The School Shooting & Aftermath -- Emotion vs Reason & Real Solutions
“Never let a crisis go to waste” – Rahm Emanuel (Obama administration). In the wake of the terrible Florida school shooting, the Left and media have rarely been more diligent in executing that philosophy. They have played on, fanned, financed, fed script and selectively given voice to raw emotions. Many of these poor students have only heard in the media and from some parents that gun legislation is the only solution, and that the NRA (& GOP) is the enemy – truly demonized. So naturally they direct their anger there. And their anger is real, and intense – no one argues with that. But emotions and hysteria are the enemies of reason and real solutions to a more complex and multi-faceted problem. They foster mob mentality (someone shouted "burn her" at the NRA representative at the CNN town hall) and stage one thinking – knee-jerk solutions the Left typically uses for many problems, like throwing money at them – solutions that over the years have proven failures.
Clearly the media have sensationalized these events and emotional responses – to their own benefit and agenda. I have heard a parent and two students who said that CNN approached them to appear in their “town hall.” But didn’t want one of the students to ask a question about whether veterans might be used as armed security guards at schools, but wanted him to stick to scripted questions. The parent & daughter said that after hearing of their views, they were no longer interested in them. And so the “town hall” was a staged, one-sided, Leftist agenda rally, as was clearly evident – not a fair hearing debate of ideas (unlike the president’s meeting with a group of them). More “fake news.” The Left is inherently fascist and intolerant, and no more truly believes in the first amendment than the second. Witness the intolerance for free speech on campuses – ANTIFA, etc.
No, as Mark Levin rightly said, the Left and progressives cannot be relied on to protect us. Any more than they protect the many hundreds of dead in Chicago inner city. They’ve shown their contempt and hatred for police, ICE, etc.
And there are multiple facets to this problem. Guns – even automatic or semi-automatic -- have long been available, but this phenomenon of mass shootings has become somewhat more frequent more recently. One thing in common is enhanced and fostered victim mentality – which finds fertile soil in would-be terrorists, aggrieved/bullied mentally unstable youth, etc. Add to that the wide media coverage and notoriety that has clearly appealed to copy-cats, as found in their statements and planning. And these people have typically been unsocialized loners – happy, sociable people don’t feel a need to kill. Nor do people with moral values – e.g., religion.
So while any of these knee-jerk reactions that may address specifics of specific cases, like banning bump-stocks, or raising the age to buy multi-shot rifles, there will always be work-arounds. Like stolen or borrowed or self-modified guns. Or other weapons like cars. And these measures will often take years before they have any notable effect due to the current wide ownership & availability.
The most immediately effective measures would be to beef up security at schools – the first line of defense should be controlled entry points, metal detectors, and armed security guards – possibly in plainclothes and with concealed weapons, so as not to be targeted. Just like air marshals, Secret Service, etc. And guards and controlled entry at many of our places of work, airports, etc. More than one per school, possibly including any willing teachers/principles – in case one, as in this shooting, freezes, or becomes incapacitated. And to have greater likelihood of having at least one near the right place at the right time.
Another line of defense is identifying the criminal & mental cases who should be denied weapons access (improved background checks and databases, as the NRA has been advocating), and be treated. And immediately following up on leads and threats – which the FBI clearly failed to do in this and multiple other mass shootings. People need to be more diligent in providing those leads – as with terrorism, “if you see something, say something.” And securing our weapons, which the NRA teaches. There were so many red flags in this particular case -- 911 calls involving violence, other assaults, social media postings (that were reported to the FBI), etc. Just as in 9/11, there were many dots that were not connected or shared, and this needs to be remedied.
But we need to reflect on and improve our culture, including violent media and games, but also teaching values, including respecting life (including the unborn). And civility and respect, and sociality. These values are most often deeply held by those with faith in religions, which need to not only be not banned from the public square, or belittled, but heard and respected. As part of this cultural shift, the media need to be more responsible in reporting, and not glorifying or immortalizing the evil perpetrators or violence in general, in news, movies, TV, etc.
This should be a layered defense & solution, just as the layers of security for air travel, government buildings, etc. No one layer can be foolproof -- and certainly in this case each of the above-mentioned layers failed, so each needs to be enhanced -- but together they can increase the security and decrease the likelihood of a repeat. And until the government can absolutely guarantee less than one minute response time for all of us everywhere, there will always be a need for the right to have the means to defend ourselves.
In the last few days I’ve heard some great speeches by Charlton Heston (1997, 1999 but timeless), and the NRA (this week), linked here. Those who are so closed-minded as to not be able to even hear these rational arguments are doomed to the consequences of their emotions, including ineffective solutions, and continued divisiveness and inaction. There is not one single solution, and it is naïve and simplistic to think there is. This is not as black and white as these single-solution emoters would like to believe. Liberals and progressives and anyone intellectually honest on the Left should be open to hearing such nuances.
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