to staff ratios that make it difficult to form meaningful relationships with students.
This is another example of why elections matter and why I am running for office. We must continue to enact data-driven policy here in Minnesota and across our nation. Hopes and prayers are needed, but they are no substitute for effective policy.
As the late, great Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone said, “If we don’t fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize we don’t really stand for them.”