GOP candidates blame morals, mental illness for school shootings

DUNCAN — Republicans running for Oklahoma governor blamed moral decay and mental illness for school shootings and called for a variety of responses, mostly at the local level.

At a forum held Saturday as part of the annual Stephens County Republican Fish Fry, the candidates were asked about school security in the wake of the latest mass shooting, this one on Friday at a high school in Santa Fe, Texas, where eight students and two teachers were killed.

Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb was among the candidates who cited decaying morals as a cause and said he had written legislation and created a commission to make schools safer.

“After the Newtown, Connecticut, tragedy in December 2012, I created the Oklahoma commission on school security — classroom teachers, counselors, nurses, superintendents, district attorneys, school resource officers, from all around the state, to look at whether we’re doing enough in Oklahoma,” Lamb said.

“From that commission, in 2014, we created the Oklahoma school security institute within the Oklahoma Department of Homeland Security. That offers free security assessments for any school that wants it. We have revisited that since the Parkland, Florida, tragedy months ago. And now we’re talking to families and law enforcement entities in Newtown, Connecticut, at that school, Sandy Hook, about what they’ve done, post Sandy Hook tragedy.”

Tulsa businessman Kevin Stitt said he was heartbroken about the Texas school shooting.

“But I refuse to let the debate be about guns,” Stitt said.

“I refuse to let it be about that. We have a serious problem in our nation right now, and it’s a mental health issue. I think we need to address that and start looking at how we recognize these symptoms and start getting treatment for the mental health before then.

“It’s a local control decision. But I would like to see the local school districts and some of the administrators and some of the folks there have armed security, maybe even have administrators trained as well.”

Mick Cornett, the former mayor of Oklahoma City, said, “There’s not a lot the state can do to micromanage the safety of every single school in this state. However, we have to develop working relationships with every superintendent. The state has to be a partner to school safety.

“But at the end of the day, it’s going to be up to local communities to develop their own safety plans and let the state help them work on how we can provide safer conditions.”

Yukon pastor Dan Fisher said students had guns when he was in high school but didn’t use them to shoot their classmates. He blamed “a decaying moral culture.”

“We expose them to every possible kind of obscene thing, whether it’s through video games or movies, and then we’re surprised when we’ve taught them that they’re just animals that they act like animals,” Fisher said.

“I’m in favor of training teachers who want to be trained, teach them how to use a gun in a shooting situation and put them there to stop these bad people. We need to hire folks who have the training, maybe retired military or retired police officers, put them in our schools, It’s sad that we have to do that, but the fact is we do. But if we keep ignoring moral training, we’re going to do it through our own destruction.”

Tulsa attorney Gary Richardson said he agreed with Fisher’s statement that people had access to guns long before mass shootings became common.

“Truthfully, I do believe this is the toughest question we will be asked tonight,” he said. “If any of us had a solution to this, we could absolutely go national overnight. We all have opinions. But the solution is still out there somewhere.

“I do believe it all starts at home. I believe it’s about training our children. I believe also mental illness. We’re not doing enough in our state to handle the mental illness problem. But oh if we had the answer, we would all be celebrating right now.”

Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector Gary Jones said the state couldn’t continue to slash funding for critical services such as mental health.

“Let’s find the right level of government and make sure the money goes where it’s needed so we don’t end up with these tragedies in Oklahoma,” Jones said.

There’s not a lot the state can do to micromanage the safety of every single school in this state. However, we have to develop working relationships with every superintendent. The state has to be a partner to school safety.” Mick Cornett, the former mayor of Oklahoma City