The debate about gun control has been in the news since the tragic shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary. The President announced 23 Executive Orders and urged Congress to act immediately. On a visit to Auburn University this week I taught a Policy class and discussed social problems - and what makes an issue a social problem. I used gun control as an example of how social policy is a value statement and included statistics about Chicago and the record number of gun deaths in the city in 2012 and already 41 deaths since January 1st, including a 15 year old honor student who played in her school band at the presidential inauguration. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/31/us/chicago-shooting-shakes-city-and-capital.html) Chicago has strict gun control laws; however, the guns are coming in from surrounding counties and states that looser laws.
I thought about the pain and grief in the hardest hit communities and how violence tears apart the fabric of a community that is already struggling to survive. Hadiya Pendleton's mother was interviewed and broke down in tears - and so did I. As a mother I wondered how you carry on after a loss like that? Two students in the class at Auburn said they were from the town where a child is being held hostage and were checking the news in their phones for updates. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/us/standoff-in-alabama-kidnapping-continues.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0) For these two students the news flash was personal - and touched them as community members. And then I remembered the outpouring of grief after the Sandy Hook killings - how we as a nation felt part of that community and what we call a "policy window" was created as a result of the tragedy. But the epidemic number of gun deaths in Chicago, the senseless murder of Hadiya Pendleton, and the incident in Alabama reminded me as a nation we are many communities threaded together. Strengthening communities and working collectively to abate the violence that claims far too many lives is a shared responsibility and takes many forms.
I thought about the pain and grief in the hardest hit communities and how violence tears apart the fabric of a community that is already struggling to survive. Hadiya Pendleton's mother was interviewed and broke down in tears - and so did I. As a mother I wondered how you carry on after a loss like that? Two students in the class at Auburn said they were from the town where a child is being held hostage and were checking the news in their phones for updates. (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/01/us/standoff-in-alabama-kidnapping-continues.html?ref=todayspaper&_r=0) For these two students the news flash was personal - and touched them as community members. And then I remembered the outpouring of grief after the Sandy Hook killings - how we as a nation felt part of that community and what we call a "policy window" was created as a result of the tragedy. But the epidemic number of gun deaths in Chicago, the senseless murder of Hadiya Pendleton, and the incident in Alabama reminded me as a nation we are many communities threaded together. Strengthening communities and working collectively to abate the violence that claims far too many lives is a shared responsibility and takes many forms.
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