Esme's Blog: Another School Shooting

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A day before the anniversary of the shooting that claimed 26 lives in Newtown Conn., another school shooting had a nation collectively saying, "Not again" on Friday.

Mass shootings suddenly seem part of the American landscape. A push in the aftermath of the Newtown massacre for tougher gun control laws failed. It is highly unlikely that a tougher gun control measure would have prevented this latest incident. Karl Pierson entered Arapahoe High School in Centennial, Colo., with a shotgun, there are no reports to date that he was armed with any kind of semi-automatic weapon.

The fact that it was not a semi-automatic weapon, the fact that law enforcement went into an immediate response mode of pursuing an active shooter and that students were clearly well-versed in handling themselves all helped minimize the bloodshed. Even a metal detector or a secure door would likely not have helped.

What is to keep anyone from just walking in and shooting out even a secure door, like Adam Lanza did in Newtown? Pierson was reportedly seeking revenge on the debate coach after being kicked off the debate team. In all of the recent mass shootings, there have been issues surrounding mental health. It is not clear to what degree that was the case with this shooter.

Perhaps it is grasping at thin air for a solution to suggest mental health care at every level in this country needs to be improved, starting with our schools. Perhaps it is grasping at thin air to hope something ever can be done so that no one else has to get that call, that text, or hear that news bulletin that says there is a shooting at their child's school.