Making Politicians Smarter in Tennessee

There are lots of ideas to make things better. That sounds like progress until you discover that most of those proposals don’t work. There was a shooting at a private christian school in Nashville this year. The press asked Tennessee Governor Lee what he was doing to “protect the children”. Lee needed a sound bite answer, so he proposed more gun-control because the press knows how to report on that. The fact that gun-control fails millions of times a year was irrelevant to the governor and the press. That is sad. It could be tragic. We can help fix it. In fact, we already know how to protect our children in school, but more voters have to hear about it or it will never happen in Tennessee.

Politicians will boldly go only where the public opinion polls have led them. We need to be informed voters so we can drive our politicians to make good decisions. Fortunately, we’re almost there. A recent poll in Tennessee showed that voters want us to enforce the laws we have rather than pass more knee-jerk gun regulations. It is almost as if we are smarter than our politicians.

It is easy to pretend that ink on paper will stop violent criminals. Passing new laws costs almost nothing and lets politicians issue a triumphant press release. Looking at the attack in Tennessee, this is what we find-

• The mass-murderer used a rifle, so let’s restrict rifles. Oops. It isn’t the gun. Most mass-murderers use handguns. We defend ourselves at home with a long gun far more often than mass-murderers use them to kill innocent victims.
• Let’s restrict young people from getting firearms. Oops. It isn’t the age. The mass-murderer was 28 years old. Licensed concealed carry holders who are under 21 are extremely law abiding. Young people are disproportionately the victims of crime and should not be disarmed.
• Let’s impose a waiting period so we reduce “violent crimes of passion”. Oops. Mass-murder isn’t a crime of passion. The mass murderer in Tennessee planned her attack for months. Most mass-murderers plan their attack for years. Victims of sexual assault and domestic violence want protection today and shouldn’t be disarmed.
• Let’s add a “red-flag” law so we can take people’s guns. Oops. Arresting the guns leaves a violent and crazy murderer on the streets. States with the most severe “red-flag” laws had some of the most mass-murders.

We already have laws in place to examine the mental health of someone who needs help. Relatives have to step up and ask for it. Doctors have to report when patients are a danger to themselves and others. We’ve seen doctors fail to do so. The mass murderer in Tennessee was being treated, but was not reported.

The state has to help those people in crisis, both the family of the mentally ill individual and the person who needs immediate treatment. The bad news is that mental health treatment is expensive and most states have a chronic shortage of beds in mental health treatment facilities. That means that law enforcement is thrown into being emergency mental health providers when a crazy homeless person breaks another window. We were supposed to treat the chronically mentally ill in local treatment centers rather than leave them living on the street as a homeless person.

We know how to protect our children from celebrity-seeking mass-murderers. Despite the publicity they receive, attacks on our schools are rare. Our children face larger dangers every day, like driving to school. We can’t afford to put a Navy SEAL at every classroom door. The good news is that more than enough school staff want to be volunteer first responders to protect the students and treat the injured. The wonderful news is that those programs work. We’ve never had an attack at a school that publicly announced a program of volunteer defenders.

The Tennessee legislature made it illegal for adults at school to defend their students with the same tools they might use to defend their family at home. Now we have to get old laws out of the way and solve the problem the legislature created in the first place. We can lead our politicians to do the right thing.
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I gave you 600 words. Please share them with a friend in Tennessee. RM