We Don't Have to Get Over It

I was teaching a lesson one morning and had my back turned to the class when the fire alarm went off. This was out of the ordinary — we always had an email telling us if there was a fire drill. I didn’t get an email.

I taught with my door shut. That is something I took away from years of active shooter drills. I was a little skittish about the alarm. Something felt weird. It could have been the anxiety produced by so many school shootings.

I told the kids to stay in their seats. They were juniors and I was on the first floor with windows, so I wasn’t in a hurry to get outside. We could escape easily enough.

My first thought was the Parkland shooting. This was just a few weeks after the tragedy. That fire alarm sent kids and teachers out into the hallways right into the path of a school shooter.

I opened my door and saw the newly installed double doors to the elevator closed. These doors were never closed. That made me even more anxious.

I shut my door and locked it. The kids were getting restless with the fire alarm ringing. I watched other students and teachers walk past my door safely to designated spots at the football field. It seemed fine, but I just had a bad feeling. Finally, I flagged down an administrator who assured me that it was planned — they had just failed to send an email.

I felt stupid, but I couldn’t bear to send my kids out until I knew they were safe. Once you’re in the hallway, you’re funneled into a bottleneck, and you’re an easy target. A sitting duck.

I also know that kids who are stuck in the hallway during an active shooter event are left in the hallway. Every single police officer who conducted drills told us the same thing: if you have a student begging to get into your classroom, refuse them. They could be the shooter.

My god. What a nightmare situation.

Several years before that incident, I taught at a much smaller rural school.

The Sheriff’s Office sent deputies from what looked to be a small tactical team to conduct an active shooter drill on a Professional Development day. There were no students involved, but this was the worst trauma-inducing drill I had ever been a part of. It left me shaken and angry.

The deputy in charge told us that they would use smoke and shoot blanks near our classrooms for this particular training. We were told to return to our rooms and wait for the lockdown order that would come over the intercom. There was some code word that was used to indicate an active shooter, but honestly, I thought administrators should just announce it and tell us where the shooter was rather than acting covert while a gunman roamed the halls.

I sat at my desk with the door locked and waited. Soon enough, I heard a woman down the hall screaming that there was a gunman. I wasn’t prepared for the woman or the screaming.

I then saw smoke coming from the hallway into my classroom. As I watched the smoke gather and slither across the floor, over the linoleum and up the back of the door, I heard two loud bangs. Again, I wasn’t ready, and I yelled, “shit!” involuntarily.

The screaming was at my door by that time. A woman was trying to open my door and begging to be let in. She sounded like a frantic child. The trainer had warned us not to let anyone in.

Another loud bang and they were gone. On to the next classroom. On to traumatize the next educator.

As quickly as it started, it was over. Tears streamed down my face and I know this: I didn’t learn much that day to protect my kids. I still didn’t have an answer about specifics on what I should do in a real event, but I did learn that these training sessions will leave a mark long after they are conducted.

According to Education Week, 49 people have been killed or injured as a result of a school shooting in 2024, with 11 deaths and 38 injuries.

With every single school shooting, there are ideas about how to keep kids safe except the one staring us in the face: Common sense gun laws.

The reason? The Republican party is in lockstep with the gun lobby. Gun manufacturers want zero regulations on their products and they are willing to pay a steep price to do that — even if our children are the victims. Even if they use children and teachers as cannon fodder.

There will never be enough gun violence to satisfy or change the gun lobby. We have to put pressure on our lawmakers. It’s the only way.

I am a member of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. I started a rural Northwest Missouri chapter back in 2018. I am also a gun owner. Most gun owners, along with over 80% of Americans, agree with common sense gun regulations that do not hinder lawful gun ownership. I know the gun lobby wants us to think gun owners are opposed to any regulations, but in general, that couldn’t be further from the truth.

Here are steps we can take to reduce gun violence and school shootings:

Universal Background Checks

Under federal law, background checks are only required for gun sales conducted by licensed dealers. Federal law does not address gun sales by unlicensed sellers (e.g., non-dealers who sell guns online or at gun shows). This loophole makes it easy for people with felony convictions, domestic abuse restraining orders, and/or prohibiting histories of mental illness to buy guns with no questions asked. While federal regulations expanded in 2024 to require more background checks nationwide, the loophole in the law remains. The loophole should be closed by requiring background checks on all gun sales—not just on the sale of firearms from licensed gun dealers.

Safe Storage Laws

Safe Storage Laws require gun owners to lock their firearms when not in use. The strongest laws require a firearm to be stored, locked, unloaded, and separated from ammunition any time it is not in the owner’s immediate control. 

Red Flag Laws

A red flag law refers to a civil proceeding that allows people – usually police officers and family members – to petition a judge for an emergency order that would temporarily remove firearms from a person found to be at risk of harming themselves or someone else.

These steps will not end all gun violence, but let’s not let perfect be the enemy of good. These steps are starting points and will reduce gun violence and school shootings.

I am going to tell you something that will not make you feel better about school safety: there are no specific instructions on what to do during a school shooting.

Everything depends on where the shooter is located and the type of gun he is using and the amount of ammo he has and how many students he can gain access to and split-second decisions by folks who learned to teach fractions but who are now expected to pack bullet wounds.

*Tim Walz was recently attacked in right-wing media for placing tampons in Minnesota bathrooms, but tampons have been a part of school essentials for years. Tampons are often included in many “Stop the Bleed” kits given to teachers across the country. They are perfect for packing bullet wounds.

Republican lawmakers know they can’t have the position on guns they currently hold and also answer to grieving families, so they will send out thoughts and prayers and say it’s too soon to talk about gun violence. The news gets old and we move on without addressing school shootings or guns. Rinse. Repeat.

“Piper, what do we do if someone comes into our classroom with a gun?”

I answered that question several times every year and every year I went through the motions while knowing that my students were somebody’s kid. They were someone’s entire world and I was responsible for keeping them safe from the regular stuff, the bullying and the like, but also responsible for keeping them alive during a time of mass shootings. It’s too much to ask anyone.

We don’t have to live this way. Our children and teachers shouldn’t be forced to be sacrifices at the altar of the gun lobby.

~Jess

Notes: Definitions for common sense gun laws provided by Moms Demand Action.