Blaming Victims Rather Than Guns
by Bill Gouveia for the Sun Chronicle
The obsession with guns and the “freedom” they allegedly represent has reached new heights.
The latest sick and twisted message from the NRA and other pro-gun groups is that we should blame the victims and potential victims for school shootings. You see those kids walking out in respectful protest? It’s their fault because they have not been nice enough to their fellow students.
Gun advocates believe that fact there are no standardized national background checks to buy a gun is not the problem. Nor is the fact high school students can buy an AR-15 in many states. No waiting period to buy a gun in many places? That’s not the real cause of this violence, they claim.
The problem is that students aren’t nice enough to each other. It’s their fault.
Instead of walking out to bring attention to the need for better laws and policies, those kids should seek out the bullied, the troubled, the unstable and help them fit in. That would be more effective than urging their adult counterparts in government to strengthen and standardize gun laws.
That is such a self-serving, insensitive, and stupid argument.
Hey, I’m all for kids being kind and inclusive. Bullying is wrong, and kids are key in stopping it when they can. We can all be nicer to each other.
But it is sickening to see adults who have power pass the blame for their own shortcomings to kids who don’t. Are we this desperate to avoid responsible gun regulations nationwide?
Is this the most effective way to curb gun violence in schools? Should kids make friends with the kid who is killing his/her pets and making threats towards others? Sitting at the lunch table with an overly introverted peer might make him/her more sociable and involved. Or it could make that outcast more likely to obsess over you.
Is it possible limiting access to guns for that child might keep everyone safer? Don’t adults have the responsibility of keeping guns out of the wrong hands?
Oh no – we need more guns. We need to arm teachers, place more weapons in among the children. What could possibly go wrong with that idea? A school shooting was ended this week by an armed police officer stationed in the school, but that’s a sad but reasonable reality.
Clearly, this is not an either/or situation. We can and should do both. Bringing kids together and providing stronger counseling services should be pursued.
But in addition to strengthening gun laws — not in place of that effort.
Criticizing these kids for the responsible actions they have taken is akin to blaming the victim in a rape. We should show students as much respect and honor their place in our society as we do guns. Considering it is their lives being threatened, we should be proud these kids have assumed some responsibility for their own safety.
We blame poor mental health services. We blame video games. We blame declining moral values. We blame families. And now, we blame students trying to speak out. We blame anything — except the ease with which guns can be obtained.
Thank goodness our kids seem to get what so many of us don’t.
Bill Gouveia is a local columnist and longtime local official. He can be emailed at billsinsidelook@gmail.com and followed on Twitter at @Billinsidelook.
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