By Dave Workman | Senior Editor
It may have been the first time in history for a major gun prohibition lobbying organization to offer a public apology for trying to turn a somber vigil for the victims of a high school shooting in Colorado, but the Brady Campaign did exactly that.
However, for Alan Gottlieb, chairman of the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms, it wasn’t enough.
One day after the shooting at STEM School Highlands Ranch left one student dead and several others injured, a Brady Campaign youth group called Team Enough organized the vigil, attended by a large crowd of students and parents. It was supposed to have been a forum to allow the audience to share their feelings, but it turned into what some critics described as a campaign event and gun control rally when politicians took to the podium.
US Sen. Michael Bennet, running as one of nearly two dozen Democrats hoping to replace President Donald Trump in 2020, and Congressman Jason Crow made headlines when they took advantage of a ready-made crowd.
But it didn’t last long. Students and parents walked out, condemning the pols for trying to hijack the event. Bennet, according to USA Today, “urged support for gun control legislation.” The audience, which had gathered to honor the heroism of Kendrick Castillo, the 18-year-old STEM student who sacrificed his life by charging at one of the armed suspects and being fatally wounded. Castillo was scheduled to have graduated only three days later.
“We are deeply sorry any part of this vigil did not provide the support, caring and sense of community we sought to foster and facilitate and which we know is so crucial to communities who suffer the trauma of gun violence,” the Brady Campaign said in part.
The teen suspects reportedly smashed into a locked gun cabinet, thus negating any gun control arguments for secure storage of firearms. Since they apparently stole the guns used, there were no background checks, and the suspects are under age 21, which means they were illegally carrying concealed handguns. They violated the gun-free school zones law by bringing guns onto a school campus.
Students in the audience shouted complaints about turning the vigil into a “political stunt.” One student declared, “We are people, not a statement.”
The two suspects were identified as Devon Erickson, 18, and 16-year-old Alec McKinney. According to CNN, “Authorities initially referred to the 16-year-old suspect as female. But the suspect’s lawyer said in court that McKinney goes by the first name Alec, and uses the pronoun ‘he,’ Colorado Judicial Department spokesman Rob McCallum said.”
An earlier report from Denver’s KMGH quoted “multiple sources close to the investigation” who said the younger suspect “is a transgender male who was in the midst of transitioning from female to male.”
Many students who “stormed” out of the vigil eventually returned, KUSA reported, and they brought the focus of the event back to the shooting victims.
According to the Denver Post, the school has private security, but there is no “school resources officer” as other schools frequently have. The STEM School has 1,850 students ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade, the newspaper added.
STEM is a public charter school, according to USA Today. STEM (for Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) schools are found in several locales.
Writing at the Washington Examiner in December, Tim Schmidt, founder and president of the US Concealed Carry Association (USCCA), asserted that gun-free zones are essentially a deadly mirage. They haven’t prevented mass shootings, and in his view, it’s because “murderous maniacs know that malls and schools are soft targets.”
“Those inside,” Schmidt wrote, “don’t have the ability to protect themselves. In an emergency situation, seconds matter and a well-trained, responsible gun owner can save lives in an active-shooter situation.”
Some schools allow armed teachers, with proper vetting and training. All such teachers, or school administrators, participate in such programs voluntarily. Nobody is required to have a firearm, and there is stiff opposition to the idea from many teacher organizations.
