After the horrific shooting at the Parkland, Florida high school, the blame game was quick to commence. The easiest target was the gun, an AR-15. These weapons seem to incite fear and revulsion on the part of gun banners simply because of how they look. Reference to “automatic” weapons abound, even though the AR-15 is indeed a “semi-automatic” weapon. The question arises: “Why would someone want to own such a weapon?”
Simple answer: To defend against someone similarly armed. I think a case can be made that the AR-15, and similar compact semi-automatic rifles, are “stand off” weapons, which can be used to keep potential aggressors at a distance. Why not call the police if threatened? Because the police may not be available, especially in the case of a serious event, like a flood, earthquake, tornado, hurricane or riot. History has shown that first responders are frequently overwhelmed in those circumstances. The inevitable looters arrive, and those who are unable to defend themselves become victims. It’s as simple as that.
The next target was the National Rifle Association. The NRA has traditionally been the best advocate for the Second Amendment. Those who feel that our Constitution is an antiquated document which needs to be discarded and replaced with new laws which reflect the current state of our nation want that protection, along with freedom of speech, trashed. We must not “offend” anyone by speaking words they don’t want to hear. We must disarm, and rely on the “government” to protect us, they cry.
Well, I would ask them: “You mean like how the government protected the 17 teenagers and adults at the Parkland school?” We have now discovered that not only did the FBI drop the ball by not investigating the tips about the shooter, but that the Broward County Sheriff’s Office had THIRTY-NINE opportunities to investigate his erratic and threatening behavior, but failed to do so.
The final blow is the revelation that Broward County Sheriff’s Office “School Resource Officer” Deputy Scot Peterson stood outside the school listening to the sound of gunfire for over four minutes instead of trying to stop the shooter. There may have been three other Sheriff’s Deputies that did the same thing while the killings occurred. If this proves to be true, it is disgraceful in the extreme. Those men will have to live with their timidity under stress for the rest of their lives.
Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel knew those deputies waited for SWAT team to arrive when he made inflammatory statements about the NRA at a town hall meeting about the shooting, and said his department had done everything in it’s power to protect the students and faculty at the school. He knew that was not true. He was trying to protect himself. He should resign.
Once again we are faced with problems which must be solved. On the one hand illegal immigration. On the other, the right to self defense against criminals, terrorists and crazies. As is virtually always the case, conservatives and liberals view the solutions completely differently. One rationally, the other emotionally.
Over the years we have lowered the age at which people are considered adults. Persons eighteen years old can vote. They can serve in our military. However, they are allowed to remain on their parents insurance as “children” until their mid twenties. Which are they?
It’s time we call it what it is, stupidity and incompetence. As a society, we have become complacent and self indulgent. We want somebody else to take care of the problems. In the “War on Poverty” declared by Lyndon Johnson, we designated welfare agencies to fix the issues of low income in minority segments of the population. Those agencies then allowed the “safety net” to become a hammock for many, in effect paying people not to work in some cases.
The FBI fails again. Although they had been advised about the Florida school shooter’s social media post claiming to aspire to be a “Professional school shooter” months before the fatal attack, no one connected the dots, or perhaps even tried to do so.
Another awful school shooting. It’s sickening. It’s frightening. It is also PREVENTABLE! How? By disarming responsible gun owners? Of course, to those who live either in a protected bubble, or in a mental la la land where evil can be washed away by yet another law.
Florida high school students dead. Possibly a teacher or teachers as well. Now Senator Bill Nelson from Florida is asking “when are we going to stop the violence”? My question is when are we going to eliminate the fallacy of “GUN FREE ZONES”?
Two police officers are gunned down in a suburb of Columbus, Ohio. The officers are both white. The shooter has been identified as Quentin Lamar Smith. He is black, and apparently has an extensive criminal record. The killing was ambush style. It had to be. In the current environment, no law enforcement officer is going to answer a domestic violence 911 call without being very careful. It is almost as if they were purposely lured there by the suspect’s actions in order to be slaughtered. Sound familiar? Dallas ring a bell?
There she is, standing in front of the mirror taking a “selfie” of herself with a black eye. Who could have done this horrible act?
President Trump has suggested that we have a parade in Washington, D.C. as a display of our military might and a tribute to our all volunteer armed services. What an awful idea! (to the left that is).