New metal detectors make the Capitol look like public schools. Will this push lawmakers toward gun control? | Opinion

In the wake of Jan. 6’s insurrection, new metal detectors now grace the halls of the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. It’s a preventative measure enacted because of the attempted coup brought on by white supremacists and unabashed Trump supporters. But for educators like me, it feels more than a little ironic.

Many on the growing list of public officials who have come forth speaking out against the failed rebellion have done so fresh off sheltering in place throughout the Capitol, ducking and covering from intruders, threats, and weaponry that somehow found their way inside, proclaiming that this is not the America we are. Make no mistake, it is.

» READ MORE: ‘A terrible thing happened’: How teachers are explaining the Capitol insurrection to students

Ask any public school educator nationwide who has ever had to facilitate or take part in active shooter drills in our schools, and they will tell you that none of this is new. The metal detectors, the enacting of increased surveillance in the guise of public safety, and the false-naivety in the face of white supremacy from legislators are all as ongoing in time as the 243 school shootings since 1999.

The children killed in Newtown, Conn., the youngest of victims, should have been the wake-up call for reform in public safety. Gun control talks in Congress have stalled since Donald Trump’s first impeachment trial, and even then, the discussion was decades old. It illuminates the historical inaction on Capitol Hill.

It is infuriating as a public servant in the education field to watch lawmakers continue to bicker and debate while teachers like myself have to perform and facilitate active shooter drills — not to mention teach — in this heated societal climate. To state the obvious: These drills are not fun. The entire time, I am forced to imagine children in a situation where assault rifles determine their fate. It is a downside of the profession that I would not wish on even the worst of the worst.

Congress, whose members have now endured what our nation’s children go through, must now answer the question: Will Jan. 6′s endeavored insurrection finally move the needle of gun control reform? It needs to — in the form of mandatory background checks, stronger gun registration requirements, and better weapons safety training for anyone who owns a gun.

» READ MORE: Metal detectors in schools are ugly reminders of violence — and failure of our leaders | Editorial

Yet, even with stricter gun laws, the scariest thing about living in America right now is that the thugs who stormed the Capitol believed that they somehow deserved or earned the right to do what they did. It will take more than a law to change the minds of these people — most of whom have been availed with the privilege to use whiteness as their shield — and stopping them from storming schools and public government buildings with not only guns, but impossible-to-register improvised explosive and incendiary devices. Still, it is a start.

Trump has rightfully received most of the blame for the horrifying scene on Capitol Hill, including his second impeachment by the House of Representatives. His lie-filled speech was clear in its intent to divide the nation further through untruth. However, none of this started with Trump, nor will any of it end with him.

Gun control might come through more expediently now that Congress, as some members learned two weeks ago, seems to have the bull’s-eye on their back for a change.

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Though to be honest, it remains difficult to believe that anything will ever change after witnessing the blatantly differing police reactions to white rioters compared with Black Lives Matter protesters. The released images of police officers abetting rioters, and congressmen holding up Black Power fists in support of mutineers, the all too sudden and self-serving denouncements, and the sudden backlash against metal detectors by some Senate Republicans (when Black and brown students have been entering through metal detectors to attend school for decades), only serve to underscore real feelings of cynicism toward the belief that anyone who has been sworn “to protect and serve” will actually do so. Assuredly, (urban) schools will continue to suffer because of it.

Eric T. Turner Jr., Ed.D. is a writer and urban educator living in North Philadelphia.