No one could rationally oppose Missouri Gov. Mike Parson’s announcement this month of $50 million in state safety grants for schools. Who would be against improved school infrastructure, immediate access to medical equipment and other precautions to keep kids safe?
Still, did the Republican governor pause at all as his office outlined some of the details of the grants — like “physical security upgrades” and “bleeding control kits”?
These once-novel concepts have become staples in U.S. schools today for one reason: School shootings have become an almost routine phenomenon in America, driven by the flood of unregulated firearms throughout society. It’s a phenomenon enabled by the stubborn refusal of Republicans, in Missouri and nationally, to allow even the lightest, most commonsense restrictions on guns.
That Republicans who control this state (and many others) recognize the crisis enough to provide funding for bleeding control kits, while still refusing to take simple steps that would prevent the bleeding in the first place, speaks volumes about the depth of their dedication to America’s destructive gun culture.
Since the current era of school shootings effectively began with the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado in 1999, there have been almost 400 school shootings in America, with more than 200 fatalities of students and educators (not counting the shooters), according to an ongoing Washington Post study.