Back in the 1960s I was the Assistant Director of a social agency located in New York Cit’s East Harlem community. At this time the use of, primarily, heroin had gotten a stranglehold on the youth and young adults that our agency was seeking to help. Death by overdose was a common occurrence. Lives were torn apart, and safety was a distant memory for many of the community’s residents. Drug use created a much different culture, one characterized by being preoccupied with getting the next “fix” at any cost, including stealing from family and friends. The racial/ethnic composition of the East Harlem community was overwhelming Puerto Rican and Black, hence not a great deal of attention was given to the drug epidemic. It was only when some of the power brokers in Albany learned that their children were also using drugs, including those available by prescription. Drug use was no longer limited to the prescription drugs. and many a trip was made to the “ghettos” of New York City to buy drugs on the street. Following some of these children being arrested, the brokers in Albany began to fund all manner of programs, allegedly designed to treat those addicted. Do understand that the brokers to whom I refer were primarily white, as were their children. Drug use was no longer a problem for those other folks, it now was in the homes of the white majority and there was a rallying around the need to address the problem. It was a problem before it made it into suburbia, but it was one that was hidden by racial and ethnic prejudice and bias. The problem of drug use gained interest and attention when it impacted the broader community and hiding from it was no longer an option. Something had to be done and radical programs were funded. I am personally aware of some very shady programs that existed to fatten the bank accounts of those in charge rather than providing meaningful services and programs for the drug user. An example was a program housed in the basement of an individual’s home which provided, virtually, no services to address the problem of addiction, but it did provide sums of money for the director.
I mention what I have in the preceding paragraph to bring the current situation in this country into some focus. What I have attempted to portray is the reality that it matters who is affected before action is taken, meaningful or otherwise. Just a few days ago, six lives were snuffed out by a shooter armed with an AR-47 rifle. As we know, this occurred in a church-related school located in the Covenant Presbyterian church in Nashville. Six more lives lost and added to the following list of deadliest active school shooter attacks as reported by the New York Times: 1989, Stockton, California – 5 dead; 1992, Olivehurst, California – 4 dead; 1998, Jonesboro, Arkansas- 5 dead; 1999, Littleton, Colorado – 13 dead; 2005, Red Lake, Minnesota – 7 dead; 2006, Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania – 5 dead; 2012, Newtown Connecticut – 26 dead; 2014, Marysville, Washington – 4 dead; 2018, Parkland, Florida – 17 dead; 2018, Santa Fe, Texas – 10 dead; 2021, Oxford, Michigan – 4 dead; and, 2022, Uvalde, Texas – 21 dead. Indeed, these are sobering statistics, yet here we are, once again, just a year following the horrific tragedy in Uvalde and six more lives related to shootings that have occurred in schools. These are only school-related deaths. As reported in a recent article in Time magazine, there have been 50,000 gun-related deaths since early 2021 and 1,468 mass shootings or 1.8 mass shootings per day. What will it take for meaningful action to be taken at the state and federal levels. Will we have to wait until some legislator’s child becomes one of these statistics? Do not lose sight of the fact that the leading cause of death in the United States of children and teens is caused by firearms. Death by firearms has surpassed death by motor vehicles and other injuries. Although death by firearms is the number one cause of death for children and teens in this country, it is the fifth leading cause in other industrialized countries. Once aga, the “love affair” with firearms in this country is out of sync and magnified when compared with other countries.
In Tennessee were this latest tragedy occurred, the Republican Congressional Representative of Tennessee’s Fifth District, Andy Ogles, claimed to be heartbroken by the tragedy in his district. It is this district where the Covenant school is located. Yet, this Congressman, in the 2021 Christmas card that he sent out, showed he, his wife and two of his three children holding firearms in the family picture. The third child, I guess, was too young to hold the rifle. When confronted with this Christmas card, Ogles only comments where that he was defending his second amendment rights and that more attention needs to be given to the mental health needs of people in this country. This is the congressman who was heartbroken as he wielded his rifle for all to see. What is the message he is giving his children? Seems as if Tennessee has elected some interesting individuals to represent the state in Congress. The Republican Congressman who represents some of the Knoxville area, Tim Burchett, was quoted in an article published by Nexstar Media, Inc, by the following statement: “It’s a horrible, horrible situation, and we’re not gonna fix it. Criminals are gonna be criminals”. A really resounding statement of support for addressing this “horrible” event. When confronted with the question by reporters about how he would react if it were his child, his answer was “we homeschool them”. These men are in Congress voting on legislation that impacts all of us and it is quite concerning that they are so flippant about what took place in their state. Further, there is a callous disregard for the magnitude of this problem and that too, is cause for serious concern.
Over and over, the issue of mental health gets bantered about when these tragedies occur. I would agree that there is a need for more attention to be given to the mental health needs of individuals, but such attention needs to be sustainable and adequately supported, financially. It needs to be understood that treating an individual who is experiencing a mental health issue can be exceedingly challenging. It is quite different from treating some of the other common illnesses. Treating cancer, a heart condition, pulmonary problem, etc., is much more defined. Mental health problems are often not visible and are hidden in the recesses of the mind. There are drugs that can be of significant benefit, but it requires that a person take the medication as prescribed. It is here that the need for closer monitoring of those with mental health problems needs to be focused upon. While there is a need to address this critical area of need, it cannot become a “smoke screen” that clouds the larger need of getting some control over the use of firearms in our society. Do understand that I am not advocating removing guns from members of our society. I am advocating for greater attention to eliminating the use of assault rifles, the expansion of background checks, the use of red flag procedures and other regulatory actions. Do not lose sight of the fact that the 28-year-old shooter in Nashville had legally purchased all the firearms that she had in her possession. It was also reported that she had been receiving some treatment for a mental health problem. Given this knowledge, should she have been able to purchase firearms? Could this tragedy have been avoided with more careful attention to some of the regulations suggested, perhaps.
Briefly, let me note an additional concern. Not only can the problem of mental health treatment become a smoke screen there is another phenomenon that has come to light in the recent shooting. The 28-year-old perpetrator was a woman, but it is alleged that she referred to herself as being a man, hence the issue of Transgender has been raised. This too can become a distraction from the larger area of need. Whether or not the person is Transgender or not has absolutely nothing to do with what was done. Did it contribute to some level of anger that led to the shooting? We will never know. Did it influence the individual to make a statement supportive of being a Transgender person? Will probably not know that either. Let us not lose sight of the real issue and some of the real and practical answers.
As we reflect on the epidemic of mass shooting in our country, let us be mindful of one word that does not seem to go away. The word to which I refer is, “again”. After each of these tragedies that word surfaces – “again we have lives lost to the senseless act of gun violence. Again, Congress is called upon to pass legislation limiting the sale and use of assault rifles. Yet, again Congress has little to no interest in dealing with the problem. When will be the next occasion that this one word will be used—let us hope that it is not – again!