It’s more than a gun issue

Valentine’s Day 2018 will long be remembered.

Seventeen people were killed and 17 more wounded when a teenaged gunman carrying a semi automatic rifle entered Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., Feb. 14.

The suspected gunman was identified by witnesses, arrested shortly after and charged with 17 counts of premeditated murder and 17 charges of attempted murder.

Former Marjory Stoneman Douglas student Nickolas Cruz confessed to the shooting, according to the local sheriff’s office. A possible motive has not been revealed but law officers did outline a pattern of disciplinary issues and not-normal behavior by Cruz prior to the shooting.

You have seriously got to be kidding was my first reaction. Not again, was my second.

After the shock waves felt nationwide by the news of the school shooting, the “Monday morning quarterbacking” began. Most of the dialogue involved “tightening” gun laws.

Saturday, March 24, thousands rallied at some 800 locations across the country to protest gun violence and to heighten awareness of the reality of school children practicing “active shooter drills” as routinely as the generation before practiced fire drills.

The concept of a nationwide statement was initiated by the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. “Vote them out” and “Never again” was the rallying cry.

In Washington, D.C., a crowd of some 800,000 gathered for the march Saturday. Birmingham’s gathering of 5,000 was reported to be the biggest in Alabama.

I do not own a gun, never have fired one and don’t plan to any time soon. That being said, I will say that I don’t think this—or any of the other senseless murders that seem to be happening with increasing regularity—was a gun control issue.

I do believe that mental health is more realistically the issue—and that is the thing that should make us pause for some serious thought. According to the Alabama Department of Public Health, Alabama’s No. 2 health concern is mental health and substance abuse.

Eighteen percent of Alabama high school students reported that they have seriously considered attempting suicide, according to the Alabama Office of Adolescent Mental Health. Eleven percent is the number of Alabama High School students who reported that they actually attempted suicide one or more times during the 12 months prior to being surveyed.

Social media posts following the Parkland school shooting and the subsequent calls for gun control included many that suggested kindness towards fellow students as a realistic first step towards a solution to school shootings. Such timeless advice: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

At a recent Enterprise Board of Education work session, Enterprise City Schools Superintendent Greg Faught said that the administrators of all the city schools have been asked to keep an eagle eye out for any student who appears to be isolated. All the Enterprise city schools have safe entrances. That extra step of kindness helps insure safe interiors.

Voter registration was available at some of the marches. Great idea. Look at the average age of those entering any polling place on any election day to understand the importance of that action.

Since 2013, there have been nearly 300 school shootings in America according to the Moms Demand Action group, one of the groups that helped organize Saturday’s March for Our Lives.

I think that the organized protest was a good idea. We need to be proud that the next generation realizes the impact of a unified voice. We hope the next generation realizes the importance of exercising their right to vote.

I hope that the next generation does realize, however, that it’s more than a gun issue. It’s a mental health issue. It’s a compassion issue. It’s a heart issue.

Michelle Mann is a staff writer for The Southeast Sun and Daleville Sun-Courier. The opinions of this writer are her own and not the opinion of the paper. She can be reached at (334) 393-2969 or by email at [email protected].