Perspectives: #NeverForget Also Needs To Apply To Everyday Gun Violence; Signs Of Hope On Anniversary Of Parkland
Opinion writers weigh in on gun violence on the anniversary of the Parkland Mass Shooting.
Sacramento Bee:
On Parkland Shooting Anniversary, Let’s Continue Push For Change
Mass shootings in affluent white communities dominate news cycles, but it’s the everyday gun violence that dominates the gun death rate — especially in marginalized communities. These include suicides by firearm, women shot by intimate partners and people killed in accidental discharges. Our #EnoughIsEnough and #NeverForget hashtags rarely apply to these forms of gun violence, but they should. (Austin Michael, 2/14)
Miami Herald:
Post-Parkland Shooting, Grief And Outrage Get Solid Results
Well, it’s been a year. ...But the ripple effect coming out of Parkland didn’t stop at Florida’s northern border. Rather it turned into a wave of action nationwide. According to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence, legislators, both Republican and Democrat, passed 67 new gun-control laws in 26 states and Washington, D.C. Several states, Florida included, passed red-flag, letting judges and other authorities temporarily remove guns from people deemed to be a danger. In fact, these measures made so much sense that even the NRA said it supported them. That is influence, powerful and enduring — we hope. (2/13)
Boston Globe:
A Year After Parkland Shooting, A Sign Of Hope
A year ago 17 students and staff members lost their lives, gunned down in what should have been the sanctity of their own high school. But gun violence knows no sanctuary. The students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Fla., now know that better than most. It changed their lives. It turned many of them into activists, preaching the gospel of stricter gun control laws. And they in turn have kept up the pressure on their elders. Today that activism is beginning to show results. (2/14)
The New York Times:
A New Model To Stop The Next School Shooting
The police picked the teenager up from his high school after a terrified classmate told her principal he had threatened to slit her throat. The classmate showed them his Instagram account, where he had posted pictures of the Charleston church gunman with the word “hero” underneath it, and a picture of their school captioned “Columbine 2.0.” The officers didn’t find any guns or explosives in his house, and couldn’t arrest him for the threat, because the girl was too scared to be interviewed. So they brought him in to our mental health crisis unit for an evaluation. (Amy Barnhorst, 2/13)
Boston Globe:
Manuel And Patricia Oliver: Our Son, Killed In The Parkland Massacre, Is An Eternal Activist
On Feb. 13, 2018, our son Joaquin Oliver watched his idol, Shaun White, win another gold medal at the Winter Olympics. He tweeted: “I love you Shaun White.” That was his last tweet. Then he asked his Dad to help him put together some flowers that he was bringing to Tori, his girlfriend, for Valentine’s Day. Joaquin was shot four times by a 19-year-old boy who used his credit card to purchase a Smith and Wesson AR-15, plus enough ammunition to kill our son and 16 others as well as injure 17 more during a rampage of less than 7 minutes inside his high school in Parkland, Fla. Joaquin (“Guac”) was 17, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. A fun, happy kid, always surrounded by friends and by us. (Manuel and Patricia Oliver , 2/13)
The New York Times:
Would Congress Care More If Parkland Had Been A Plane Crash?
When I arrived at school on Feb. 14, 2018, like any junior, I was mostly caught up in Valentine’s Day chatter and events. But that all changed in the space of a few minutes that afternoon when a gunman opened fire on my classmates and my teachers, killing 17 of them and injuring just as many.Despite the countless tragedies you see on TV, nothing prepares you for the day it happens to your community. (Jaclyn Corin, 2/13)
