Guns don’t kill people… yeah right.
Guns don’t kill people… yeah right. School shooting this week in Minneapolis, the 44th school shooting in 2025. Two children dead and 18 other people severely injured. A different shooting in Minneapolis hours earlier; one dead, six injured.
School has not started yet for most Wisconsin kids and school should be a place where our kids and neighbors’ kids and grandkids are safe. The schoolchildren were shot through the stained glass windows of a Catholic church. The murderer killed themself behind the church. Robin Westman (the shooter) was a graduate of that Catholic school.
The cartoon character who leads the FBI, Kash Patel, says he will investigate the murders as an act of terrorism against the Catholic Church. Sorry, Kash, it is the guns. Period. As many have said, if the atrocity at Sandy Hook didn’t change people’s minds or change gun laws, nothing will, and so far they are correct. So what will the count be this school year? I know what I am about to write might offend some folks, so be prepared.
A week ago Saturday, we had a large group of our family in town for my husband’s birthday. They wanted to go to Kopp’s for custard and a burger. As we turned the corner onto Port Washington Road from Silver Spring, there were dozens of people, some of whom were children, holding up graphic signs of fetuses. They were protesting abortion. Which, as disturbing as it was, we too had children with us ages 3-16. Now, it is their right to protest. I am not suggesting we exploit the families of the hundreds of children who have been mowed down in schools, but how about a graphic AI of what a high-powered rifle does to the human body? Any human body.
Television sanitizes gun violence. Pop, they are dead. That is not how it works. I understand the Republican Party, the national gun lobbies, gun manufacturers, ammunition manufacturers and the National Rifle Association are complicit. What about the rest of us? How about a public service announcement warning us about the dangers of gun violence? We certainly won’t see any of those while the Republicans are in charge.
You also know in your heart, like I did when I was a teacher, that the people employed in our schools would lay down their lives for the children who are left in their care. But why should they have to? At the murder at the church, a fifth grader shielded his friend from bullets. These kids were praying when they got shot, so let’s not hear the stupid mantra of offering thoughts and prayers. They are all permanently traumatized.
There is certainly a lot to be concerned about in today’s world, with today’s president and his control of the Republican Party. But the issue of gun violence and the threat it faces our schools needs to remain a top priority for Democrats. I am grateful to our Democratic Assemblywoman Deb Andraca, who continues to push the issue of gun safety in the Wisconsin legislature.
What can you do? Call Glenn Grothman and Ron Johnson and tell them to support banning assault rifles. Thank Rep. Deb Andraca and help us elect more Democrats in 2026.