Another Soap Box Moment: Gun Control Edition

I had been planning on writing a blog post about celebrating Christmas in the UK and the great Christmas markets but I just can’t stop thinking about the horrific events of last Friday. Friday morning I was at Kellen’s school going through their Christmas market so when I read the news I couldn’t help but think of all the kids who had been running around earlier in the day grabbing sweets and talking about Father Christmas. My immediate reaction was tears, which actually surprised me because you would think that by now I would be desensitized to news stories like this, it was impossible not to think of the parents and the unimaginable pain they must be in. Since then I’ve been listening to NPR, reading articles online and watching the US news we do get. I am not an expert on gun laws and I’m sure anyone indoctrinated by the NRA could debate me into a corner but here is my perspective.

I was not raised around guns and am actually extremely uncomfortable having them around. I do not know how to handle a gun and see it more as an awesome responsibly and danger that I have no interest in taking on. When I do talk to someone who has guns I always hear about the precautions they take with their guns, the locks, safes, out of reach of children, etc. If that is the case then stricter gun control should not have an impact on them. It would be naïve to think that all guns would be made illegal with no options for responsible gun owners. The problem is that there are so many irresponsible gun owners and there is a fear that I don’t understand to take the steps to prevent these people access to guns. With so many guns in circulation and with minimal oversight it seems inevitable that guns would end up in the hands of the people you least want to have them.

In the UK guns are essentially illegal; the gun laws are some of the strictest in the world. Police officers don’t even carry guns and there have been discussions to tighten their knife control laws… But there are still people who need guns or want to own guns responsibly; there is a long tradition of wild game hunting in the countryside. Those people are able to apply for a license to own a limited number of guns and the types of guns they are able to apply for is also limited.

To obtain a firearm certificate, the police must be convinced that a person has "good reason" to own each firearm, and that they can be trusted with it "without danger to the public safety or to the peace". Under Home Office guidelines, firearms licences are only issued if a person has legitimate sporting, collecting, or work-related reasons for ownership. Since 1968, self-defence has not been considered a valid reason to own a firearm. The current licensing procedure involves: positive verification of identity, two referees of verifiable good character who have known the applicant for at least two years (and who may themselves be interviewed and/or investigated as part of the certification), approval of the application by the applicant's own family doctor, an inspection of the premises and cabinet where firearms will be kept and a face-to-face interview by a Firearms Enquiry Officer (FEO) also known as a Firearms Liaison Officer (FLO). A thorough background check of the applicant is then made by Special Branch on behalf of the firearms licensing department. Only when all these stages have been satisfactorily completed will a license be issued, which must be renewed every 5 years.

Any person who has been sentenced to three years or more in prison is automatically banned for life from obtaining a firearms licence.^[34] Similarly, persons applying for licences with recent, serious mental health issues will also be refused a certificate.

Any person holding a Firearm or Shotgun Certificate must comply with strict conditions regarding such things as safe storage. These storage arrangements are checked by the police before a licence is first granted, and on every renewal of the licence. A local police force may impose additional conditions on ownership, over and above those set out by law. Failure to comply with any of these conditions can mean forfeiture of the licence and surrender of any firearms to the police, though due to the complicated laws, different forces in the UK interpret the regulations in different ways, and many conditions have been overthrown following legal proceedings against issuing Police forces.

It is hard to own a gun in the UK and I think that’s great. Laws like this have made it so that only people willing to take the needed steps to ensure responsible gun ownership are able to own a gun. How is that bad? From a US perspective I can see how the fact that self-defense is not considered a valid reason for gun ownership can be shocking, but if no one has a gun you don’t need one either. If someone breaks into your home you can be assured they will not be armed with a gun. You won’t be caught in a mall during the holidays while someone opens fire and you can be sure a gunman won’t walk into your child’s school. These laws work and the murder rates reflect that.

The United Kingdom has one of the lowest rates of gun homicides in the world with 0.07 recorded intentional homicides committed with a firearm per 100,000 inhabitants in 2009 compared to the United States' 3.0 (over 40 times higher) and to Germany's 0.21 (3 times higher).

Why are we afraid to take these kinds of steps in the US? Why do we continue to believe that adding more guns is the answer? There was an interview with some security expert on NPR and the first thing he recommended what having armed police officers on school grounds at all times. Is that the world we want to live in? Is it better to have 1^st graders walk through metal detectors then to limit the number of guns in circulation? At this point I’m honestly asking the question because I cannot understand when we will reach the tipping point. Anyone who has turned on the news has seen the stats on the number of mass killings over the last 10 years, it’s horrible, and it’s shocking. But think about all of the one-off deaths caused by irresponsible gun ownership Darius Simmons, Treyvon Martin, Jesse Rainey; the list goes on and on. Do a search for accidental shooting and you will be shocked to see how many results come up. The line I seem to hear in response to this is that guns don’t kill people, people kill people. Well maybe if we don’t allow those kinds of people to have guns then less will die.

Thinking again about Sandy Hook Elementary it is clear that there are a number of factors that lead to Friday’s events. When someone takes drastic actions like that there are obviously mental health issues involved and those shouldn’t be ignored. Even without guns there will be crime and people will be killed. I believe that there are more people in the US, both gun owners and non-gun owners, who believe that we need to tighten control on guns for the greater good of our country and our kids then those who believe in no regulation. The question is at what point do we stand up to the NRA and the extreme wing of the conservative party and say that enough is enough. If Friday was not bad enough to spur change then I do not want to know what it is going to take.

Happy Thanksgiving

It’s crazy to think that tomorrow is Thanksgiving for all of our family and for us it’s just Thursday. Not only is it a work and school day but Jamie is in a long day of training and we have Patrick’s parent teacher conference in the evening so it’s a busy one. Last year at this time we had only been here a few months and were headed to Disneyland Thanksgiving morning so missing the holiday didn’t seem like a big deal. This year as I hear endless stories about ways to prepare turkey on NPR’s podcasts I’m starting to feel homesick about not being there with everyone. I really try not to dwell on what we may be missing but one of the things that does make me sad about living so far away is that the kids aren’t spending these holidays with their cousins. I talk to my Mom and hear about AJ and Emma playing or about how busy Edgar is right now, I wish Kellen and Ella had more of a connection with those guys. To get in the spirit of Thanksgiving I made the full dinner last Sunday and then this Saturday we’re getting together with other expat friends and having the full Thanksgiving experience. But since this is the time of giving thanks it has made me more reflective of the things I am thankful for over the last year so here are a few that come to mind.

1.       I’m thankful for cheap long distance packages. If I couldn’t talk to my Mom regularly (almost daily) it would be miserable.

2.       I’m thankful I got my UK drivers licence. Not only was it hard to get but it’s nice to take my US license out of my wallet and store it in a drawer it makes me feel less like a visitor.

3.       I’m thankful the kids have settled in so well.

4.       I’m thankful I know where to run my errands. There were a lot of wasted trips over the last year…

5.       I’m thankful for Patrick’s braces being covered by the NHS.

6.       I’m thankful we’ve had the chance to travel. I think the pure joy of food stands will forever stick with the boys whether we are indulging in gelato, waffles, crepes or fries.

7.       I’m thankful that Jamie and I are happy here together. Talking to others who had relocated we were warned that a big change like this either brings you together or pulls you apart. There is no one I’d rather be having this adventure with.

I could go on and on as I have so many things to be thankful for.

To all of our friend and family Happy Thanksgiving! I will be thinking of you all tomorrow as you watch football and eat your way through the day.

Admissions Angst

I just got our admissions packet from the Wokingham Borough Council so that I can enrol Kellen in reception (think kindergarten) for next fall. I’ve know this was coming and have been trying to make sense of what our options are and what, if anything, we need to do to make sure Kellen is in the right school. I’ve always just assumed that as long as you are in a good school district then one elementary school is the same as any other elementary school in your area. Patrick went to Cherry Valley in Duvall and I never wondered if Carnation would have been a better fit. Even if I had heard outstanding things about Carnation changing schools would not have been an easy option, moving being the most obvious barrier. So you move into a house in a good district, walk down to your local elementary school, enrol, show up in September. Done.  Here in the UK the system is very different and I’m learning that having choices might only end up driving me crazy.

We live in the Wokingham Borough which functions like a county would in the States, and then within the borough there are catchment areas similar to districts. It starts to get more complicated when you realize that different levels in school have different catchment areas. For example, the primary or infant/junior schools have a much smaller catchment then the secondary schools. So we can actually live almost anywhere in the Borough and Patrick would be able to stay in his secondary school but there are many more primary schools that serve smaller areas. So we live in an area that has 4 primary school options, or more specifically 3 primary schools, 1 infant (reception – year 2) and 1 junior school (year 3 – year 5). To complicate things a bit further you can also chose one of the religious schools that serve the broader borough and have additional admissions processes. Parents do their research on the schools then by January 15^th you complete the admissions packet sending in your selection of 4 schools in order of preference. They then allocate the available places based on a series of prioritizations like proximity to school, siblings already attending the school, special needs, etc. I got all of this information at a parent’s information night to discuss the fact that the UK is experiencing a baby boom so the borough is actually short places for the 2013 school year. At first I thought it was great, I can research the schools and chose the school that seems to be the best fit for Kellen, but in all reality I assumed the school behind the house would be the frontrunner due to convenience and anyways what’s the difference between elementary schools… I was completely wrong, since then I’ve slowly gotten more and more anxious about the admissions process and lost all perspective on the issue.  

Since parents do have more of a choice in what school their kids attend there are regular tours of the schools where the head teacher takes time to speak with the parents.  You can also view the school’s Ofsted report to review not only their test scores but also read a report on the overall school quality. I started my own research process by reading the Ofsted reports and decided to visit 3 schools; Farley Hill Primary, The Coombes Primary and Shinfield Infant. Shinfield Infant is the same school Kellen is currently attending, I’ve liked the Nursery program but based on what I read through their Ofsted report and word of mouth I think it would be fine but there are potentially better options. Farley Hill was the first school I went to tour. Based on their Ofsted report I was already sold on the school, they received all 1s and 2s on the quality of education, behaviour, social development, etc. I arrived at the school and found it to be surprisingly small; they only have one class for each grade so only have 30 places for the new reception class. The school itself was amazing; they have additional resources to work with kids who need extra help but also to help push the kids who are excelling. They focus on learning instruments and languages even in primary school. It was almost absurd as 2 of the older kids toured us through their organic garden and explained that the cafeteria only uses locally sourced meats and the school lunches are all cooked from scratch onsite. Their test scores are outstanding and the head teacher was really blunt that parental involvement is expected and that’s what helps their students to succeed. Then I found out that last year they received 150 applications for 30 places. Essentially you have to either live next door or already have a sibling in the school to get a place. I left in awe of the school and trying to figure out how to move closer as soon as possible. The following week I went to The Coombes, before going everyone I had talked to said the Coombes is ‘different’ but no one could explain what they meant. They also had a solid Ofsted report and are fairly close to the house. I was surprised by how large this school was, physically the campus was really big and had fields, ponds, learning areas and even a goat. Going through the tour I started to learn what was different about this school. First off there are no uniforms which is very rare in this area. They also do a lot of their teaching through physical learning, one example the head teacher gave was instead of asking kids to write a descriptive paragraph about a picture of a horse they actually bring a horse to campus learn about horses and then go inside and write about it. They keep the kids very physically active and it is much more of nurture the soul type environment. Another American mom I’ve met compared it to a Montessori.  I left thinking that there were so many really neat things about the school but worried about when they did basic things like spelling.

I’ve spent the last month or so with my heart set on Farley Hill, intrigued by the Coombes but somewhat nervous, and feeling like with all of the oversubscription issues we’ll probably end up at a Shinfield Infant expansion classroom and poor Kellen will be going to school in a construction site. Is more choice better? I’m not so sure anymore. Each school really is so different from the others that I worry about making the wrong choice. Jamie of course tries to be the voice of reason pointing out that we are taking about reception not university.