Context
May 2019
While choosing plays for Harper Joy’s 2019-2020 season, Director of Theatre Daniel Schindler stumbled upon Jennifer Barclay’s Ripe Frenzy, which tells the story of a small town ripped apart by a shooting during their local high school’s production of Thornton Wilder's American classic, Our Town. A parent himself, Schindler was struck by Barclay’s choice to follow the point of view of mothers impacted by the shooting. Inspired in part by the memoir, A Mother’s Reckoning by Sue Klebold—mother of one of the Columbine shooters—Ripe Frenzy takes an unflinching look at what has become a violent American norm, while amplifying the voices of those left behind to speak in the aftermath. Schindler hopes that this deeply topical piece will spark further discussion around connection, community, and compassion in the face of tragedy.
Timeline of Shootings since Columbine*
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1999 Columbine High School shooting in Littleton, CO – April 20th
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2013 Sandy Hook Elementary shooting in Newtown, CT – December 14th
2015 Charleston Church shooting in Charleston, SC –
June 17th
2018 Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, FL – February 14th
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*NOTE: For the sake of brevity I have only included the mass-shootings explicitly referenced in the text of Ripe Frenzy on this timeline. For information on the more than 230 school-shootings since Columbine, refer to this comprehensive timeline compiled by Security Baron: https://securitybaron.com/blog/a-timeline-of-school-shootings-since-columbine/#.
Follow this link for information on the more than 45 school shootings that have occurred in the U.S. this year:
https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/15/us/2019-us-school-shootings-trnd/index.html
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Follow this link for information on the more that 380 mass shootings (defined by 4 or more casualties) that have occurred in the U.S. this year:
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/mass-shootings-2019-more-mass-shootings-than-days-so-far-this-year/
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A 17-year-old is arrested in College Place after his mother discovers journals detailing a plan to attack College Place High School with guns and pipe bombs on April 20th, 2020--the anniversary of Columbine.
September 2019
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Timeline of U.S. Firearm Legislation and Use 1775 - 2019
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1775- 1783 American Revolution sees use of British Brown Bess and French Charleville muskets
1791 Bill of Rights ratified; includes Second Amendment, asserting the right of the people to keep and bear arms
1836 American Samuel Colt invents and patents the Colt Revolver (first mass-produced, multi-shot, revolving firearm)
1861 – 1865 Civil War; breech and muzzle loaded guns used
1871 National Rifle Association (NRA) founded in the state of New York by Union veterans
1892 Joseph Laumann invents the first automatic pistol
1934 National Firearms Act (NFA) enacted; required tax on making and transporting firearms, as well as required registration of rifles and certain shotguns
1938 Federal Firearms Act (FFA) enacted; required manufacturers/importers/dealers to obtain a license; mandated sellers to keep records; barred convicted felons from purchasing guns
1968 Gun Control Act; Title II expanded the definition of firearm; regulated interstate firearm transfers
1986 Congress passes Firearm Owners Protection Act; prohibited a national registry of dealer records; loosened regulations on sale and transfer of ammunition; prohibited possession/transfer of machineguns
1990 NRA Foundation (a 501 c3 tax-exempt organization) is founded
1993 Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act; required background checks; established NICS
1994 Public Safety and Recreational Firearms Use Protection Act signed into law; assault weapons ban (in effect until 2004; subsequent renewals have failed)
1996 Congress passes the Dickey Amendment; prevents the CDC from using money to fund studies on gun violence
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2003 Tiahrt Amendment; prohibited the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) from publically releasing date on where criminals purchased firearms
2005 Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act; protects firearm dealers/manufacturers from being held liable when crimes have been committed with their products
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2019 Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019; expanded background checks; includes a provision to notify ICE if an undocumented immigrant attempts to purchase a gun
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Sources
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“A Brief History of the NRA.” National Rifle Association. Last updated 2019. https://home.nra.org/about-the-nra/
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“Gun Timeline,” History Detectives: Special Investigations. Oregon Public Broadcasting, 2003.
https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/technique/gun-timeline/.
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“Important Dates in Gun History.” American Firearms Institute. Last updated 2016. https://www.americanfirearms.org/gun-history/.
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“National Firearms Act.” The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Last
updated February 14, 2019. https://www.atf.gov/rules-and-regulations/national-firearms-act.
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U.S. Congress. House Judiciary Committee. Bipartisan Background Checks Act of 2019. 116th
Cong. 1st see., 2019. H.Rep.116-11. https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/8/text.
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Wallace, Willard M. “American Revolution: United States History.” Encyclopedia Britannica. Last updated September 13, 2019. https://www.britannica.com/event/American-Revolution.
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Yuccas, Jamie. “A 17-Year-Old Planned to Shoot up His School until His Mother Turned Him in to Police.” CBS News. CBS Interactive, October 7, 2019. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/college-place-high-school-student-17-planned-school-shooting-until-mother-turned-him-in-to-police-in-washington-state/
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