Apalachee High School, Winder, Georgia
Apalachee High School, Winder, Georgia
There are too many guns. There is too much access to these guns by young men with a fight to pick against the world and a nearby school for a place to start the fight. There is way, way too much apathy about it.
Republished with permission from Lucian K. Truscott IV
We’ve endured so many school shootings and mass shootings in this country over the last 26 years that it’s almost superfluous to write the rest of the sentence: that it was a boy who opened fire in his high school in Winder, Georgia, earlier today, killing two students and two teachers and wounding eight more students and another teacher. If you’ve been reading my column for a while, you know the story by heart:
Jonesboro, Arkansas, 1998—five dead, 10 wounded, shot by 11 and 13-year-old boys using nine guns and 2,000 rounds of ammunition taken from one of the boy’s grandfather’s house.
Columbine, Colorado, 1999—twelve dead and 21 wounded by two 18-year-old male students using four guns.
Those were the two big shootings everyone remembers from the beginning of the 25 years of blood spilled in American schools by children and young men firing guns at school children. Forgotten by most of us are two other shootings from 1997, one in Pearl, Mississippi, when a 16-year-old boy killed two students and wounded seven others, the second in West Paducah, Kentucky, when a 14-year-old boy used a gun to kill three high school students and wound five more.
And on it went.
Sandy Hook school in Newtown, Connecticut—26 first graders and six adults killed by a 20-year-old male who killed his own mother earlier the same day.
Parkland, Florida—a 19-year-old male former student killed 14 students and three staff members and wounded 17 others.
Uvalde, Texas—19 children and two teachers killed and 17 wounded by an 18-year-old male former student.
Those are the ones that jump out in our memories. But do you remember the school shooting in Aztec, New Mexico in 2017, when a former male student sneaked into his high school and killed two students before killing himself?
Or how about the 2018 school shooting in Marshall County, Kentucky, when a 15-year-old male student shot 16 people in the lobby of his high school, killing two students and wounding 14.
Did you hear about the shooting outside an elementary school in Union City, California in 2019, when two boys, aged 11 and 14, were killed as they sat in a minivan in the parking lot? Two boys, one 17, the other 18, were later arrested for the killings.
I’ll bet you didn’t read about the 2021 shooting in Wilmington, California, when a 12-year-old boy was killed and his stepmother wounded as they sat in their car in the school parking lot. A nine-year-old girl playing on the school playground was wounded by a stray bullet. Police said dozens of bullets were fired in a gangland-style attack. No arrests were made.
There was another under-the-radar school shooting in St. Louis, Missouri in 2022. A 19-year-old male former student walked into the Central Visual and Performing Arts High School carrying an AR-15 rifle and a dozen 30-round magazines and opened fire in a classroom, killing a 15-year-old girl and a 61-year-old physed teacher. He wounded four others and three more were injured—one student broke his ankle jumping out of a second-story window.
Is it any wonder that yet another school shooting by a 14-year-old boy bounced around the newsfeed for a couple of hours this afternoon, before being buried by more horrors from Gaza, another outrageous statement by Donald Trump, and an insider account of how Trump and RFK Jr. came to their meeting of addled minds?
There is late breaking news—The FBI was warned a year ago that the Georgia shooter had posted threats of a school shooting on social media. He and his father were interviewed. The boy, then 13, denied making the social media posts. The father told the FBI there were guns in the house, but they were kept locked up.
There are too many guns. There is too much access to these guns by young men with a fight to pick against the world and a nearby school for a place to start the fight. There is way, way too much apathy about all of the ongoing crises—the guns and the pissed-off boys and the parents who don’t secure their guns and the laws that allow 18-year-olds to walk into a gun store and put down a drivers license and $1,500 and walk out with a high-powered rifle that was designed for the military to use in wars against foreign enemies and enough ammunition to arm an infantry platoon.
It’s never going to end. There is an entire political party dedicated to the proposition that it’s all okay because a poorly written clause in the Constitution says it’s okay. So, next week, or maybe next month, but certainly next year, there will be another school shooting somewhere in America. Children will die in classrooms, or in school bathrooms, or in hallways, or on sports fields, or in school parking lots, or on the sidewalks outside schools. Blood will flow. Tears will be shed.
Cops will be called, investigations undertaken, newspaper stories written. There will be images of children crying and frantic parents and hearts-and-prayers police chiefs and sheriffs and politicians. Maybe, after several years of pressure by the parents of the dead children, someone will be fired. Or may be not. But the politicians who pass the laws that allow the gun sales to 18-year-olds, the judges who interpret the ancient poorly written clause in the Constitution, and the rest of us…
We’ll go on. If you have a child in school, as I do, you’ll be left with hope and not much else that your child will survive to graduate and become an adult and leave these killing fields we call schools.
That is the America we live in. I would ask God to help us, but he or she doesn’t have anything to do with it. It’s on us.
Lucian K. Truscott IV, a graduate of West Point, has had a 50-year career as a journalist, novelist and screenwriter. He has covered stories such as Watergate, the Stonewall riots and wars in Lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also the author of five bestselling novels and several unsuccessful motion pictures. He has three children, lives in rural Pennsylvania and spends his time Worrying About the State of Our Nation and madly scribbling in a so-far fruitless attempt to Make Things Better.
Help Support Factkeepers!
{"id":null,"mode":"form","open_style":"in_place","currency_code":"USD","currency_symbol":"$","currency_type":"decimal","blank_flag_url":"https:\/\/factkeepers.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/blank.gif","flag_sprite_url":"https:\/\/factkeepers.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/flags\/flags.png","default_amount":500,"top_media_type":"none","featured_image_url":false,"featured_embed":"","header_media":null,"file_download_attachment_data":null,"recurring_options_enabled":true,"recurring_options":{"never":{"selected":true,"after_output":"One time only"},"weekly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every week"},"monthly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every month"},"yearly":{"selected":false,"after_output":"Every year"}},"strings":{"current_user_email":"","current_user_name":"","link_text":"Leave a tip","complete_payment_button_error_text":"Check info and try again","payment_verb":"Pay","payment_request_label":"Factkeepers.com","form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","general_server_error":"Something isn't working right at the moment. Please try again.","form_title":"Help Support Factkeepers","form_subtitle":null,"currency_search_text":"Country or Currency here","other_payment_option":"Other payment option","manage_payments_button_text":"Manage your payments","thank_you_message":"Thank you for being a supporter!","payment_confirmation_title":"Factkeepers.com","receipt_title":"Your Receipt","print_receipt":"Print Receipt","email_receipt":"Email Receipt","email_receipt_sending":"Sending receipt...","email_receipt_success":"Email receipt successfully sent","email_receipt_failed":"Email receipt failed to send. Please try again.","receipt_payee":"Paid to","receipt_statement_descriptor":"This will show up on your statement as","receipt_date":"Date","receipt_transaction_id":"Transaction ID","receipt_transaction_amount":"Amount","refund_payer":"Refund from","login":"Log in to manage your payments","manage_payments":"Manage Payments","transactions_title":"Your Transactions","transaction_title":"Transaction Receipt","transaction_period":"Plan Period","arrangements_title":"Your Plans","arrangement_title":"Manage Plan","arrangement_details":"Plan Details","arrangement_id_title":"Plan ID","arrangement_payment_method_title":"Payment Method","arrangement_amount_title":"Plan Amount","arrangement_renewal_title":"Next renewal date","arrangement_action_cancel":"Cancel Plan","arrangement_action_cant_cancel":"Cancelling is currently not available.","arrangement_action_cancel_double":"Are you sure you'd like to cancel?","arrangement_cancelling":"Cancelling Plan...","arrangement_cancelled":"Plan Cancelled","arrangement_failed_to_cancel":"Failed to cancel plan","back_to_plans":"\u2190 Back to Plans","update_payment_method_verb":"Update","sca_auth_description":"Your have a pending renewal payment which requires authorization.","sca_auth_verb":"Authorize renewal payment","sca_authing_verb":"Authorizing payment","sca_authed_verb":"Payment successfully authorized!","sca_auth_failed":"Unable to authorize! Please try again.","login_button_text":"Log in","login_form_has_an_error":"Please check and fix the errors above","uppercase_search":"Search","lowercase_search":"search","uppercase_page":"Page","lowercase_page":"page","uppercase_items":"Items","lowercase_items":"items","uppercase_per":"Per","lowercase_per":"per","uppercase_of":"Of","lowercase_of":"of","back":"Back to plans","zip_code_placeholder":"Zip\/Postal Code","download_file_button_text":"Download File","input_field_instructions":{"tip_amount":{"placeholder_text":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like.","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like."},"invalid_curency":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How much would you like to donate? You can change this amount to anything you would like."}},"recurring":{"placeholder_text":"Recurring","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"How often would you like to donate this?"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"How often would you like to donate this?"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"How often would you like to donate this?"}},"name":{"placeholder_text":"Name on Credit Card","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter the name on your card."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please enter the name on your card."}},"privacy_policy":{"terms_title":"Terms and conditions","terms_body":null,"terms_show_text":"View Terms","terms_hide_text":"Hide Terms","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."},"unchecked":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Please agree to the terms."},"checked":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"I agree to the terms."}},"email":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email address"},"not_an_email_address":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Make sure you have entered a valid email address"}},"note_with_tip":{"placeholder_text":"Your note here...","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"empty":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"not_empty_initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Attach a note to your tip (optional)"},"saving":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Saving note..."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Note successfully saved!"},"error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to save note note at this time. Please try again."}},"email_for_login_code":{"placeholder_text":"Your email address","initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your email to log in."}},"login_code":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"success":{"instruction_type":"success","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"blank":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Check your email and enter the login code."}},"stripe_all_in_one":{"initial":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"empty":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"success":{"instruction_type":"normal","instruction_message":"Enter your credit card details here."},"invalid_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is not a valid credit card number."},"invalid_expiry_month":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration month is invalid."},"invalid_expiry_year":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is invalid."},"invalid_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is invalid."},"incorrect_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incorrect."},"incomplete_number":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card number is incomplete."},"incomplete_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incomplete."},"incomplete_expiry":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration date is incomplete."},"incomplete_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code is incomplete."},"expired_card":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card has expired."},"incorrect_cvc":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's security code is incorrect."},"incorrect_zip":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's zip code failed validation."},"invalid_expiry_year_past":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card's expiration year is in the past"},"card_declined":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The card was declined."},"missing":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"There is no card on a customer that is being charged."},"processing_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"An error occurred while processing the card."},"invalid_request_error":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"Unable to process this payment, please try again or use alternative method."},"invalid_sofort_country":{"instruction_type":"error","instruction_message":"The billing country is not accepted by SOFORT. Please try another country."}}}},"fetched_oembed_html":false}
{"date_format":"F j, Y","time_format":"g:i a","wordpress_permalink_only":"https:\/\/factkeepers.com\/this-time-the-shooter-was-14-years-old\/","all_default_visual_states":"inherit","modal_visual_state":false,"user_is_logged_in":false,"stripe_api_key":"pk_live_40P3DgGDAHEP1QtJ0nOU4nms5JYHI8GbQ05dYiB1S8OPP5oMSIpOCCeeIawOyeW6bWDkDMWdUeggbhxOQTSA6aedu00ROAbhXBd","stripe_account_country_code":"US","setup_link":"https:\/\/factkeepers.com\/wp-admin\/admin.php?page=tip-jar-wp&mpwpadmin1=welcome&mpwpadmin_lightbox=do_wizard_health_check","close_button_url":"https:\/\/factkeepers.com\/wp-content\/plugins\/tip-jar-wp\/\/assets\/images\/closebtn.png"}
