I’m not the most sage or sober minded blogger, but I have learned in my years to avoid jumping to quick conclusions. I refuse to comment on most political bombshells because I have thick coat of skepticism about every story or motive anymore, but here’s what I’ve learned will stop mass shootings in schools.
Ban certain video games/movies. Ban the AR-15. Ban assault weapons. Ban bump stocks. Arm teachers. Put armed guards in uniform in every school. Put undercover guards in every school. Put Jesus in school. Rebuild American families. Get dads to raise their sons. Help America find morality. Metal detectors. Advanced trauma treatment training for students and teachers. Lock down all schools. Ban the NRA. Ban the NRA’s discounters. Kill the NRA and send message (yes, I saw this). Arm everyone. Help boys without dads. More background checks. More efficient background checks. Waiting periods. Age restrictions. No background checks, but a new system. Mentally ill gun ban. Seem like a mixed bag? That’s literally what I’ve seen people post, from rabid gun owners to people that pee when they see guns. Parents to non-parents. Libs and progressives to conservatives and libertarians.
Did I miss any? Oh, and the other key – anyone who doesn’t agree with your singular solution is an idiot and/or wants children to die. In other words, if you think banning AR-15’s is not the route, that whole group has you pegged for child murder. If you think armed security is the route, anyone that is wary of that is asking for genocide. I have the answer, though – be open to trying multiple solutions. (Gasp!)
Kids were used selectively – I saw videos of gun ban supporting kids and armed guard supporting kids, but not on the same sites or news channels. I think the boom of people following kids on Twitter or shoving cameras in their faces to get one to say the NRA is bad or on the other side gun bans don’t work or generally fill an agenda is very unhealthy, but the genie is out of the bottle there. People are also exploiting singular stories. When the horrible news broke that an armed cop was on site at Parkland and did nothing, people were like, “Well, that proves it, no guards work!” OK, let’s just remove all security and cops from everywhere, stupid. The FBI didn’t follow up on two tips including a YouTube video with him proclaiming his desire to a “professional school shooter.” Ban the FBI! See how that follows no logic? Probably not. The law enforcement officials, local and FBI, really booted it on this one. I’d still cast a vote to keep them in place. Also, if you gave me the choice of a shooter in my immediate vicinity with no one armed vs. someone, I’m taking someone all day.
No, arming teachers against their will is not the route. If they want to carry? OK, now we have a discussion. I’ll bet the majority of teachers wouldn’t carry – although some districts already have this set up all over the U.S. Anyone talk to them? Nope. I can also guarantee that something will happen if there’s more guns brought in – there will be incidents of a teacher/guard saving someone’s life…and there for sure will be a horrific incident of the gun being used inappropriately. And both sides will dive in and yell, “SEE, SEE! I TOLD YOU!” I saw it yesterday with the teacher that had a mental breakdown in Georgia. I’ll see that reaction if we ban a gun and it’s used to kill again. SEE! SEE! THIS ONE EXAMPLE PROVES WHAT I WANT PROVEN 11o% IT DOESN’T WORK AT ALL!
For ban fans, I just ask a simple question – have you ever fired a gun? Know how they work? It’s not condescension, I legitimately know a lot of people are TERRIFIED of guns and probably should be to a degree. The firing rate between a rifle and pistol don’t matter when you’re talking a mass of people. A handgun with a smaller clip can be switched out in quite literally seconds and clips are more easily carried than additional weapons. It’s very true that some weapons have faster rates of fire, but if someone has three handguns and multiple clips, if there are no cops or anyone to protect a school, or mall, or whatever, a lot of people are going to die. No one is talking about rate of fire as a measure when I read things. I could also say to those who opposed any ban, what is the cutoff? Same question about rate of fire. Automatic weapons are banned, semi-automatic are not. Is anyone interested in the difference?
I’ve seen a lot of ideas and articles, reposts and shares, experts and the uninitiated all chiming in. What haven’t I seen? “Hey, I really think AR-15’s are dangerous guns, but what make that different from other guns? Would we ban new sales or go after existing ones – and how dangerous is the latter? I think we need armed security in schools to protect our kids, but has anyone thought of how arming teachers would actually work? Check in guns with the principal’s office? Mental health is important, but what’s the warning sign or signs specific to mass killers? Can we define mentally ill – there a huge chasm between sociopath and someone who was checked into a facility for depression or anorexia, for example. Is there a way to help boys without dads or that feel isolated that I could get involved in? Can we work with existing organizations?” “Background checks are great, but why did the FBI not investigate a guy with two tips about him being a school shooter? After 39 police visits to his home?” Nope, just DO WHAT I SAY NOW OR YOU WANT LITTLE KIDS TO DIE AND I KNOW EVERYTHING BECAUSE I WENT ON PARTISAN.ORG AND THEY TOLD ME WHAT TO THINK!
No matter what, a mass shooting will happen again. Raise the age – the Vegas shooter was in his 60’s. Background check? Most of these animals never committed a crime before the shooting. Mental health screens? The Texas church shooter had assaulted an infant before the attack, plus multiple women and someone at the Air Force didn’t file the paperwork to block him from buying guns. Ban guns? The Fort Hood shooter shot up a military base because the active military was banned from carrying on base – think about that. He used pistols and so did the Virginia Tech shooter. The Columbine incident took place during the assault weapons ban. Get dads to raise their kids? That probably will take, I don’t know, a herculean effort and massive social reprogramming. Restrict video games and movies? I’m pretty sure ISIS or MS-13 members didn’t play Call of Duty to get active; violence is a little deeper than that. I don’t say these points to toss your hands up, more to make sure people don’t think there’s a golden egg out there to fix this.
Whatever the answer is, it lies within more than one solution and sadly, some of the best or most unique ideas I’ve seen have received the least amount of traction. Why is school funding broken? Costs and taxes keep rising, but teachers aren’t seeing the money in many cases. My taxes just skyrocketed here. Is it building costs? Are the administrators getting too much? Where can we get teachers help? Schools more assistance with counseling or mental health treatment? Should that even fall on the schools? Can we have more medical training for certain individuals? How about a program for retired vets and law enforcement to help patrol schools? Is there a building lockdown/metal detector security system that would work or would the shooters just wait outside? We will see how this progresses, but hopefully we as a nation are ready to listen and not scream. Platitudes and camera whore politicians don’t mean anything when they are proposing nonsense to grab attention. There have been enough of these shootings – too many – and answer doesn’t lie with Washington politicians who know how to get elected, we need expert testimony and security professionals to be consulted for a multi-tiered solution. Or maybe my opinion sucks too and we can just argue on Facebook and ban companies that don’t ban the company that bans another group.