Sen. Lindsey Graham wants to militarize schools. Well, jeez. Why not the whole country?
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Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina wants to turn America’s schools into battlefields to protect children and teachers from shooters.
Graham’s idea is to mobilize retired and former military service members “to go through school security training and become available to school districts throughout the country.”
OK. Militarizing classrooms is one way of trying to protect students and teachers.
But if that’s the only proposal coming from Republicans to deal with mass shootings and gun violence, then they better be ready to militarize the entire country.
Dig deeper: 7 ways to stop this mass shooting madness
As plenty of people are asking Graham, why just schools? What about grocery stores, churches, concerts, hospitals, sporting events, theaters?
Deranged, armed folks aren’t just killing students and teachers. They’re hunting for humans just about everywhere, which makes all us targets.
Most likely, Graham isn't really negotiating
Graham doesn’t address any of that, which tells me he really isn’t serious about negotiating any substantive measures to curb the increasing gun violence in this country and is merely playing politics.
Graham happens to be one of five Republicans who are in talks with Democrats to try to iron out bipartisan gun control legislation in the wake of a series of shootings, including the Uvalde massacre of 19 children and two teachers.
Another view: Who's playing politics with guns? It's not just the GOP
You can guess how those talks are going with Democrats, who want sweeping stricter gun control.
In an address to the nation, Biden urged Congress to ban assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, or at least raise the age to buy them from 18 to 21. He also wants, among other things, to strengthen background checks, enact safe storage laws and so called red-flag laws.
“For God’s sake, how much more carnage are we willing to accept?” Biden pleaded in his televised remarks. “How many more innocent American lives must be taken before we say ‘enough?’ ”
Graham’s answer to that is more weapons, not less. And sadly, we know all too well what that means for American lives.
Elvia Díaz is the editorial page editor at The Republic and azcentral. Reach her at 602-444-8606 or elvia.diaz@arizonarepublic.com. Follow her on Twitter, @elviadiaz1.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Lindsey Graham wants to militarize schools. Why not the whole country?
