How do we stop gun violence in schools?

A teacher friend said she recently had to learn how to tourniquet a gunshot wound. Why would anyone think it acceptable to add such a horrifying skill to her already overburdened underpaid workload?

The latest local tragedy was Jan. 19 at Seminole High School. Luckily the victim, shot three times, will survive. The person accused of the shooting was 16 years old. You may ask, how does a 16-year-old get a gun? Ask Gov. Ron DeSantis and his abysmal record on protecting Floridians through his rulings on gun control.

There have been no viable efforts to protect teachers and students in Florida from gun violence for decades even as school shootings mount. Instead of strengthening public safety, the action item our Republican lawmakers came up with in 2019 was to arm teachers. When guns are easier to obtain, there will be more guns. More guns mean easier access for everyone, including teenagers.

This is personal to me. I lost a close relative to gun violence. And I was a public school teacher in Seminole County until 2019. My classroom had an interior and an exterior door, always locked, yet I fretted constantly about which exit my students should take in the event of an active shooter.

What does it do to young people growing up under the threat of violence when they’re trying to get an education?

Floridians must demand legislation requiring criminal background checks on all gun sales and increase public service announcements pertaining to gun safety education. Teaching “triage for teachers” is accepting an unspeakable fate for our children.

Elizabeth Randall Lake Mary