COLUMN: Guns, not schools, are the problem
By Lisa Pett
Leave it to Dan Kontos to accuse others of using the bloody massacre in Uvalde, Texas, as an excuse to politicize the situation, while at the same time sticking a few political jabs himself, specifically, about schools recognizing kids’ gender identities.
All while ignoring the herd of well-armed elephants in the room, Kontos tosses around accusations of misspent funds at the Stevens Point Area Public School District and says they need to set their priorities toward safety.
If he wants to talk about priorities, then let’s address his misinformation. The only time conservatives want to throw money at schools is for “security”—specifically, armed guards at schoolhouse doors. Nothing else.
Scott Walker cut over $700,000 dollars in state education funds for K-12 and at the same time, the Republicans in the state house limited school districts from raising any more funds by capping property taxes—the main source of local school funding. That means that the district has to go to voters, hat in hand, to beg for money for basic funding for infrastructure and operations.
The last successful SPASD referendum was to cover vital infrastructure—does anyone remember the leaking roof at Washington Elementary? Flooded classrooms? Or the upgrade to P.J. Jacobs—a school built 90 years ago?
So before decrying how SPASD is spending funds not on security, let’s be extremely clear on what school safety is. Schools are statistically safer than homes. Ten children under the age of 18 die every day in the U.S. from gun violence. Most of them are at home, due to suicide, domestic violence, or easily preventable accidents.
If Mr. Kontos wants trained professionals in charge, should we, perhaps, have a specific police force dedicated to SPASD? A small, but trained group of local law enforcement that is only responsible for school security and safety? Like the ones in Uvalde who stood in a school hallway while fourth-graders bled out crying for their parents?
Like any trained security “professional,” Mr. Kontos knows good and well that the best security features in any public building are the ones you don’t see. The rest is just theater. It’s a show for the public to feel safer, without actually being safer.
Guns make people feel safer, without actually being safer. But according to Mr. Kontos’ melodramatic, stochastic, fear-based propaganda, the school isn’t doing enough—when in actuality, it’s not a school problem. Or a security problem. It’s a gun problem. It’s unfettered, easy access to military-style weapons that have no business being in the hands of immature men with anger management issues.
The price of all of this “freedom” isn’t being paid for with the blood of patriots. It’s being paid for with the blood of school children. Babies. Toddlers. And teenagers.
What kind of society prioritizes the masturbatory cowboy fantasy of a “good guy with a gun” over the lives of all of our children?
Not a very good one.
Pett is a former full-time journalist who lives with her husband and children in Hull.