On Sunday, President Joe Biden visited Uvalde, Texas, where a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at Robb Elementary School last week. The trip included a visit to Mass at Sacred Heart Catholic Church, where a crowd gathered as the president departed.
“Do something,” they chanted, according to Reuters.
“We will,” Biden responded.
Indeed, “do something” has become a Democrat rallying cry in the face of two mass killings during the month of May. It doesn’t matter what: just do something.
Well, now we have a tentative “something,” at least in regard to school shootings. The Associated Press reported last week that a bipartisan group of senators was talking about potential legislation in response to Uvalde that would clear the Senate. Among the proposals was “hardening” schools by giving districts “money for more resources, law enforcement officers or even arming teachers.”
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(Here at The Western Journal, we’ve been documenting for years that measures like this would deter mass shooters — but those on the left have refused to listen. Instead, they’ve called for fewer guns, not more responsible gun owners and more resources for law enforcement. We’ll continue to bring America the truth about what really works. You can help us by subscribing.)
The idea is feasible from a legislative standpoint. It’s “something” that would create a strong deterrent for shooters. And, according to White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, it’s “not something [Joe Biden] believes in.”
During the White House media briefing on Tuesday, Jean-Pierre threw cold water on any school-hardening proposal that might come out of Congress when she was asked about Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s comment that the issues at play were “mental illness and school safety.”
Biden had previously called McConnell a “rational Republican” — which led the reporter to ask whether the president agreed with this assessment.
Should security in our public schools be increased?
Short answer: of course not.
“I know there’s been conversation about hardening schools. That is not something that he believes in,” Jean-Pierre said.
“He believes that we should be able to give teachers the resources to be able to do the job that they’re meant to do at schools. And this is something that he’s been focusing on since he was the vice — vice president.”
Unsurprisingly, Jean-Pierre also said that Biden didn’t agree that America’s mental health crisis had anything to do with mass shootings, either.
“He does not believe — and we’ve talked about this, he’s talked about this — you know, we are the only country that is dealing with gun violence at the rate that we’re dealing. And other countries have mental health issues. So, what’s the problem here?” the press secretary said.
In case you hadn’t guessed, she said “the problem … is with guns and not having — and not having legislation to really deal with an issue that is a pandemic here in this country.”
Jean-Pierre is saying this, one can only assume, with full knowledge there are very few areas of overlap between congressional Democrats and Republicans on responses to the shootings in Uvalde and Buffalo, New York, that don’t involve school safety and mental health.
To the extent that there still remains overlap, any spirit of bipartisanship on it would evaporate if the White House were to hold firm in demanding straight gun control legislation that doesn’t increase school security or deal with mental health issues.
In other words, when Biden responded he would “do something” in response to the Uvalde massacre, “something” involved having his press secretary torpedo bipartisan changes from the podium in the James Brady Press Room and then, most likely, blaming Republicans for failing to send him legislation he wanted.
This is a genuine shame — because, in Uvalde, increased security could have made a difference.
Some of this would involve simple things. We now know that the door through which shooter Salvador Ramos entered Robb Elementary School wasn’t left propped open by a teacher. Instead, as ABC News noted, it was shut but didn’t lock. Resources for inspections and more secure entrances could prevent a tragedy like this from occurring.
Of course, hardening school security includes having more armed officers — or even armed teachers — on school premises. Not only can these measures stop a shooter, but they can also deter him from approaching a school in the first place.
Yet, as a timeline of events from Forbes noted, Ramos faced no armed opposition before he barricaded himself in a set of classrooms — and police were loath to engage the shooter once he was locked inside, waiting for over an hour to move in.
While the school had an armed resource officer assigned to it, the person was “not on campus” that day. More funding could ensure more resource officers. (Or ensure more law-abiding, well-trained teachers were armed, if Democrats were to swallow a bitter pill and admit concealed carriers are a deterrent to mass shooters.)
None of that is apparently going to happen, however — at least not if we’re to believe Karine Jean-Pierre.
Don’t worry, though: She says the president is confident bipartisan legislation can happen.
“But look, he thinks there’s a way to potentially have — potentially come — for senators to come together and Congress to come together,” she said. “They should. They need to act. And that’s what he’s going to continue to call for.”
No. What President Biden is going to continue to call for is his way or the highway.
His way is Republicans and moderate Democrats acquiescing to at least some of his gun control agenda.
They will, predictably (and rightly), pick the highway.
The president will almost certainly proceed to say the blood of the innocents is on the GOP’s hands.
Watch. When he said the White House and Democrats would “do something,” this is what he meant they would do.
When bipartisan momentum inevitably falls apart because the Biden administration doesn’t want legislation that’s actually bipartisan, a huge chunk of the blame should be deposited right on the doorstep of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
