This commentary is by Genie Rayner of Bennington, a writer, author and freelance editor.
May 24 was the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas. It feels to me like it happened just last week. Oh, wait — it did. Not in Uvalde, not six children dead, but it happened.
According to some reporting, there have been at least 200 mass shootings just in the five months of 2023.
The term “mass shootings” means that at least four people are shot. Even I can do that math: At least 800 people have been shot since Jan. 1. At least 800 people, many of them children, have been shot, many of them fatally.
How many more will be shot and die, how many more survivors will suffer lifelong trauma, how many parents, siblings, spouses, relatives and friends will grieve for the rest of their lives?
We keep hearing from politicians and pundits that “We aren’t like that,” “That’s not who we are.” Yes, we are like that, that is who we are because it keeps happening. And by not speaking out, we allow our leaders and citizens to keep doing nothing.
Despite the fact that Americans cite guns and access to firearms as the greatest threat to public health (Axios-Ipsos American Health Index, May 12-15, 2023, up 26% from February), most of our leaders do little about gun control — but oh, we have to ban books, we have to ban women from autonomy of their bodies, we have to ban drag queens reading to children (can they read to their own children, though?), and — oh, yeah — we have to ban menthol and other flavored cigarettes.
I give the Vermont Legislature credit for trying. The legislative session that just finished saw three bills that Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Baruth, D/P Chittenden, called “one of the most successful sessions for gun control advocates in recent years” (Vermont Democrats pushed through major firearms legislation this year. Will it hold up in court?).
The article continues: “This year’s roster consisted of S.3 — already signed into law — which bans paramilitary-style training camps such as Slate Ridge; S.4, which would primarily bring Vermont state laws on straw purchasing and serial number tampering in line with federal law; and most high-profile of all, H.230, which would implement safe storage rules, broaden existing red flag laws and institute 72-hour waiting periods for gun purchases.”
In March 2019, Jacinda Ardern, then prime minister of New Zealand, ordered a ban on semiautomatic weapons after two deadly attacks on mosques in Christchurch killed 50 people. It took six days to take effect. Six days!
She didn’t take her idea to a committee for deliberation. She didn’t wait for Parliament to vote. She didn’t run polls for pros and cons. She visited the Muslim community, she went to funerals, she grieved with them, and then she went to Parliament to make her announcement. She made an executive decision to issue an executive order: no more semiautomatic weapons of war in New Zealand.
At the time, Bernie Sanders tweeted that the U.S. needed to follow her lead. Why didn’t we? Why haven’t we? Are drag performers really more deadly than weapons of war? Are books more lethal?
No one except soldiers and Marines needs weapons of war. Period. No one. Not in Vermont, not in the United States, not for hunting, not for target practice, not for protection.
The enacted and proposed bills from this year’s state legislative session are good as far as they go, but there needs to be more: an executive order from Gov. Scott to ban semiautomatic weapons (don’t worry, you’ll probably get to keep the guns you already have, unless they’re ARs). The governors in the states around us and around the country need to issue the same executive orders. And, most importantly, the president of the United States must issue his own executive order: No. More. Semiautomatic. Weapons. Period.
The wording can probably be found in the records of the Parliament of New Zealand, March 2019. Even so, NZ isn’t perfect. One report I read on the Internet showed that its record of 2.6 people out of 100,000 being killed from guns went up to 3-something in the last two years. Apparently gangs have entered the cities. And Prime Minister Ardern resigned last year.
Still, who will have the cojones to be the first to emulate her to save children’s and friends’ and loved ones’ lives? (Maybe another woman?) It will likely take longer than six days, but if someone doesn’t do something soon, we’ll end up observing the anniversary of a deadly mass shooting every day of the year.