So, what does it mean that the shooter had a MAGA hat on in his Instagram account profile?

If we take the tack of the conservatives, then anyone with a hat like that is a potential terrorist, right?

Of course not. This isn't a matter of just banning or prosecuting. It's a mentality disorder throughout the entire country.

Gun free zones aren't going to stop someone, just like laws aren't. But it's been proven throughout the world that restricting access is the way to go.

Sorry NRA, arming the entire population will only get more people killed.

Where do you get this notion that the NRA wants to arm everyone as their goal?
So, because I can’t use booze, and I know many, many,many, others share this similar issue, we DOES lead to innocent people getting killed at OUR choice to drink....
That, just to be safe, we should outlaw, or strictly control the amount of booze that is allowed into society?

I agree 101% percent it’s a mental illness issue, as is homelessness, as it a total dependency lifestyle of able bodied relying on welfare type living, etc.
As a “civilized” society, we fail miserably at this problem...
Under the protection of self rights, etc, we fail society as a whole.

This list won't get shorter.  Colorado went through this in one district that didn't even come close to finding funding, or answers:

 Whats the taxpayers cost and obligation if any to install metal detectors and arm teachers?

 Whats the liability when a former military person (Veteran) shoots the wrong person in a school?

 How often will training be required, where will it be, who will pay for it?

 How do we stop an active shooter from circumventing the metal detector by shooting staff running it?

 How do we stop an active shooter from shooting outside the school before and after class?

 How do we stop an active shooter from shooting school buses?  Who pays for armed bus drivers and armored buses?

 Where do we store ammunition, how long can it stay in storage, where do we buy it from, how do we maintain chain of custody for impending lawsuits?

 What protections does the state provide legally for staff that kill someone?  Will the school or the state assist with the defense or Civil cases?  Will anyone?

 How do we replace staff unwilling to carry firearms?

 How do we address a student wrestling a firearm from a teacher?  

 How do we address negligent discharge?

 How do we address protests, how do we pay for the PR staff needed to do this?

 How do we address parents pulling students to other districts, or bringing more into ours?

Eegore wrote on 02/14/18 at 17:29:55:


That's why arming teachers, etc. is an asinine idea.

No, I am not ‘back’ but curiosity killed the cat and I wanted to see the post related to the Florida shooting.

First of all, facts matter. There have not been hundreds of ‘school shootings’ over the past year or even 18 this year. There has been one. This one. That’s all. Lumping a suicide by gun or a fight after class on school grounds where a gun was used is not a school shooting. That’s important because facts matter. The other is mentioning the NRA as if it's a person or a small group of people who somehow have control. They are a dues paying organization. Their voice is the voice of millions of their members. When you quote an NRA position,  you should say millions of Us citizens say "......" because that's the reality.

A well-run business for example deals with only the actual facts that matter, not ones blown out of proportion. To do otherwise means you’ll end up chasing rabbits and never get to the heart of the matter. Let’s keep that in mind. Trying to make progress on this issue or any issue, by starting with the presumption there has been hundreds of school shootings will lead to absolutely nothing.  

A list of the top 10 mass shootings have 4 schools listed. This one, University of Texas, Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech. Columbine doesn’t crack the top ten. However, and I found this interesting, of the top 30 mass shootings, 19 have occurred in the past 10 years. That’s a significant number.

I suggest before you ponder this issue too much further, you buy the book Columbine by Dave Cullen. This writer had full access to the Columbine investigation and the background of the two kids involved. It is the most chilling book I’ve ever read.

It’s an absolutely true statement, guns don’t kill people, people kill people. But disturbed individuals have two things now they didn’t have years ago. Easier access to semi-auto weapons and social media platforms used not to vent and get something off their chest, but the back and forth ultimately ends up fueling whatever hidden, dangerous rage exists inside them to their particular boiling point.

Everyone’s boiling point is different but social media platforms and the wide range of information on the internet makes that point accessible where perhaps it wasn’t before. Columbine may have been an outlier since there really wasn’t an internet back then.

The gun genie is out of the lamp. There are 300 million plus guns in the US with a shelf life of hundreds of years. My brother just bought and restored a Springfield trapdoor. When we fired that gun on new years day, as best as he could tell from researching the history of that single gun, it hadn’t been fired in 130 years, but it was just as deadly today as the last time it was fired.

So it seems in my mind there are two main facets to this issue.

Disturbed kids and the way they interact with society is the main one. The other is a growing number of accessible semi-auto firearms.

Read that book and then formulate in your own mind steps could be taken.

I should also add - on top of restriction of access, this country needs to prosecute gun felons to the greatest degree possible.  A perfect example is the a$$hole who shot a Chicago cop this week - he was in and out of jail for gun crimes (armed assault, illegal possession, etc.) and yet he walked the street...

It's sad that today, in many states, possessing marijuana will get you more jail time than possessing an illegal gun.

You're 100% correct Trip, guns are primarily made for killing people first, hunting animals second. And nowadays, hunting is, for the vast majority of our nation, a sport and not a necessity.

The 2nd amendment is not about hunting rights or individual protection.

The 2nd amendment is so the citizenry can fight off an abusive US government turning on it's people. That's all its intended for. Putting guns into the hands of the National Guard defeats that purpose.

It would be very difficult if not impossible for the US to turn into North Korea. To many armed citizens would resist. That's the only purpose of the 2nd Amendment and it's as valuable to our nation as all the other Amendments.

That's not to say that mass shootings and the few that happens at schools are the price we have to pay for this. That's a copout. What it says is mentally unstable people are able to metastasize their delusions into reality with nourishment from social media platforms coupled with easy access to the weapons necessary to protect the freedoms of this country.

Focus our attention on the first, not the second.  

You should get that book I mentioned. I think you'd like it.