Ulvade Tragedy: A Time to Mourn, Pray, and Seek Solutions
Contributor: Susan Stengel
We are all reeling from the recent tragedy in Ulvade, Texas, trying to wrap our heads and hearts around another mass shooting of innocent children and adults by a suicidal young man. Together, let us mourn the senseless loss of life, both of the victims and of the shooter, and hold them close in our hearts. Together, let us offer prayers of comfort and courage to their families and friends, overwhelmed with grief and anger, disbelief and questions.
At the NRA Convention in Houston, TX (May 27-29), both former President Trump and NRA CEO LaPierre lifted up the victims and their families in prayer, also reiterating that legislation cannot eradicate evil and brokenness from our world: “Restricting the fundamental human right of law-abiding Americans to defend themselves is not the answer [to stopping these horrific acts]. It never has been. Each year, over 1 million law-abiding men and women use a firearm to save their own lives and the lives of their loved ones … [owing each of these] lives to their Second Amendment rights …. There can be no freedom, no security, no safety without the right of the law-abiding to bear arms for self-defense.” (Wayne LaPierre)
Common-sense things that we must do:
Fully fund, support, and train our nation’s police departments and school security resource programs so every school has a comprehensive security program tailored to that school
Fully fund and fix our nation’s broken mental health system
Put violent felons in prison where they belong and put an end to the revolving door justice system that spits criminals back out onto the streets, greasing the skids for the next horrific crime
Restore the precept that each individual is accountable for his actions
Finally, let us lead a difficult, but necessary dialogue to find common-sense solutions to prevent future tragedies, including these practical measures recommended by Carol Gruetter and Susan Stengel of Gallatin County Republican Women:
Reinforced doors with bulletproof glass to prevent break-ins
Campus entry security check (backpack and jackets checked for weapons) with monitored single entry
Trained Police Officer for every school
NRA or police-trained/certified teachers and staff on firearm use, along with storage safety precautions
Active Shooter Plan and Crisis Preparedness training for teachers and students
What to do in the first 5 minutes
Vigilance – define suspicious activity to spot and report it
Hotline to police and FBI
Conduct monthly school safety and security assessments
Involve parents to discuss a comprehensive security program
Ask for volunteers
Evaluate day-to-day security concerns
Research, further develop, and implement through our school districts a “Montana State School Security and Crisis Preparedness Training for Schools.” (See below for what currently exists in MT.)
Since the Columbine tragedy, government agencies and safety organizations have allocated funds and created documents and plans outlining what is needed, yet implementation has been slow. Every day we wait, we endanger the lives of our children and school personnel. Politicizing this tragedy - demonizing law-abiding Americans, defunding the police, and calling for more anti-gun legislation (by Democrats and RINOS) - provides no solutions.
Advertising our schools (K-12, colleges) as “soft zones” (ie., no armed/trained adults) invites mass shooting tragedies. We cannot end this threat through legislation; it’s evil, ugly, and disturbing, but real!
They’re Coming for Your Guns
The Left is on the attack. Not surprisingly, members of the Left have used this terrible tragedy to promote anti-gun, anti-police, and anti-Second Amendment sentiment:
Biden’s speech focused on mental health and more gun restrictions, including holding gun manufacturers legally accountable. No mention of the impact of defunding police and “no bail” actions, promoting “Gun Free Zones” (school/college campuses), training police and school staff, or getting guns out of the hands of criminals and gangs.
“[The Second Amendment] is not absolute.” - Joe Biden
On 6/2, House Judiciary Committee drafted an extreme gun control bill, the “Protecting Our Kids” Act (H.R. 7910) – which Speaker Pelosi plans to bring to the House floor the week of 6/6. Only the Senate can stop this bill from becoming law; a law that leads to gun confiscation.
HR 7910: https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/7910/text?r=1&s=1
Per Rep Mondare Jones (D-NY): “You will not stop us from advancing the ‘Protect Our Kids’ Act …. You will not stop us from passing it in the House next week. You will not stop us there. If the filibuster [in the Senate] obstructs us, we will abolish it. If the Supreme Court objects, we will expand [the Court]. We will not rest until we have taken ‘weapons of war’ out of circulation in our communities.”
Big Brother is Behind an UN-led International Gun Owner Database
According to the 2nd Amendment Foundation (SAF), the UN is creating a database to track American gun owners’ names and personal information – and the Biden administration plans on entering the US into the UN’s international gun registry program. “This is a heinous attack on our Constitutional rights …. We cannot allow the globalists to spy on [American citizens to] subvert our 2nd Amendment rights.” (Alan Gottlieb, Founder, SAF)
For more information and to sign the SAF petition to pro-gun lawmakers in Congress demanding they take action against the Biden Administration and this disastrous decision, visit www.saf.org
Reignite Our Dialogue - Articles and Information:
Montana School Safety Plans: https://www.schoolsafety.gov/state-search-tool/montana
School Safety Professional Development Grant (MT Office of Public Instruction) provides funding to schools to support school safety professional development.
Safe School Environment (Department of Public Health and Human Services) provides resources and training to preserve a safe learning environment.
Ten Essential Actions to Improve School Safety (Montana OPI with Montana School Safety Advisory Committee, US Secret Service & US Department of Education) provides continually updated resource tools for Montana schools:
Seven signs* common to youth who intended to/committed mass shootings
School discipline incidents increase
Contact with law enforcement increases
Purchased arms and posted them on social media
Mental health issue signs (dropping grades, increased absences, emotional outbursts, isolation, depression)
Experienced bullying
Talking about/posting thoughts of suicide
Known family issues (divorce, moved, absent parent(s), abuse)
*Identified as “intervention points” per a Secret Service report, which claims that 67 shooting spree events were averted using these intervention points
The Collapse Of Teen Mental Health — And Deadly Mass Shootings — Can Be Traced To One Single Trend
https://dailycaller.com/2022/05/27/teen-mental-health-social-media-mass-shootings/
Classmate of Ramos speaks out
https://citizenfreepress.com/breaking/salvador-ramos-would-hurt-animals/
Wet Virginia woman with pistol shoots, kills man firing at graduation party: 'Saved several lives'
https://www.foxnews.com/us/west-virginia-woman-shoots-kills-man-fired-party?intcmp=fb_fnc
