密歇根新闻广播 枪支和学校辩论

 

Thousands of students in Michigan walked out of their classrooms last week to protest gun violence. They don't want guns in schools, and they especially want assault rifles banned.

Personally, I would probably go even farther. I don't think anyone should be allowed to own an assault rifle, except if it were kept under lock and key at a shooting range.

But the tragedy of the student protests is this:

Nobody wants to say this, but they aren't going to go anywhere. The lobbyists of the NRA can count votes. They are mostly silent now, except for the stupidest among them.

The number of deaths caused by handguns far outweighs¹ those caused by assault rifles.

They know that eventually the student protests will dissipate, that in less than three months they will be out of school for the summer, and that will be that. Until the next school shooting.

Here's what would have to happen to really make our children safer in schools. Some major political figures would have to take ownership of this issue and make it their own.

For example, what if someone like Gretchen Whitmer, the likely Democratic nominee² for governor, were to announce that her first priority as governor would be a ban on guns in schools? Or on the national level, if Elizabeth Warren were to run for president and make banning guns in schools a major part of her platform?

Were they to win, they could then claim a clear mandate³ for change. Unfortunately, that's unlikely.

Politicians' first priorities are almost always to get elected, and taking a position like that might lose them support. It would also be certain to cause the checkbooks of the pro-gun opposition⁴ to spring open and dispense⁵ large sums to defeat them.

Nevertheless, sometimes leadership involves taking risks, and I'd be tempted⁶ to vote for anyone with the guts⁷ to take some.

There's also another factor in the guns in schools debate that hasn't really been explored. A friend of mine was talking to a teacher in Taylor, a working-class suburb south of Detroit.

Many of her students are from Detroit and Inkster, and have been traumatized by the almost daily handgun violence that goes on in their communities and sometimes their homes.

However, nobody is talking much about that. The teacher noted⁸ that the mass school shootings in places like Parkland, Florida and Sandy Hook, Connecticut have tended to be in overwhelmingly white and fairly affluent⁹ areas. Nobody, the teacher felt, is paying much attention to the poor kids of color who are dying in ones and twos. Dying pretty much every day.

That echoed something I was told at the time of Parkland by Dr. Harry¹⁰ Frank, a retired¹¹ professor of social psychology¹². Harry loves guns; I do not. He is, however, a highly responsible gun owner. And he told me that when it comes to carnage, an assault weapons ban would be almost meaningless.

Statistics bear him out. There were 374 homicides committed using rifles of all types in this country in 2016. But there were more than 7,000 handgun killings¹³.

Dr. Frank also finds it “interesting that the victims of well-publicized but extremely rare mass shootings involving assault rifles were white, while the victims of handgun shootings continue to be largely inner-city persons of color.”

I think, at the very least, that this needs thinking about.

Jack¹⁴ Lessenberry is Michigan Radio's Senior Political Analyst¹⁵. Views expressed in his essays are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management, or the station licensee, The University of Michigan.

1 outweighs   

v.在重量上超过( outweigh的第三人称单数 )；在重要性或价值方面超过

参考例句：

• Her need to save money outweighs her desire to spend it on fun. 她省钱的需要比她花钱娱乐的愿望更重要。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Its clarity in algebraic and analytical operations far outweighs any drawbacks. 文化代数和解析运算中的清晰性远远胜过任何缺点。 来自辞典例句

2 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

3 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

4 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

5 dispense   

vt.分配，分发；配(药)，发(药)；实施

参考例句：

• Let us dispense the food.咱们来分发这食物。
• The charity has been given a large sum of money to dispense as it sees fit.这个慈善机构获得一大笔钱，可自行适当分配。

6 tempted   

v.怂恿（某人）干不正当的事；冒…的险（tempt的过去分词）

参考例句：

• I was sorely tempted to complain, but I didn't. 我极想发牢骚，但还是没开口。
• I was tempted by the dessert menu. 甜食菜单馋得我垂涎欲滴。

7 guts   

v.狼吞虎咽，贪婪地吃，飞碟游戏（比赛双方每组5人，相距15码，互相掷接飞碟）；毁坏（建筑物等）的内部( gut的第三人称单数 )；取出…的内脏n.勇气( gut的名词复数 )；内脏；消化道的下段；肠

参考例句：

• I'll only cook fish if the guts have been removed. 鱼若已收拾干净，我只需烧一下即可。
• Barbara hasn't got the guts to leave her mother. 巴巴拉没有勇气离开她妈妈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 affluent   

adj.富裕的，富有的，丰富的，富饶的

参考例句：

• He hails from an affluent background.他出身于一个富有的家庭。
• His parents were very affluent.他的父母很富裕。

10 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

11 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

12 psychology   

n.心理，心理学，心理状态

参考例句：

• She has a background in child psychology.她受过儿童心理学的教育。
• He studied philosophy and psychology at Cambridge.他在剑桥大学学习哲学和心理学。

13 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

14 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

15 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。