Death by deregulation

I've been gone for the past few days because my brother asked me to help him with storm chasing, and we were in Oklahoma on Monday when one of the worst tornadoes in recorded history decimated Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore. Seven children at this school were killed.

We heard on the radio that students were instructed to grab the walls in the hallways when the tornado appeared imminent - because the school had no basement. I wondered aloud why a school in a tornado-prone region like Oklahoma was built without a basement.

John Schwartz of the New York Times reports that there's no regulations in the Sooner State requiring schools to have any type of tornado shelter. Some other states in the South and Midwest also lack such a regulation. In fact, Moore was already hit by a severe tornado back in 1999, but only 6 of the 40 new houses built there since then have a shelter.

Why? Because - according to Schwartz's article - "government regulation rankles" lawmakers in these states. These states tightly regiment personal behavior, but they won't establish reasonable building codes? Mind you, these are states where medical marijuana and marriage equality are suppressed by laws - but lawmakers have the nerve to complain that building standards are too heavily regulated?

Mike Gilles of the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association opposes regulations requiring buildings to have shelters. "Most homebuilders would be against that because we think the market ought to drive what people are putting in the houses, not the government," he declared. But Monday's events are yet another stark reminder that blindly letting "the market" rule is a surefire recipe for disaster.

I think it's mostly only legislators and industry representatives who think "the market" should always rule. Real people out there surely don't think it. I doubt Kentucky is that much different from Oklahoma, but most folks I know damn sure expect schools to have tornado shelters. Sometimes you gotta have regulation. It's a must. We all follow rules daily - so why are there no rules on shelters in schools?

Why are lawmakers so opposed to regulations on buildings that they're willing to see children die needlessly?

This is downright criminal. When an individual commits a murder, we recognize right away that it's a crime that deserves being prosecuted to the fullest. But what about when a legislative body rejects reasonable regulations that would have saved lives? What about when a school district fails to require that a school building include even the most basic safety measures? They've got blood on their hands.

It's only fair to demand that lawmakers and other officials responsible for the death trap in Moore are punished as severely as an ordinary murderer. Demanding a stiff punishment is a hallmark of civilization. Society should have standards of justice that hold people accountable.

(Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/22/us/shelter-requirements-resisted-in-tornado-alley.html)