Lucas Gebhart
Editor-in-Chief
Last week, our country lowered our flag for something that has now become a part of everyday life in the United States.
On Feb. 15, our President ordered the flag of the United States to half-staff for normality, “As a mark of solemn respect for the victims of the terrible act of violence perpetrated on February 14…”
By now, we all know what happened. Person X walked into place Y and shot Z-number of people.
Mass shooting have always been part of the United States. Some shootings date as far back as the 1960s, but they are far more common now more than ever and our leadership has done nothing to change that.
Seven of the U.S’ ten most deadly mass shooting have happened in the last nine years.
But sometime between Colmobine and Parkland we seemed to unwillingly embrace this as part of our culture.
It now seems that mass shooting have become “an American thing” and that makes me absolutely sick to my stomach because an issue of public health is being blatantly ignored by our leaders.
Every time there’s a shooting, it’s the same old song and dance and our leadership from the lowest to the highest levels has done nothing to change it.
Mr. President, I’m tired of this song and I want a new dance.
A smart thing to do when something horrific like a mass shooting happens is to pass things that ensure that same horrific thing doesn’t happen again.
But your leadership has done very, very little of that, so stop lowering flags and start signing bills.
We lowered our flags after Pearl Harbor, but went to war with Japan.
We lowered our flags after 9/11, but passed the Patriot Act and increased security at airports.
We lowered our flag after Parkland, Sutherland Springs and Orlando, but we didn’t change anything when kids, church-goers and bar-hoppers were senselessly murdered.
You lower the flags, send thoughts and prayers and visit the victims in hospitals, but don’t change anything.
That’s not what leadership does.
Leadership changes things for the better and is there to help you up when you’ve been kicked to the dirt.
Well, we’ve been kicked to the dirt seven times in the last nine years and we haven’t been helped up yet, so stop lowering our flag and lend a helping hand.
Nowhere is safe anymore. Not bars or malls, not even church and school.
Newspapers can write all they want and Twitter can chirp with all its might, but a bill to help your nation seems far out of sight.
Your country needs you, Mr. President.
Your people are dying, your mentally ill are killing and you are doing nothing.
Please help your nation become great again.
Who has accepted this as normal? I’m not sure it is or should be up to the President to pass some sort of legislation to stop this or slow it down. I’m not sure there is a peice of legislation to stop or slow this down. Do you have a proper idea for legislation?
What bills have been presented for the President to sign?
Maybe we should start at the local community/government level including local law enforcement to come up with a plan to keep our schools safe. We can’t prevent everything but I’m sure we can make a difference. Check out what Garden Valley school district did. They are located just north of Boise.