Serbians hand in guns and question culture of violence after two shootings: We have much to learn from them

In the wake of two recent mass shootings in Serbia, one in a school that resulted in the violent deaths of 17 people, wounding 21 people, with children being among its many victims. Relatedly, also read this May 6 story in PBS.org Newshour titled, "Funeral held in Serbia for Several Victims of Two Mass Shootings."

Something they thought not possible in their own country, the country has woken up to their "gun problem," evidenced, in part, by high gun ownership and unconscionable, unexpected recent gun violence. Serbian protestors are addressing state policy, as well as violent, reality TV as unacceptable. 

The graph below tells the story of gun ownership that correlates to gun violence, generally. Look at how the U.S. stacks up against other countries on the Switzerland-based, "Small Arms Survey." It's eye opening to see how the U.S. outpaces, by far, every other country with Serbian officials clearly trying to exploit this evidence as a problem of "Western values," that protestors, marching in the streets, are not buying. Rather, they decry the "values" imposed upon them by their own government.

These dynamics sounds like our country, too—with our NRA-influenced government officials generally hesitant to pass gun safety laws.

Maybe we here in the U.S. can learn a few things from the Serbian people. Them not wanting to become the U.S. speaks volumes about not only how were are perceived by other countries, but also our actual levels of gun violence and the policy conundrum we find ourselves in.

My heart goes out to those traumatized by this terrible violence. Globally, we must push collectively push for a world with no wars or gun violence.

-Angela Valenzuela

#MarchForOurLives #guncontrol #gunsense #nra #GunControlNow

Serbians hand in guns and question culture of violence after two shootings

Thousands of unregistered guns were handed in after back-to-back mass shootings in Serbia

By Guy Delauney

BBC News, Balkans correspondent

Shock and horror might have been Serbians' first reaction to two mass shootings in as many days earlier this month. But outrage swiftly followed.

Tens of thousands of people attended two protests in the capital, Belgrade, with smaller rallies in other cities around the country.

They marched under the banner "Serbia Against Violence" and called for an end to what they viewed as a culture of violence which led to the shootings at a school in Belgrade and, the next day, around Mladenovac, south of Serbia's capital.

More protests will follow - and the government seems rattled. Senior figures have been talking down the numbers involved, as well as making plans for a "solidarity" rally of their own.

But there is one issue which both protesters and authorities seem to agree on: gun control.

"There is no pro-gun lobby in Serbia," says Bojan Elek, the deputy director of the Belgrade Centre for Security Policy and an expert on firearms issues in the country.

"There is a national association of gun owners - but nothing close to what they're doing in the US with the National Rifle Association (NRA)."

In the wake of the shootings, President Aleksandar Vucic swiftly announced what he called a "general disarmament" of the country. He declared a month-long amnesty for illegally-held weapons, with a warning of harsh consequences for anyone who held on to guns without a permit.

The president also has legally-held weapons in his sights. Mr Vucic has announced a moratorium on new weapons permits and a review of current gun licences.

All this would appear to be quite an undertaking in a country where the number of guns in circulation is, apparently, alarmingly high. In 2018, the Switzerland-based Small Arms Survey ranked Serbia third in the world for the number of weapons in private hands, with 39 guns per 100 people.

Uvalde parents and advocates will rally in Austin to up the age for AR-15 purchases

Friends:

Tomorrow is a big day for Texans in support of commonsense gun policy. Thousands are expected to show up for the March for Our Lives rally taking place tomorrow, Saturday, August 27, 2022 on the South steps of the capitol at 11:00AM. Many of the Uvalde families and survivors are expected to be present.

-Angela Valenzuela

#ChooseLove #UvaldeStrong #Uvalde #GunControlNow #TexasSchoolMassacre

Uvalde parents and advocates will rally in Austin to up the age for AR-15 purchases

August 26, 20225:30 AM ET

by Dustin Jones | NPR

\A/ March for Our Lives rally in Washington, D.C., on June 11. The youth-led gun safety advocacy group is teaming up with parents from Uvalde, Texas, to demand that Gov. Greg Abbott hold a special session so that state lawmakers can vote on whether to raise the minimum age for purchasing an AR-15-style rifle from 18 to 21.

Jose Luis Magana/AP

Thousands are expected to gather in Austin, Texas, on Saturday to demand that Gov. Greg Abbott act to prevent further loss of life in the state. About a dozen parents and family members who lost loved ones in the Uvalde school shooting in May will address the crowd from the Texas Capitol steps.

With schools across Texas having already welcomed students back into the classroom, gun safety advocates are calling for the governor to hold a special session so state lawmakers can vote on whether to raise the minimum age for purchasing AR-15-style rifles from 18 to 21.

The youth-led gun safety advocacy group March for Our Lives is heading the rally, backed by the families of the students and teachers slain at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde. They believe Abbott has done little to nothing since the gunman used a legally purchased AR-15-style rifle to kill 19 children and two teachers.

"We're here to drive home the message that we are living on borrowed time, and more kids will die if we don't take action like raising the age to purchase an AR-15 to 21," March for Our Lives spokesperson Noah Lumbantobing told NPR.

Abbot announced this month that the Texas Department of Public Safety would dispatch more than 30 law enforcement officers — at the request of the Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District — to Uvalde for the new school year. However, when March for Our Lives and the parents asked the governor about enacting stricter gun laws, he said it wouldn't happen, Lumbantobing said.

Ana Rodriguez, 35, is one of those parents. She will speak to the crowd on Saturday about her daughter, Maite Rodriguez, who was one of the students shot and killed on May 24.

Maite Rodriguez, 10, was one of 19 schoolchildren who were killed by a gunman in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24. Her mother, Ana Rodriguez, will speak at a rally in Austin on Saturday to demand that Gov. Greg Abbott hold a special session so state lawmakers can decide on the minimum age at which people can purchase AR-15-style rifles.

Ana Rodriguez

"I want to be able to speak about her but also talk about how her life was so meaninglessly taken by this 18-year-old kid who was able to purchase these weapons of war and ammunition, and how I am demanding that the age go up in a special session," Rodriguez told NPR. "I'm not going to ask — I'm going to demand."

She says raising the minimum age for buying an AR-15-style rifle just makes sense. An 18-year-old is still a child, she said. Though 18-year-olds are considered adults in the eyes of the law, their brains aren't fully developed. She believes 21 is still too young, but it's better than 18.

"The fact that an 18-year-old mentally unstable child was able to purchase what he purchased legally and do what he did to our children is mind-boggling," Rodriguez said. "If I could have it my way, I would have [AR-15-style rifles] banned, but I don't think that'll happen. So I think 21 or 25 is the minimum they could do."

Lumbantobing said he has found that Texans support responsible gun ownership, including some restrictions. He thinks multiple mass shootings in the state have changed the minds of many gun owners who were previously against stricter gun laws.

"It's hit close to home for a lot of Texans, as it has in the past. And for Texans, these are children's lives we are talking about," Lumbantobing said. "It's hard to imagine that being your child shot in first or second period. It's moved people emotionally to want this sort of change."

The school district voted on Wednesday to fire Pete Arredondo, the police chief in charge of the response to the shooting. The families of the slain children and teachers had been calling since late May for his termination, one of many steps taken since the shooting.

This summer, the governor ordered state school safety officials to take precautionary measures to ensure student safety. Abbott laid out his directions in a letter, which mentioned steps such as safety trainings for school staff and access-point assessments of school buildings.

But Lumbantobing said hardening schools won't keep students safe, citing law enforcement officers on-site at schools previously targeted by shooters. He believes that increasing the minimum age for purchasing AR-15-style weapons will ultimately save lives and that the power to bring the proposal to the people lies with Abbott and Abbott alone.

Rodriguez bought bulletproof backpacks for her surviving children, 11 and 15, for this school year. And the school has implemented a handful of other security measures to try to keep students safe. But she's worried that attempts to make schools safer will make them seem more like prisons.

Abbott has argued that mental health is at the core of America's gun violence epidemic, not firearms themselves. Rodriguez says mental health is part of the problem but that refusing to acknowledge that guns play a part as well is ridiculous.

She hopes people will attend the rally on Saturday. More so, she hopes people will listen, including the governor, who she is demanding put the issue to a vote of the people.

"Three months ago, it was my child," Rodriguez said. "Tomorrow it could be yours."

UVALDE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL SHOOTING

Texas artists honor the Uvalde victims with 21 murals they hope will help healing

 

Reflections on Uvalde by Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D.

Reflections on Uvalde 

by 

Angela Valenzuela, Ph.D.

We just got back from Uvalde, my friends. My husband, Emilio and I, took a quick, weekend trip to pay our respects. What happened in Uvalde felt painful, deeply personal, and much too close to home. 

My emotions run the gamut between petrifying sadness at the tragic loss of so many children and their teachers, and gut-churning outrage at our Republican leadership that do not want to see the truth before their very eyes that—but for their greed, love of money, power, and guns—expressed in harmful policies and priorities—this tragedy could have been avoided. 

This, atop the fact that according to this May 25, 2022 NPR piece on school violence titled, "10 years since the horrific tragedy in Sandy Hook Elementary," gun laws haven't changed despite what clearly is a current, well-documented epidemic of gun violence in our country. To learn how to take action, there ARE resources, including the following: 

• Social Media Action Kit out of Sandy Hook.
• Survivors Empowered is another nonprofit organization that also has a kit that features Uvalde, TX and Buffalo, NY, on its website.
• The Gun Violence Archive is yet another authoritative source on gun violence in America.

A second May 25, 2022 NPR piece titled, "27 school shootings with injuries or deaths have taken place so far this year." This figure doesn't count the fact that, according to Education Week, there have been 119 school shootings since 2018.

There is so much gun violence in America that President Joe Biden and Vice-President Kamala Harris had to split up to cover the horrific, recent shooting in Buffalo, New York—that took the lives of 10 people in the Black community—so that he and Jill could make it to Uvalde. 

Children walk hand in hand in a street near the scene of a shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, N.Y. on May 15. Matt Rourke/AP

This NPR piece covers both incidents, drawing similarities: 2 mass shootings — 1,700 miles apart but bound by startling similarities: In the 10 years since Sandy Hook, gun laws in the U.S. haven't changed much.

Emilio and I indeed found it comforting to be sitting close to them both in yesterday's Sunday mass at Uvalde's Sacred Heart Cathedral where I got the chance to thank them for coming. "Your welcome," he responded quietly. 

I appreciated that Archbishop Gustavo García-Siller officiated in English, intermixed with Spanish, with the Bidens in attendance, receiving, along with the rest, his words of solace and reassurance. This apparent decision to not have Biden speak assured that the service would be centered on a community's healing rather than politics. Although he did speak to the families afterwards in a private session, I imagine that as a Catholic himself, he likely preferred to be consoled rather than to console as he often does. 

A wonderful gesture by the archbishop was his calling all of the children attending mass to the front of the church where he expressed words of support and comfort to them all in a soft-spoken, loving voice. At least one small child near us sobbed throughout inconsolably with his mother having to pull him out of the service earlier than the rest. It's all so heart breaking.

For all of us who have children, grandchildren, or who work closely with children, all of this must surely have special resonance. In our case, we have a grandson who is the same age as many of these children at Robb Elementary. He knows about what happened and said to us on Saturday that "It's sad," adding that "this shouldn't happen to children." We work closely with this age group and their families at our Saturday school, Academia Cuauhtli. We are planning a healing ceremony for the children and families that we work with that is scheduled for Sunday morning June 5, 2022. 

Our intentions are to listen to what our children and youth have to say about all of this since we know it's affecting them, perhaps making them fearful of attending school. Such thoughts are sure to lurk in many teachers' minds, as well, such that we all need to do what we can to embrace them while simultaneously advocating for meaningful gun reform legislation at this crucial point in our history as a country.

To be sure, the trauma that Uvalde is experiencing right now is reverberating across the country with children and teachers, respectively, fearing schools as  potentially dangerous places to attend and work.

To be of help, here is an extensive list of verified fundraisers where you can donate to help cover not only funeral, but also counseling, costs. Here is an excellent May 25th NPR piece on other ways to help, including support for volunteer legal services and blood donations.

This is for the long haul, my friends. 

These survivors will need every penny to become not so much "whole," since that's impossible for survivors, but at least "more whole" with effective counseling and therapy. 

In the meantime, let's all hug our children and their teachers even as we contemplate how a world without guns is actually a much safer world than one with them. Collectively, let's commit to changing not just gun laws, but also our hideous culture of gun violence. 

-Angela Valenzuela

#RememberUvalde

#UvaldeStrong

Reflections on Uvalde by Emilio Zamora, Ph.D.

Reflections on Uvalde 

by

Emilio Zamora, Ph.D.

Angela and I drove down to Uvalde Saturday and Sunday to pay our respects to the families suffering unimaginable losses to gun violence and incompetent authorities.  The grief and sorrow were palpable as was the frustration with gun violence and the senseless defense of guns by conservative state and local leaders. Inspiring and instructive moments were also evident. Teachers shielded their children, parents, teachers and youth bore brave witness. The Archbishop from San Antonio held a moving Sunday service, and crosses, flowers, veladoras (candles) and words of righteous love lifted spirits. Parents rescued and consoled their children, and everyone reflected and prayed over the departed, injured and traumatized with abundant love. 

Angela and I shared in the many mixed emotions, but were struck by the familiar and dismissive attitude towards Mexicans and Latinos in Texas.  The majority of the persons appearing in the media reports—including newscasters, pubic officials, and newspaper reporters—failed to say much of substance regarding the Mexican/Latino people from Texas, including that they are among the poorest in our state, with chronic levels of unemployment, low-paying jobs, low educational attainment levels, mapping onto related critical needs in the areas of public health, counseling and political representation. This, despite a long history of protest against discrimination. Uvalde itself has a history of student walkouts against discrimination and inequality in our schools, a court-ordered ruling on integrating schools, and a failure to consider that these problems and the violence associated with them have been constant, if unfortunate, companions in our history throughout the state.

Acknowledging the continuous socioeconomic burdens in Mexican/Latino communities is not enough. Rather we must also examine the direct causal relationship between what we might refer to as “social trauma” and violence in our communities. Consider the pain associated with our community’s experience with high dropout rates and the anxieties this creates in our youth. This is not to excuse the actions of the killer, but rather to acknowledge sources of social trauma that disproportionately damage our youth with few, if any, persons in positions of authority seeming to care.

Little, if anything, was said in the public discourse about the violence against families taking place along the nearby border, the erasure of our history in our standard state curriculum, or the high levels of gun ownership along immigration corridors and in places with high concentrations of Mexican and Latino people. We were also personally bothered by the general absence of Mexicans and Latinos among the newscasters, journalists, and public officials (except among the different polices forces that are important sources of employment), and the constant mispronunciation of Spanish-language names and terms. One would expect such linguistic  ignorance to prevail among foreigners but not from persons who have lived among us their entire lives or who purport to speak about “minorities” and “communities of color” throughout the country. We may have to start calling them cultural foreigners.

In short, a denial of who we are socio-historically and the use of supremacist language that erases us from the discourse continues to deny our humanity. May the beautiful children who died rest in peace and may the families who continue to suffer find the strength to continue living peaceful, productive lives.

Anxiety Over School Shootings Finding proactive ways to deal with worried feelings Rachel Ehmke

Great advice here from the Child Mind Institute. Not that the probability of a school shooting in any given school is zero, but still very unlikely. Still, adults need to be careful that children pick up on their anxieties and this can be very unhealthy. Especially in the case of active shooter drills, let's do our best to not make it a scary experience for children.

Here's the Spanish-language version, el artículo en español.

-Angela Valenzuela

Anxiety Over School Shootings

Finding proactive ways to deal with worried feelings

Rachel Ehmke | Child Mind Institute

Quick Read

School shootings have made a lot of parents in America anxious. Parents are often more worried about it than younger kids are. But kids pick up on their parents’ fear. And parents worry that seeing news reports of school shootings may be harming their kids. Some also worry that the “active shooter drills” many schools are practicing could cause more harm than good.

The truth is that school shootings are very rare. But when one does happen, we are overwhelmed by the constant news about it.  When this happens, the first thing to do is shut off the news.

If you are very anxious about school shootings, one way to feel better is to take action. You can get involved in anti-violence activism or start or join a parent group that helps figure out what the school needs to do to be safe and prepared.

Talking to kids about school shootings is important. Kids actually feel less scared when they get to talk about scary things. You can answer their questions and tell them that school shootings are rare. If their school does drills, you can tell kids that they are practicing how to be safe. Active shooter drills should help kids feel safe, not scare them. They shouldn’t use fake guns. That will just scare kids and teachers more. They should be used like fire drills. They should get kids used to practicing a plan, so they know what do to in a real emergency.

It’s also important to let kids know that if another child seems to be very scared, they should let a grown-up know. And kids need to know it’s important to tell an adult if another kid writes or says something scary.

More

Full Article

5 min read

Anxiety over school shootings has become a common fear in America. When something that once seemed unthinkable happens with some regularity, added to our feeling of horror that it’s happened (again!) is another kind of alarm: Could this happen at my child’s school?

And many parents have begun to worry whether the news of school shootings, along with the active-shooter drills most schools are now conducting, are frightening children in a damaging way.

Responding to this concern, Jamie Howard, PhD, director of the Trauma and Resilience Service at the Child Mind Institute, says that parents tend to worry about school shootings more than their children do. “Even though they’re the ones going into school every day, I just don’t hear a lot of kids worrying about it,” she says. “When children are younger they’re more egocentric. As they get to become teenagers this changes.” Thisdevelopmental selfishness is a quality that often protects younger children from the kind of anxiety that the adults around them are experiencing.

This is good news for parents who worry about their children feeling afraid. But kids are very good at picking up on the fears of their parents, and if they sense that Mom or Dad is afraid, they will take notice.

Unhealthy anxiety

Psychologists sometimes describe anxiety as the body’s internal alarm system. You want your alarm system to go off if there is a threat nearby. But sometimes the alarm is triggered too easily and you are alerted when there isn’t any danger at all. Or maybe there is a threat, but it doesn’t actually warrant a full-fledged alarm response.

The way school shootings are covered on television and discussed on social media is intense. We can hear about the tragedy throughout our day, often for several days, whenever we look at a screen. Besides making us feel upset and frustrated, it can also make us feel less safe. “Because it’s so horrific and scary and important it dominates the media and therefore our minds, and we think of it as a much bigger threat than it is, explains Dr. Howard. “The more you watch, the more it tricks your mind into thinking it’s an increased probability of occurring.”

School shootings actually are not very common, so while they are a threat, the likelihood that one will personally affect you is slim. In Dr. Howard’s words, “some anxiety is warranted, debilitating anxiety is not.” If you feel that you are more anxious than you should be, a good first step is always to take a break from any media that might be focusing your attention in an unhealthy direction.

Look for ways to be proactive

Because anxiety is meant to prepare us for action, it makes sense to channel the worries you are feeling into something proactive you can do. One of the things Dr. Howard recommends is forming a parent group at the school. Assessing what the school needs, getting involved in the planning process for drills, and having ongoing conversations about keeping the school safe can make worried parents feel better.

Likewise, participating in political activism or efforts to support mental health and wellness in your community can make you feel like you are making a difference. It also sets a good example for your children, who may want to get involved, too. Many of the students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School began lobbying lawmakers after the tragic shooting at their school, and they inspired students across the country to think about ways they might make their own voices heard. Participating in a school walkout or even just getting their opinion across in a conversation with a parent can make kids feel like their thoughts and values matter, which will feel reassuring.

Talk to your children

Parents are sometimes afraid to bring up school shootings with their children, because they don’t want to scare them. But children will have often heard about a school shooting that is getting a lot of attention in the media, and bringing it up can actually alleviate any anxiety they might be feeling. Avoiding potentially scary topics can make them scarier to children.

These discussions are a chance for you to answer questions that they might have and provide some reassurance. While you can’t promise that their school will never have a shooting, you can in good faith tell them that school shootings are actually very rare and remind them that they practice drills at school to keep them safe.

If you aren’t sure what to say, you can always ask your kids if they have any questions. Use common sense about how much detail to go into, and try not to use euphemisms or fuzzy language, which can make a young child’s imagination run wild.

You can also take this opportunity to share important messages that you want to communicate. For example, Dr. Howard suggests saying, “If a classmate of yours is struggling, we don’t do nothing. We don’t gossip about them. We tell a grownup so they can get help.” Or if your child is a teenager, and another student says or writes something scary, the same advice holds: they should let an adult know.

Active shooter drills

Most schools today practice active shooter drills. The goal of these drills should never be to scare children. Just as we don’t use fake smoke in fire drills, schools don’t need to use fake guns during active shooter drills. Schools who try to make the drills as realistic as possible risk scaring students (and teachers), and miss the point of these drills in the first place.

Schools have active shooter drills to get everyone used to their safety plan. “The more you practice something, the more you rehearse it, you lay the mental tracks so that you decrease the tendency to freeze in the case of a real emergency and you can go quickly into action,” explains Dr. Howard. “In the military you do realistic drills because you really will be in combat, but this is a low-probability event. You just need to lay the tracks so you decrease those few seconds of reaction time.”

When teachers (and parents) talk about the drills, they should do it with a lot of confidence. They should make it clear that school shootings, just like fires, are unlikely, but, says Dr. Howard, “We are going to be ready if it happens. This is what we’re going to do to stay safe.”