From Dunblane Scotland to US Students:

“We want you to know that change can happen,” the letter reads. “Never let anyone forget. There will be attempts to deflect you, to divide you and doubtless to intimidate you, but you’ve already shown great wisdom and strength.

On 13 March 1996, 43-year-old Thomas Hamilton entered Dunblane Primary School and killed 16 children aged five and six, as well as their 45-year-old teacher, Gwen Mayor, before shooting himself dead. The guns and ammunition used in the shooting were all legally purchased.

“The gunman owned his four handguns legally, and we knew it had been too easy for him to arm himself with lethal weapons. Like you, we vowed to do something about it. We persuaded British lawmakers not to be swayed by the vested interests of the gun lobby, we asked them to put public safety first and to heed what the majority of the British people wanted.”

The massacre was a watershed moment for gun control laws in the UK, sparking “nationwide mourning and a furious debate about gun control that pitted grieving families against conservative politicians and a powerful gun lobby”, Buzzfeed reports.

Just over a year later, handguns were outlawed in Britain under the Firearms (Amendment) (No. 2) Act 1997.

There has never been another school shooting in the UK!

I walked this path everyday for a week last summer in this peaceful village in Scotland.

It was unbeknownst to me that there had been a tragic shooting and it seemed completely implausible when I learned about it in the memorial chapel for children inside the beautiful Dunblane Cathedral.

BREAKING NEWS UPDATE: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/sep/03/florida-park-whistleblower-fired?CMP=share_btn_url

Common Ground

"The nights in Florida, as I grew up … were not dark, they were black. When there was no

moon, the stars hung like lanterns, so close I felt that one could reach up and pluck them from the heavens. The night had its own language…. This comforted me and I found myself wishing that the night would hurry and come, for under its cover, my mind would roam".*

In less time than it takes to say Okefenokee, some 250,000 people of all stripes came together for one short week as summer sizzled to an end. In no small feat, holding hands across the land, for five minutes, each of us forgot about our differences and rallied to stop a state proposal, so-called, the"Great Outdoors Initiative". This was not a controlled burn, but a careless campfire smoldering without supervision. We rushed in to put out the fire that would have devastated the State Parks. This thoughtless plot against the land, resulted in an unexpected turn of events: People came together and stood on common ground! When has that happened in the past several years? It was as if the land itself had enabled our coming together in an effort for self-preservation and protection of the voiceless wildlife. The State Parks are our common ground on which we stand in solidarity. It is a day to remember. And remember we must because it ain't over yet . . .

As it turns out, this isn't the first time an insensitive Department of Environmental Protection and a ruthless Governor have been in cahoots over park land.

"Thirteen years ago, Florida park officials proposed changing that. They wouldn’t just allow tent camping. They wanted to hire a private contractor to design, build and operate an RV camping facility. That would include new roads for the RVs, new bathrooms and other facilities.

The idea came from a desire by DEP officials to help with then-Gov. Rick Scott’s promise to create 700,000 jobs in seven years, but they worked to make it sound like a wholesome development. . . . Scott, who had enthusiastically supported the DEP’s plans before the hearing, changed his tune and said no. Honeymoon (Island State Park) remains closed to camping." . . .

 . . .“The lesson for the DEP was the general public’s knowledge of their park resources and their desire to protect them,” Gengenbach, the former DEP official, said. “It was a sense of ownership: ‘We paid to protect this land for us and for future generations, so don’t mess it up.’”**

It appears the DEP has yet to learn their lesson. "Back to the drawing board", as DeSantis said. When local officials from up and down the state stood side by side and spoke up without fear of rebuke from their boss, he said absolutely nothing in response to the growing outrage across the state for days. Then, couched in some mumbo jumbo about leaked memos and "half-baked" brains behind whose (?) initiative,*** he pushed the plan from his plate as if we grown-ups wouldn't notice him hiding the peas under the mashed potatoes. We're watching you, Ron DeSantis. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ct1z-08VwzQ&list=RDNSct1z-08VwzQ&start_radio=1

In one loud voice heard from Miami to Tallahassee, the message is clear: We love our State Parks! Families with children, young couples wearing R-rated t-shirts, retirees donning straw hats, tourists from the upper 49, stood shoulder to shoulder in the noonday sun, signs held high as passersby honked horns for the home team.

Keep those signs handy, we will be meeting on common ground some other day.

*Howard Thurman grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida and went on to become Dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University where his legacy lives in the Howard Thurman Center for Common Ground

**https://flamingomag.com/2024/07/01/explore-florida-state-parks/

***https://www.wptv.com/sports/golf/tiger-woods-jack-nicklaus-were-involved-in-plan-to-build-golf-courses-at-state-park-nbc-news-reports#:~:text=WEST%20PALM%20BEACH%2C%20F

We Stopped Them!