Rep. Mace Statement on Uvalde Shooting

Statement

When I dropped my kids off at school this morning it was a stark reminder there are 19 families in Uvalde who didn't get the same chance today. I cannot begin to imagine their pain.

Some have already decided to politicize this horrific event, but this is not the right approach. There have been a devastating 27 school shootings since the start of the year. This comes on the heels of the Buffalo tragedy where 10 African Americans were murdered in a grocery store just a few weeks ago. And recently over 30 shots were fired in a North Charleston parking lot next door to a little league baseball game. Terrified Lowcountry parents watched in horror as their kids crawled off the baseball field.

Passing laws that only limit law abiding gun owners won't fix the problem. Take for example Chicago, where gun control exists and yet 27 people were shot this past weekend.

Laws won't prevent someone intent on breaking them, but there are policies we cannot ignore. There are policies we can agree on and at the same time ensure we don't take away any law-abiding citizen's rights.

But the problem is, like most things, our inability to find common ground gets in the way of our ability to take common sense measures the vast majority of Americans would agree with. Here are a few approaches to consider as we look at the federal, state and local level:

- Something as simple as merging criminal information across the state into a single database rather than several databases which is the case in South Carolina and most other states is an effective way to track the crimes and criminal records of those who break the law.

- Creating an Active Shooter alert to work the same way as an Amber Alert to those in the surrounding area immediately when shots are fired.

- Creating an alternative number like 912 for mental health emergencies as well as funding mobile mental health crisis units at the county level to assist those in our community who are in a mental health emergency.

- Ensuring every school has an armed School Resource Officer(s) and certified mental health counselors in every school, every day, 365 days a year.

- Ensuring our law enforcement have resources for Critical Intervention Training and that law enforcement agencies at every level are fully funded.

- Requiring schools disclose when incidents of bullying, verbal or violent threats occur.

- Implementing a threat matrix similar to what the secret service uses to protect the President of the United States but within the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Too often the mass murderer was reported to law enforcement before these tragedies took place or the individual publicly shared manifestos describing the horror they were going to unleash.

- Updating the way federal, state and local law enforcement agencies can share information, because today it is done by fax machine. Law enforcement must be allowed to share relevant and pertinent information faster via electronic means.

In the days ahead, I pray we can see past our division and do some thing rather than simply tweet some thing people want to hear but will never provide any real solution or be supported by the majority of Americans.

As an example of this, scroll through the replies of this post. I imagine, as usual, you'll see many attacks there.
I welcome any and all debate on solutions that will unite us rather than divide us.
May God bless the families in Uvalde and Buffalo.

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