NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Local leaders are reacting to the horrific news of yet another mass shooting, this time at a private Christian school in Nashville only a few hours south of Cincinnati.
A former student at the The Covenant School, Audrey Hale, killed six people, including three students. All three children killed were 9 years old. The adult victims were in their 60s. Police officers shot and killed Hale shortly after responding to the school.
A motive for the shooting has not been released by Nashville police.
According to police, Hale used two assault-style weapons and a pistol.
Upon learning of the horror, it didn't take long for local leaders to voice their thoughts on the incident.
Democratic Congressman Greg Landsman, a former Cincinnati City Council Member used the "f-word" in a tweet while calling for a weapons ban, a rather unusual move for an elected official.
"Ban these f****** weapons and get them out of our country. The fact that the Majority spent last week talking about protecting our children from books about being gay and not these weapons is even more maddening today. Three more dead elementary children."
Ohio Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown also highlighted guns when reacting to the shooting.
Once again, we are mourning children lost to gun violence in our schools.
— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) March 28, 2023
Yet the gun lobby continues to block meaningful change to keep our children safe. We must get weapons of war out of our classrooms.
Inaction speaks volumes.
Firearms became the leading cause of death among children in the United States in 2020. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, this recently surpassed motor vehicle accidents.
National Institute of Justice data shows most individuals who engaged in mass shootings used handguns (77.2%), and around 25% used assault rifles.
According to Nashville police, Hale was transgender. In an email Tuesday, police spokesperson Kristin Mumford said Hale “was assigned female at birth. Hale did use male pronouns on a social media profile.”
Ohio Republican Senator J.D. Vance, a Tri-State native, called the idea of being trans "dangerous."
We're still learning about the horrific shooting in Nashville. But if early reports are accurate that a trans shooter targeted a Christian school, there needs to be a lot of soul searching on the extreme left. Giving in to these ideas isn't compassion, it's dangerous.
— J.D. Vance (@JDVance1) March 27, 2023
Cincinnati native Vivek Ramaswamy, a 2024 presidential candidate spoke more bluntly in a video he posted on his official campaign Twitter account.
Right after criticizing President Biden for "politicizing the issue" by calling for an assault weapons ban, Vivek said that more often than not, when someone identifies as trans, he said it is usually a sign of an underlying mental health disorder.
When someone says they’re trans, it usually means *something else* is badly wrong in their life. Let’s abandon the farce that the “humane” thing to do is to affirm their confusion, rather than to actually help. It’s inhumane. My heart goes out to the victims & families in… pic.twitter.com/B5tm4Ophu4
— Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) March 27, 2023
Gender-affirming medical treatments have long been available in the U.S. and are endorsed by major medical associations.
Trans issues have been caught up in politics as Republican state lawmakers push measures including a bill targeting trans athletes and drag performers, as well as limiting gender-affirming care.
According to the Associated Press, many supporters of these bills say they're trying to protect children from undertaking gender-affirming treatments they might regret as adults. Research shows such regret is rare.
There isn't a lot of data available when it comes to the percentage of violent crimes committed by trans-identifying individuals. However, data from the National Institutes of Health indicate that 82% of transgender individuals have considered killing themselves and 40% have attempted suicide.
The Associated Press contributed to some of the reporting in this article.
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