Buss: Gun violence epidemic requires all-in approach
Kaitlyn BussIt's been a year since the Oxford High School shooting, and nearly a quarter century since the Columbine school massacre — yet we are no closer to preventing these tragedies, or even fully understanding them.
Wednesday was the anniversary of the mass shooting that took the lives of four students and injured seven others in Oxford. The community is trying to heal, even while it wrestles with the questions of how and whether the tragedy could have been prevented, and how schools should now operate in an environment where mass shootings are a daily threat.
The answer is there is no answer, at least not one that would deliver a quick cure for a societal ill that has become an epidemic.
As with everything else today, this deadly issue has become trapped in political polarization. Liberals see the answer in more gun laws and fewer, if any, guns; conservatives want to put the focus on mental health and lax prosecution of the laws that already exist.
Both are right, and both fall short.
Yes, guns are a huge part of why these attacks are taking place. There are more than 400 million in the United States. Even Second Amendment advocates have to question if that’s too many.
But to pretend a few more gun laws would minimize instances of shootings when there are so many weapons out there is naive.
More gun laws, beefed-up mental health services, hardened schools, better parenting and more aggressive prosecution are all pieces of the puzzle.
But in truth, it will take an all-of -the-above strategy that examines everything from education to entertainment, and starts with an admission that there is something seriously wrong in our culture that defies any single solution.
Firearms are among the most regulated of industries, yet there are still some gaps.
That may include red flag laws, although they didn't prevent the recent mass shooting in Colorado Springs, lending credence to conservatives' charge that better enforcement of current laws would be more effective than passing new ones.
And no one can reasonably argue that laws that require safe storage are a bad idea. If you have kids and teens around, or someone exhibiting erratic behavior, for God's sake, lock up your guns.
But again, it's not just guns. Until we make mental health services a top priority in this state, we can't pretend to be fully committed to protecting individuals, especially kids, from gun violence.
Law enforcement officials in Michigan say the bulk of people in jail are suffering from mental health problems. The Oxford shooter, too, had been begging for help in dealing with his demons.
Yet we're still unable to consistently identify these individuals, seek help for them, and ultimately intervene before they kill or injure others.
Prosecution is also key. Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald charged only one threat case (where a student threatens a school) in 2021 before the Oxford shooting took place. Since the shooting, her office has charged more than 40 threat cases.
Hardening schools might also protect some students and teachers. Arming teachers and locking down school campuses should be seriously debated.
But parenting is also a fundamental underlying factor. Home environments where parents aren't caring for their own mental health can certainly contribute to these exacerbated challenges in younger people.
"The true answer to preventing or reducing these threats starts in the home, and that isn't happening," Taylor Police Chief John Blair said about the skyrocketing number of threats in schools.
We have to take a serious look at how we're programming kids today.
They come into the world the same way they always have, as blank canvases. What are we painting on those canvasses that is producing such great anxiety, depression and massive mental health problems?
Social media is a huge factor, along with the entertainment industry, which is always willing to step up to criticize gun sellers and manufacturers, but not so open to self-reflection. This industry pumps a firehose stream of violent and misogynistic images into children and pretends there is no harm done and that kids can distinguish between fantasy and reality. That's denialism.
Access to weapons makes those nightmares a reality, just as it did in Oxford.
Addressing any piece of the problem is better than addressing none of them. But we must take a holistic approach that deals with all of the factors creating a more violent, disturbed society to ultimately solve it.
Twitter: @KaitlynBuss