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.