We met our son at his office for lunch and a walk yesterday. One of the real treats of having moved close to where he lives and works is the opportunity to see him at work and have an occasional opportunity to talk, just parents and son, in the midst of a busy time in his life. It will come as no surprise to anyone who is an observer of American culture that we were talking about school safety and what might be done to ease the reign of terror that has descended in the wake of nearly 30 school shootings in the US this year. Specifically, we were trying to imagine what is politically feasible in the current climate of the politics of division.

One of the realities in the United States is simply the number of guns that are manufactured and owned by individuals. Domestic gun manufacturers produced 11.3 million firearms in 2020 (the latest year for which the data is available). That is roughly triple the 3.9 million that were made in 2000. For a comparison, the U.S. population increased by about 18% in those 20 years. The number of firearms manufactured in the U.S. jumped 250%. Those official statistics from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives do not reflect the dramatic increase in the number of so-called ghost guns - firearms that are privately manufactured and often hard to trace. The sheer number of guns in our country means that the politics of gun ownership and what is practical in terms of addressing gun control is vastly different from what it was just two decades ago. Add to that the trend identified by the Pew Research Center of a lower percentage of gun owners in the general population and a picture of fewer homes with guns, but those with guns having far more than ever before emerges.

It is also important to note that the types of weapons available and the uses of those weapons is evolving with time. Terms such as “assault style” or even “AR-15 style” guns are not specific enough to provide common definitions for the creation of laws. Often in the debate over gun laws in the U.S., those debating are not even using the same definitions.

These trends illustrate some of the changes in the culture of the U.S. in recent years. However, what we seem to hear from politicians on both sides of the debate over gun control are the same talking points that we heard in the 1990’s when public support for stricter gun control laws reached its high point. The talking points of entrenched political positions, held for decades, are unlikely to produce any meaningful change in laws. What is needed is a fresh debate with people who are open to seeking new solutions. Even after the tragedies of the past few weeks, our legislatures and media are failing to produce new solutions for our current problems. What we read and see are well-worn arguments that seem to be less aware of the current realities.

While we were having our conversation, which was covering a topic far too big for a single conversation, we received news that our son’s children were undergoing a lock down at their school. The short version of the events is that an unidentified and strange vehicle was sighted in the school parking lot. In light of recent tragedies and with an abundance of caution, school officials initiated a lock-down. Students were escorted into secure locations while law enforcement was called in to make sure that the school was safe. It turned out that the owner of the vehicle was identified and the situation was safe, but that took time. In the meantime, the school followed its procedures and learned that those procedures are in need of revision. One cause of confusion during the lock down was that some students were outside on the playground. They were quickly ushered into the building, but in the confusion, not all students were returned to their usual classrooms. That led to confusion for the students, and slowed the process of accounting for all students.

Another problem with the lock down was that the radios used by teachers to communicate were not equipped with headsets, so students could overhear the radio chatter, including the search for students who were not initially in expected locations.

In the case of our grandchildren, our granddaughter who had been out on the playground was ushered into an unfamiliar classroom with a teacher and other students who were not familiar to her. Meanwhile, her older brother could overhear the radio chatter sorting out the students, including the name of his sister. By the time it was all sorted out and the students were released to their parents, both had gone through considerable worry and trauma. There was a lot of talk about lock downs and fear and threats to schools at their home.

It is a tragedy that we have to talk to our children about school violence. We want to shield them from the news and the politics of our day, but we cannot do so. We have to be able to talk openly and honestly about the real events in their lives, including the tension and fear of teachers and administrators in this highly charged climate. Our children’s elementary school wasn’t the only one in our county where a lockdown was initiated in the past week. At the Blaine school, students were held without contact with their parents until after 7 pm one day last week due to a threat received by the school.

We need practical solutions. And we need to talk seriously about what is politically feasible. Small steps might be more realistic than dramatic, all-inclusive legislation that is proposed and not passed. There is little political will for genuine change at present, which is another tragedy of our current situation. It is clear that there is no single answer, but rather that we must find ways to make small changes. Increased background checks, a serious look at the minimum age for the purchase of firearms, red flag laws, and limits on ammunition capacities seem to be some places where we can start.

Even before we can do that, however, we must be honest about our failure to slow the dramatic increase in gun sales in recent years, and understand that we need practical solutions for a problem that is already so big that it is out of control.

Once again it is clear that our children and grandchildren are the victims of the political failures of our generation.