OPINION: Alaska can’t afford business as usual on gun legislation

In Alaska, we don’t always feel like we are a central part of the U.S. Our physical location and unique environment and situation in the world — further removed, one of the last states of the union, living in a still freshly settled society among very alive and thriving, if continually undermined, Indigenous nations. All this can make us question how close we are to U.S. politics and society. Then there are those instances many Alaskans have experienced in other more southernly states: “Sorry, we don’t ship to a remote island.” “We’ll need to ensure what the currency exchange rate is in Alaska before we can cash this check.” We shake our heads at the state of education nationally.

But when it comes to gun violence, there is no doubt Alaska is in the U.S., 100%. We have already been where the rest of the U.S. has just caught up, in terms of gun violence being the No. 1 cause of death for children under the age of 18. Before Columbine, the first school shooting many of us ever heard of was here, in Bethel, in 1997.

I don’t know how it is in the smaller communities, but I do know if your kids are school-aged in the city or in a “hub” village, chances are high they have experienced a real lockdown situation at school, and maybe more than one. As a parent, the situation is unacceptable. Does it feel for you like it feels for me sometimes, like we are just waiting for the next tragedy?

In general, watching the national news play out is a sad situation. The gun issue is just one example, but it really reminds a young person that we are living within a society with normalized psychosis. Gun violence. Rallying for change. Political gridlock. Repeat.

Now, because of how terrible and gruesome the recent Uvalde and Buffalo shootings were, we have a renewed chance for national legislation change as a bill for better securities passes out of the House, but it is again, as usual, like a bad American dream, “unlikely to pass through the Senate because of GOP opposition.” If you can stomach it, look around at followthemoney.org or opensecrets.org and look at how much money is involved in our politics. How much corporate profit is driving our politicians’ choices? Specifically, look at the corporations whose only goal is to make ever more money and how much they are paying individuals to make or not make laws. This issue, like most of U.S. politics, is far removed from morality or even basic human rights, even though the politicians want you to believe otherwise.

Maintaining a state of dysfunction is psychosis. I know I am not alone in the sentiment that I don’t expect much of anything good from our government as it currently is funded, and still upon the shoddy foundation it was founded, but as a parent, I sure do want the GOP to stop blocking smarter gun legislation and to do it now. I believe that so few people actually have faith in the government these days that when you do call and show up and get loud about something, our legislators will see you and hear you.

Alaska, please join me and groups like Moms Demand Action in getting loud toward our two U.S. senators, Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, even though we already know who runs their party, even if you also think they are probably a lost cause. Look up their phone numbers and contact them anyway and tell them we are done watching them protect corporate profit margins alongside their party in the false name of morality or human rights. We want laws passed to protect the lives of our children and we want them passed now. Maybe deep down, under their party hats, they are still human?

Sara Siqiñiq Thomas is an American mother and collaborative contractor for social and environmental justice raised between Idaho and Utqiaġvik, currently based in Anchorage. She holds a B.A. in international relations from the University of Hawaii Mānoa and an M.A. in rural development from the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

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