On Feb. 2, 1996, a 14-year-old boy walked into a high school class in Moses Lake, Wash., killed the teacher and two students, and wounded another student. The nation, and the media, were shocked and horrified; appalled, astounded, and surprised; revolted, dismayed, and upset.
A year later, a 16-year-old with a shotgun opened fire in a Bethel, Alaska, high school, killing the principal and a student, and wounding two others. The nation, and the media, were horrified and appalled, astounded and surprised, revolted, dismayed, and upset.
On Oct. 1, 1997, another 16-year-old, part of a six-student conspiracy, killed his mother, then two students at Pearl, Miss., High School. He wounded seven others. The nation, and the media, were appalled and astounded; surprised and revolted; dismayed and upset.
Two months later, in West Paducah, Ky., a 14-year-old killed three students, and wounded five others. The nation, and the media, were astounded and surprised; revolted, dismayed, and upset.
On March 24, this year, two boys, 11 and 13, in combat fatigues, waiting in ambush near a middle school in Jonesboro, Ark., killed a teacher and four students, and wounded 10 others. The nation, and the media, were surprised and revolted; dismayed and upset.
Exactly one month later, in Edinboro, Pa., a 14-year-old killed a teacher at a middle school dance. The nation, and the media, were revolted, dismayed, and upset.
On May 19, in Fayetteville, Tenn., three days before graduation, an 18-year-old killed a boy in a high school parking lot. The nation, and the media, were dismayed and upset.
Two days later, in Springfield, Ore., a 15-year-old, with a .22 semi-automatic rifle and a 9-mm. handgun which he had bought for $110 from another student the day before, fired 51 shots in a high school cafeteria, killed two students, and wounded 21 others. Police later found both of his parents dead at home. The nation, and the media, were upset.
That same day, another 15-year-old in Washington kidnapped his girlfriend then committed suicide; in Jersey Lake, Texas, a .38 calibre handgun in a boy's backpack accidentally went off, and the bullet tore into the leg of a 15-year-old girl; in St. Charles, Mo., police arrested three sixth-grade boys who planned to pull off a copycat sniping similar to the one in Jonesboro. Philadelphia schools officials confiscated more than 300 guns, 2,500 knives, and 8,000 other weapons last year. There was hardly a whimper on the media meter.
My friend Marshbaum was shocked and horrified; appalled, astounded, and surprised; revolted, dismayed, and upset. "How dare them!" he bellowed.
"You're right," I replied. "Kids who can't even get a driver's license shouldn't be allowed to own guns."
"You crazy?" Marshbaum bellowed. "Of course they should own guns! Guns are what makes America free. It's what guarantees all our other rights."
"Then why are you so shocked and adjectivally-effervescent this morning?"
"Because those children were killing out of season." "There's no season on humans," I said.
"There's a season for everything. Deer. Bear. Bunny rabbits. We need seasons for humans. Thursdays in May might be Pubescent Boy Killings; Fridays could be Adolescent Girls season."
"I suppose there will be rules, just as in hunting?"
"If you're under 12, you get a junior license, and need a parent's permission to lock and load."
"The FBI Uniform Crime Report states 81 percent of Americans believe the availability of guns is the root of increasing violence," I said. "A Louis Harris poll reveals more than half of the Americans support bans on handguns. Seventy percent of gun owners themselves support stricter controls. There's no reason to give children guns."
"Second Amendment says there is."
"The Federal courts and chief justice Warren Burger said the Second Amendment applies to organized militia, not to the Charlton Heston Brigade."
"No one listens to the Supremes?" Marshbaum snapped. "We need to kill children."
"You need a lobotomy," I sharply retorted.
"We kill a million deer a year in Pennsylvania," said Marshbaum. "That's to thin out the herd so they don't starve or eat the flowers from the edge of the asphalt malls that took away their gamelands. Anyhow, that sounds better than saying we're blasting Bambi because we enjoy a testosterone rush."
"Killing violates the Sixth Commandment."
"Humane societies kill 17 million dogs a year in this country because there's too many dogs and not enough condoms. Census Bureau says we're breeding four million children a year. By 2000, there will be a million more children than now. Kill off a few hundred thousand and the rest will survive to carry on the species."
"That's completely ridiculous."
"Not any more ridiculous than the NRA's arguments against gun control."
Walt Brasch is professor of journalism at Bloomsburg University. His latest book is "Sex and the Single Beer Can," a caustic look at the media. Rosemary R. Brasch assisted on this column.
Reprinted with the Author's Permission.
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Walter M. Brasch, Ph.D.
Professor of Journalism
Bloomsburg University
Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania 17815
e-mail: brasch@planetx.bloomu.edu
http://planetx.bloomu.edu/~brasch
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