Guns on School Grounds Getting All Too Common?

Learning that an 8-year-old student at Colt Elementary brought a loaded handgun to school Friday April 9, did not shock me. It took me only moments to realize that as both a reporter and a person, I am desensitized to these occurrences because they are becoming all too common in our country.

Student, 8, brings loaded gun to school

Teachers at Colt and Marble Falls Independent School District officials are lucky no one was injured or hurt–unlike the countless other incidents that have placed schools, colleges and universities in the national spotlight for all of the wrong reasons.

Do the names Columbine, Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University sound familiar?

NIU Massacre Audio Slideshow

For me, one in particular is very personal.

In 2008, I covered the Valentine’s Day Massacre at Northern Illinois University while I worked as the Illinois political correspondent for MTV’s Choose or Lose Campaign. Five undergraduates were shot to death after Stephen Kazmierczak opened fire on unsuspecting students in a lecture hall. The visions of students crying at five makeshift crosses planted in the snow, kids writing memorials on boards and the sound the yellow crime scene tape made flapping in the bitter cold wind are all things I will never forget. In short, I have seen the devastation, upset and emotional havoc these tragedies leave in their wake.

Crosses are erected on the NIU campus to remember those killed in a shooting rampage.

I have kept in touch with a few students I interviewed at NIU, and I can tell you, the pain of this event still runs deep.

Yes, today, MFISD, teachers, students, the city of Marble Falls and the State of Texas were fortunate, the gun was confiscated before a tragedy occurred. But, there are many questions we need to ask and many answers we need to better PREVENT these occurrences. Here are a few for thought?

Should we have metal detectors in all schools?

How are these students, in this case an 8-year-old, getting their hands on guns?

When a third grader brings a loaded gun to school, who should be punished, the student or their caregiver (s), or both?

Do incidents like these call for stricter gun laws?

What should happen to students caught with guns?

KXAN will have a full report on the incident at Colt Elementary this evening, but in the meantime, ask yourself, What can be done to keep guns out of children’s hands and out of our schools and campuses? In reality, there is no way of knowing if your college dorm, your child’s classroom or the countless other places students go will be the scene of a shooting.