Mary E. Maloney, M.Ed., of Hill was a guidance counselor in New Hampshire for 36 years.
In response to the recent school shooting in Texas that left 19 children and 2 adults dead, it appears there is a notion that New Hampshire doesn’t have gun problems in schools. That is not true.
If you are reading this, it is possible a child you know has had a gun threat in their school, but you didn’t hear about it because the act wasn’t carried out because school administrators, counselors and police were able to avert disaster. I fear it is just a matter of time before there isn’t a good outcome.
I’m a retired guidance counselor who worked in New Hampshire schools for 36 years. During my career, I was involved in five potential incidences. I will share some of my experiences.
I worked with a young man who wrote out his “manifesto” much like that used in Columbine. He was interviewed by the police who cleared him. Within a few weeks, his guardian went into his room and found his plan to go to our graduation that night and shoot people. We were alerted, police were sent to the scene, and another guidance counselor and I were positioned to identify him to the police who could then block him from entering the building. To my knowledge, he was never found nor heard from again.
In another situation, a student brought a gun in a backpack into my office. Students were harassing him, and he brought it in to scare them. Fortunately, he brought it to my office as he realized he had done the wrong thing. I, along with the administration, was able to resolve the situation.
This describes a young lady who brought a letter to me from her boyfriend in which he asked her not to attend school the next day as he planned to enter the building and shoot as many students as possible and then hang himself. When I alerted the administration, they sent the police to the student’s home and found guns, ammunition, and a rope as well as other items to carry out his plan. He was arrested and received emotional assistance.
Another student asked for help, but his insurance company denied funding for that care. He came into the school and held the principal and school therapist at gunpoint for close to four hours. His plan was to kill his girlfriend and himself.
Politicians blame these acts on mental health issues while cutting support for mental health care and ignoring the fact that all these young people were able to access weapons. All countries have people with mental health issues, but also have more effective gun laws and very few mass shootings.
We require education and licensing for anyone who wants to drive a car that also has the potential to cause harm. Why would we require fewer restrictions for the purchase of a gun that can cause so much more harm?