Different Tragedy, Same Unproductive Response – The American Spectator

On Monday, the city of Nashville, Tennessee, was the scene of another gut-wrenching school shooting. A 28-year-old transgender individual with 2 assault-style weapons and a handgun murdered 3 adults and 3 children at a Christian elementary school. The police ultimately killed the shooter. Thus far, this latest tragedy has prompted the exact same response and unproductive discourse from Democrats that past shootings have.

Following the Uvalde school shooting in 2022, Democrats in the House passed a bill that would have banned large-capacity magazines (LCMs) and raised the age at which one could buy a rifle from 18 to 21. These measures would have been futile.

For starters, 70 percent of school shooters are already under the age of 18. And without access to LCMs, school shooters could — and do — use multiple smaller magazines. For example, in 2007, the Virginia Tech shooter, who killed 32 people, brought 17 magazines for his handguns, and most of those magazines only held 10 rounds.

In some rare cases, the need to reload more frequently as a result of reduced magazine capacity does create an opportunity to stop a shooter. But these extremely rare instances do not justify a ban on LCMs, as any ban on LCMs would greatly inhibit the ability of law-abiding citizens to defend themselves.

So, surely the Democrats will approach the issue of school shootings in a more productive manner this time around, right? So far, the answer appears to be no.

Democrats are responding to the Nashville school shooting with ineffective policy wishes yet again. President Joe Biden is currently calling for Congress to pass an assault weapons ban. And much like the political activist who confronted Sen. Ted Cruz at a restaurant in the wake of the Uvalde school shooting, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre questioned yesterday, “How many more children have to be murdered before Republicans in Congress will step up and act to pass the assault weapons ban?”

Pierre’s question is, quite frankly, abhorrent. The insinuation that the blood of children is on the hands of those who don’t support an assault weapons ban is insulting — and factually incorrect. Even the left-wing news site Vox admits that “[s]tudies on assault weapons bans have generally ranged from inconclusive to unfavorable toward a ban.”

Sadly, the lack of evidence supporting an assault weapons ban has not even stopped the mainstream media from going out of its way to cast Republicans as somehow complicit in these crimes. Last night, the Washington Post sent out a tweet with a link to an article and wrote: “GOP congressman from Nashville district ‘heartbroken’ by shooting. A 2021 photo shows his family with firearms.” The fact that the congressman owns firearms is completely irrelevant, but the Post felt the need to imply that gun owners are culpable for — or, at the very least, incapable of feeling saddened by — school shootings.

While the despicable tweet was deleted after backlash, the article linked to the original tweet, which highlights the same message, and remains up on their site.

Our politicians and the media must start discussing alternative solutions. It is the unfortunate reality that bad actors find ways to get their hands on weapons. Banning a certain style of weapon or certain magazine sizes will not solve this problem.

As I have argued in these pages before, good guys with guns make the world a safer place. So, all schools should consider placing some form of armed security in their buildings. Reducing the points of entry into schools and placing metal detectors at those points of entry should be discussed as well.

Calling to ban assault rifles or LCMs or blaming conservatives for the atrocities of school shooters wastes time when there are plenty of legitimate actions that can be taken to increase school safety. Democrats need to stop recycling their unproductive talking points and futile policies in the wake of school shootings and work with Republicans on solutions that could actually help make schools safer.

Benjamin Ayanian is a contributor for Young Voices, a PR firm and talent agency for young, pro-liberty commentators. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Yahoo News, and more. Follow him on Twitter @BenjaminAyanian.

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