Most everyone knows that our national bird is the American bald eagle. It was placed on the Great Seal of our country by the Second Continental Congress in 1782.
Fewer may know that President Reagan designated the rose as the national flower in 1986 — with these words: “More often than any other flower, we hold the rose dear as the symbol of life and love and devotion, of beauty and eternity … We see proofs of this everywhere.”
More recently, the oak was declared the national tree by Congress in 2004 for its strength, endurance, longevity, shade and foliage. Nearly 90 different types of native oak trees can be found across the U.S.
In 2016, the American bison was named our national mammal. They represent a great conservation success.
You may not have heard about the latest call for a national symbol. In February, Alabama Congressman Barry Moore introduced a bill to make the AR-15 rifle the “National Gun of America.” The bill was quickly co-sponsored by such fellow republicans as George Santos, Andrew Clyde (a gun store owner from Georgia), and Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert, who ran a gun-themed restaurant called Shooters Grill.
The response of those suffering the loss of loved ones slaughtered in mass shootings tied to the use of AR-15s was swift and sharp. The mother of a Parkland, Florida, teacher killed on Valentine’s Day in 2018 shared her view of the bill, while holding an image of her son: “That AR-15 that they want to make a national gun murdered my son. This is the last second before the AR-15 was fired, and Scott was still standing in the doorway trying to close his classroom door.”
That her son Scott did not have time to avoid the bullets that took his last breath is not surprising. The AR-15, as a military-style rifle whose history goes back to machine guns used by Nazis in World War II, enables rapid firing.
All too often we hear how the AR-15 was the weapon of choice for those committing mass shootings across the nation. In 2022, the Buffalo, Uvalde and Colorado Springs shooters used their AR-15s to kill 36, injure more, and leave families and communities in grief. And we cannot forget the 2012 massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary.
Most recently, the Covenant School shooter in Nashville used an AR-15-style rifle to kill six innocent elementary students and school personnel. As Dr. Cornelia Griggs, a pediatric and critical care surgeon at Massachusetts General Hospital, remarked, “Disturbingly, in mass shootings, the AR-15 or the AR-15-style rifle seems to be the weapon of choice. When we see a child who has been shot with an AR-15-style rifle, there is often very little hope.”
Representatives Moore, Clyde and Boebert were three of 21 House Republicans to vote against a resolution to honor the police officers who defended the U.S. Capitol against the Jan. 6 insurrection. Hopefully they will find themselves once again among a very small minority.
And hopefully we will never find cause to add any weapon to the list of emblems to symbolize who we are as a nation, much less the AR-15. For now, let’s stick to our flag, the eagle, the bison, the oak and the rose — and decide next on the national fish. It appears that the striped bass is presently in the lead.
Dennis Streets is the retired director of the Chatham Council on Aging.