Safer gun laws will only come through the ballot box

A harsh truth came into a greater – and more painful – focus after Wednesday’s tragedy at Apalachee High School: State leaders are not going to fix our lax, dangerous, and deadly gun laws.

That message was relayed – both publicly and privately – in the hours following the deadliest school shooting in Georgia’s history. It is a confusing, confounding, demoralizing, and disgusting reality.

Mason Schermerhorn and Christian Angulo… 14-year-old students.

Richard Aspinwall and Christina Irimie… dedicated educators.

The four we lost.

The nine who were physically injured.

The hundreds in the Apalachee community who are forever traumatized.

The millions across the state who held their kids tighter. Whose walk to the bus stop on Thursday morning was filled with anxiety. All the victims of cowardly inaction.

I am a former high school teacher. A former member of the Atlanta Board of Education. A current member of the Atlanta City Council.

None of those roles come with the power or ability to reverse the state’s decision allowing kids to carry guns on our college campuses, allowing folks to carry guns without a permit. Nor to do anything about the state’s decision to block universal background checks, safe storage measures, or laws (adopted by half of all states) to temporarily confiscate guns in dangerous situations.

State leaders are failing us on gun laws – they have chosen inaction while lives are literally on the line. We can’t wait for change from them, because it’s not coming. Any action on this issue under the Gold Dome will only come when new people hold positions that can move laws through the state legislature.

Until that day comes – and while it will take far too long, it will come – what else can we do that is within our control? That’s the question I’ve been asking myself over the last few days.

This tragedy made me think back to our work a decade ago at Atlanta Public Schools, launching a Social Emotional Learning initiative that touched every classroom in every school with a curriculum that combined self-awareness and taking care of oneself with care for others and making responsible decisions.

Also made me think about our creation in 2016 of the Atlanta Public Schools Police Department. The goal: To replace rotating off-duty police officers with full-time individuals, trained in social emotional learning and restorative justice practices, who would have longtime placements at schools that would allow them to develop relationships with students and educators alike.

More recently, the City launched a summer program that employs thousands of Atlanta’s youth, doubled the amount of dollars we invest annually in our parks and programming at recreation centers, and as recently as this week, directed more dollars into mental health resources for our kids.

We also made, in 2022, the city’s first-ever investment in Early Childhood Education. It’s an initial investment that we absolutely must expand, and meaningfully so, in the months and years ahead. Providing our youngest residents with a solid foundation for schooling and life is, without question, the most important work we can undertake.

If we take a moment and step all the way back – this is, at its core, about building and strengthening community. To give everyone, of all ages, a sense of belonging, identity, and security.

Our state needs gun laws that make us safer. The only way we will get them is through the ballot box. And as we work toward that day, which can often feel hopelessly far off, we have the chance to keep pushing forward – and to push one another – in what we can control. And when we do, our kids will be the better for it.

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