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  • I teach history

  • at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School.

  • On February 14, 2018,

  • my school experienced one of the worst mass school shootings in American history.

  • People want to know what we saw,

  • what I felt.

  • I don't remember everything,

  • but I do remember I went into crisis mode,

  • mother mode.

  • There was no emotion.

  • I lined up the kids,

  • I held up a sign so they could follow me through the hall,

  • just like a fire drill.

  • I heard shots from one direction.

  • Luckily, we were already moving in the opposite direction.

  • We made it outside.

  • We made it to safety.

  • I called my mother.

  • "I'm OK."

  • I called my husband.

  • "I'm OK."

  • Then my daughter called, my voice cracked, and I knew I had to pull myself together.

  • I sat alone in my thoughts,

  • worried about my colleagues and students.

  • We sat there, only understanding that somehow, Valentine's Day --

  • We sat there, only understanding that somehow, Valentine's Day

  • had ended up with our babies dead,

  • and we didn't know what to do next.

  • It's been two months,

  • and every day I still hear the echoes of the "pop, pop" sound of the gunfire.

  • I remember the fearful faces of my students

  • when we knew it wasn't a drill.

  • Still, there's no constant emotion,

  • except for flashes of pain, grief and anger

  • triggered by the news,

  • or an insensitive comment,

  • or just silence.

  • Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School lost 17 precious lives

  • on that horrible day.

  • After, students asked us, the adults

  • the hardest question:

  • How can we stop the senseless violence?

  • This was the most difficult question I've been asked.

  • But it was not the first time I've been humbled by a student's question.

  • I've been teaching in the public schools for 33 years,

  • so I know you have to admit what you don't know

  • before you can share what you do know.

  • In fact, there's a method to being an engaged student,

  • teacher, citizen.

  • First, listen closely to the person asking you a question.

  • Second, admit your vulnerability. Admit what you don't know.

  • Third, do your homework.

  • Fourth, humbly share your knowledge.

  • I know all about this process.

  • My students ask really thoughtful questions all the time.

  • They're eager to learn,

  • and sometimes they're eager to prove their smarts.

  • And believe me, they know when I have no idea of the answer,

  • so in those instances, I say to them,

  • "That's a great question. Let me research that and get back to you."

  • So when my students asked,

  • "How do we stop this senseless violence?"

  • I listened,

  • and then I admitted,

  • "I don't know."

  • And like I always do when I don't know the answer to one of my questions,

  • I began doing my homework.

  • And as a history teacher,

  • I knew I needed to start with the Second Amendment and the NRA.

  • In case it's been a while since you've been sitting in a history class,

  • here is what the Second Amendment

  • actually says:

  • "A well regulated Militia,

  • being necessary to the security of a free State,

  • the right of the people to keep and bear arms,

  • shall not be infringed."

  • Meaning, the federal government could not infringe on the rights of citizens

  • to participate in well-regulated militias.

  • The Second Amendment was ratified 226 years ago.

  • It was written in a time before the federal government's armed forces

  • were among the most powerful in the world

  • and when state militias were viewed as necessary to protect the states.

  • Fast-forward 80 years, to 1871.

  • The American Civil War had ended a few years prior,

  • but a couple of Union officers

  • had witnessed some pretty shoddy marksmanship on the battlefield.

  • So in an attempt to prepare their men for any future conflicts,

  • they founded the National Rifle Association

  • to promote rifle practice.

  • In short, the Second Amendment was written to ensure

  • that our newly formed and fragile country

  • had access to organized state militias.

  • And the NRA's original mission was to ensure future soldiers had good aim.

  • Someone could teach an entire course

  • on how the next 150 years influenced the gun regulation conversations

  • we're having in the United States

  • and our interpretation of the Second Amendment.

  • Almost every pivotal moment in our nation's history

  • in one way or another

  • influenced how we as a people

  • manufacture, debate, regulate and feel about guns.

  • A lot of change has occurred.

  • As a matter of fact, it wasn't until 2008

  • that the Supreme Court ruled for the first time

  • the Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm

  • unconnected with service in a militia

  • and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes,

  • such as self-defense within the home.

  • Within the home.

  • This change over time is striking to me,

  • because it reminds us

  • that the interpretation of the Second Amendment

  • and cultural attitudes about guns

  • have changed over time.

  • Which gives me hope they could change again.

  • (Applause)

  • It's an incredibly complex and dynamic history lesson,

  • but it's not the lesson I'm here to teach today,

  • because we don't have time.

  • I'm not talking about time,

  • the time that I have here to stand and speak.

  • I'm talking about the fact we don't have time to lose.

  • According to the CDC,

  • over the last five years,

  • on average, each day 96 people are killed by guns in the United States,

  • and if we don't figure out how to answer my students' question soon,

  • one of us could be next.

  • So, if the question is, how do we stop this senseless violence,

  • the best way I can think to answer

  • is to look at multiple choice.

  • You remember multiple-choice questions in high school, don't you?

  • Let's start.

  • Choice A: this will end when we hold gun manufacturers responsible

  • for the deadliness of their products.

  • It might surprise you to learn that we've actually thought about this before.

  • Between 1998 and 2000,

  • 30 counties and cities sued gun manufacturers,

  • saying they should make their products safer

  • and do a better job of tracking where their products are sold.

  • In response, manufacturers argued

  • that they had no direct liability for how their products were used.

  • They said the stores who sold the guns and the owners who bought them

  • were responsible should anything bad happen.

  • In response to this and many other lawsuits,

  • the NRA lobbied for the passage of the PLCAA,

  • the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act.

  • The PLCAA passed with bipartisan support in 2005

  • and entrusts gun manufacturers

  • to design guns safely,

  • stores to sell those guns responsibly

  • and someone to own and use the gun responsibly.

  • And so when 17 students and faculty die at my school,

  • no one in this chain will assume responsibility.

  • Let's take a look at another option,

  • Choice B:

  • this will end when we hold ourselves accountable

  • and regulate the estimated 300 million guns available in America.

  • Yes, voting is one of the best ways

  • to take personal responsibility for gun violence.

  • Making sure that our lawmakers are willing to pass commonsense gun reform

  • is one of the most effective ways to get those 300 million guns under control.

  • And also, gun owners can take personal initiative.

  • If you own a gun,

  • ask yourself:

  • Do I have an extra gun I don't need?

  • Could it fall into the wrong hands?

  • Have I attended the latest training?

  • Perhaps as a gun owner,

  • you should also ask

  • whether you have been taking care of your mental health?

  • When it comes to gun violence, the mental health argument falls flat

  • if we don't acknowledge our own personal vulnerabilities

  • to mental illness.

  • One in six Americans will struggle with mental illness.

  • If we own a gun, we should be rigorously engaged in the upkeep