By Harold “Budd” Schroeder
The recent tragedy in a Florida school predictably brings up the cry for more gun control and it is still not the solution to deal with the acts of evil or crazy people. It is a terrible action and people demand that the government do something to prevent repeats of any tragic event that isn’t a natural disaster.
The first cry is for more gun control. It is a conditioned response for any mass murder that involves a firearm. However, that is about as logical as saying we can stop the deaths of drug addicts if we have tougher drug laws. We tried that and that doesn’t seem to be working, either.
The massacre, like more than 92 percent of the mass shootings occurred in a gun free zone. Perhaps that should be one of the prime considerations to consider when looking for a solution. The best way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.
We cry about the deaths caused by drunk drivers, but nobody has started a movement to have stricter controls on the purchase of alcohol. There was a period of time in American history where the government actually banned the sale and use of alcohol. It proved that the “cure” was worse than the “disease.”
Of course, with the drunk driving problem (and it is a big one) nobody has addressed that if it wasn’t for cars, we wouldn’t have a large number of deaths because of drunks. Neither of these causes of death has suggested banning or stricter government control of these products.
There is another leading cause of death that also gets a pass from the government. That is the multiple negative health conditions caused by cigarette smoking. The high rate of deaths by heart disease, cancer, and pulmonary problems could be greatly reduced if people didn’t smoke.
We see commercials on TV that show horrible examples of what can happen to smokers, but for all practical purposes, the only restriction is that stores can’t sell tobacco products to minors. Is it possible that there isn’t much governmental intervention with smoking because the purchase of cigarettes and alcohol brings in a lot of tax revenue? It is amazing what large sums of money can do regarding legislative involvement.
To solve a problem, one must be able to competently define the problem, and while a gun is involved in any shooting, is it the fault of the gun? Of course not! It is the actions of an evil or mentally deranged person. Here is where the big question comes in.
The investigation of Nikolas Cruz began with his background. It appears that he is a loner with unresolved issues that were not dealt with and should have been. He had been reported to local law enforcement agencies and even to the FBI. Neither did their jobs properly.
He should have, at the very least, been placed on the NICS list which would have made him unable to legally purchase a gun. They screwed up and now the gun is to blame? If a person has a driver’s license and then drives drunk, is it the fault of a liquor store who sold him a bottle of booze six months earlier the cause of his abuse of the product?
He used what the media terms to be an “assault weapon.” This is a term they use to confuse the public. An “assault weapon” is a semi-automatic rifle that has a selector switch that will make it fully automatic. However, it suits the anti-gun zealots’ purpose, so they use it.
Rational people realize that the same amount of damage could be done with any modern firearm, or by using other methods. Timothy McVeigh killed more than seven times as many people using a rented truck and common fertilizer and fuel oil. Others have killed more with fire bombs and homemade explosive devices.
What makes people commit such violent crimes? We didn’t have that big a problem fifty years ago. What makes young people tend to be more ready to commit such atrocities? Some will blame it on how the child is raised, influences when growing up, medications, and attitudes. Some say it is because they are being desensitized by media and electronic games.
There may be truth to some or all of them. For example, the horror movies we see make dismemberments, torture, and mass killings entertaining. A generation or so ago kids would go outside and play games with each other as a matter of growing up. Now, they spend their time with an electronic device playing games and interact with their friends by texting on their cell phones.
Sometimes they talk to each other on their phones, but when is the last time people could comment about seeing the kids playing games that gave them exercise rather than eyestrain or hearing problems?
The games that are popular are, more often than not, based on violence. To win points it is necessary to shoot someone or dispatch them in some other fashion, but killing is part of the game. Isn’t there something wrong with that kind of conditioning? That kind of impression on expressional minds can have a significant effect on attitudes.
In this case, whatever the motive for the killing of people in a school, by a person who demonstrated and mentioned on social media that he wanted to be a “professional school killer,” should have been a huge red flag. He had contact with law enforcement agencies and school personnel who did not react in a proper manner. Had they done so, they could have saved seventeen lives.
Blaming a certain kind of gun for the actions of a deranged person who should (and could) have been stopped before he became a murderer is inexcusable. When placing blame for a tragedy, it should be done where the blame belongs.
Taking away Second Amendment rights by banning guns from honest, law-abiding people won’t make a good, rational person out of a criminal or crazy person. The problem has been defined. It is the dangerous people who need the control, not guns.
