Don’t take the bait: They want us to talk about teachers–we need to talk about guns
For a moment, ignore the fact that Trump contradicted himself in the same tweet.
Focus on the hot debate right now, and why it’s pulling us further from real change: should we or should not allow teachers to carry guns inside of classrooms?
Obviously this is a shit idea that makes more sense in one of those dystopian-future teen movie franchises than the real world. Even asshats like Marco Rubio get that. But now that this idea has gone viral across the Twittersphere and Trumps’ insane meeting with the survivors of the Parkland shooting, the national conversation has shifted far away from real gun control.
Progressive voices are running out of breath listing the reasons why we should not allow teachers to carry guns inside of classrooms instead of keeping the pressure up to enact real gun control by banning assault weapons, instituting stronger background checks, and closing the gun show loophole.
All the while, the NRA, GOP, and Trump are meeting them right at that line and burning up airtime on this ludicrous debate.
This is a distraction tactic.
The GOP and Trump have no intention of arming teachers. Shit, they won’t even pay for pencils. But by fomenting this conversation, the right is attempting to shift the conversation away from real gun control–the thing that actually scares them. Now, CNN, MSNBC, the collective Twittersphere is arguing the merits of arming teachers instead of standing firm on real gun control. The more we focus on this insane, niche “solution,” the less we’re pushing for real gun control. By floating the idea of arming the most peaceful professionals in the country, the right is effectively tying up our hands so we don’t have time to fight for real solutions.
If we ever want to end mass killings, we cannot get sidetracked by the NRA’s/GOP’s/Trump’s attempt to steer the gun debate over a rhetorical cliff. We need to stand firm on our positions: ban assault weapons, institute background checks, close the gun show loophole. And it is young Americans who are doing this so well.
As this article from the Guardian reported, the young people who faced NRA spokesperson Dana Loesch and senator Marco Rubio at the CNN town hall on Wednesday “returned again and again to the need to ban assault weapons.” This is the kind of non-stop, fuck-no mentality we need if we are ever going to make real change. But it’s not coming from our legislators. It’s coming from the hearts and minds of the next generation. We need to keep listening.
