The focus is on guns and gun control again.
Let’s make guns illegal. This effort is a waste of time. If a kid, or an adult, is determined; they can and will find a way to obtain a gun regardless of gun laws. There are millions of guns hidden away, it is impossible to find and destroy them all. Guns will not go away as long as people need them for protection and survival.
Let’s make ownership illegal. This won’t work either. When gun ownership has been legislated out of existence, the average John Doe will not be able to buy, sell, or own a gun legally. But criminals and felons will because they will ignore the law. Without a gun, law abiding citizens will be defenseless and at the mercy of those who legally or illegally possess a gun.
Do you see where this is going? The only people who will have the guns are the King, his royal family and court, the loyalist nobility class (1 percent elites / land owners), and the knights of the realm (the appointed security / law enforcers). The rest will be serfs or slaves who serve the above without benefit of representation; that is if they are not executed outright as rebels (terrorists). Welcome to the new progressive form of government. Possibly, there may be enough survivors left to start CW2, then again, maybe not. Not a pretty picture either way.
We need more focus on the kids, not gun control. It’s the kid with the unmanageable issues at school you want to find and treat. Why not get the teachers some added psychological training if that will help. But don’t expect teachers to be professional psychiatrists even though most already know which kids in their classes are problem children and/or not acting their usual self. They can be a valuable tool in identifying students who need help beyond the classroom.
If the school district could afford to hire and staff a professional psychiatrist, the teachers could request a formal evaluation by the school psychiatrist to determine what is going on. It may be nothing or it may be something. If it turns out to be something, then corrective action could be taken.
In the meantime hiring more security guards and letting teachers pack heat may be the only interim solution.
I agree with most of that. Michael Carneal (the Heath High School shooter, 20 years ago) said after the shooting that he had fantasies about murdering classmates* as far back as when he was in kindergarten! What sane person believes such a twisted mind** will not eventually find a way to carry out the evil that has taken root in him / her, no matter what means we try to prevent access to??
*I assume Carneal meant actually killing classmates, and not using a cap gun, which, curiously, many of us over 50 or so had in our youth, and despite many a session of “cowboys and Indians”, none of us ever dreamt of shooting a real gun at anyone.
**Later on, in my college years, I had a former roommate admit to gory nightmares in which he knifed his family to death. Strangely, he said he had no real conscious animus toward said family, and he never showed any violence or misbehavior such as Cruz (in FL) toward anyone I know of. I suggested counselling, but lost contact with him shortly thereafter — all I really know is he never showed up in the news...
Who in this “information age” is so naïve to believe a would be killer denied a gun will be prevented from causing many deaths, if that is what they are determined to do? Again I emphasize that in the case(s) of these school shootings, these are NOT individuals who suddenly snapped.
It seems to me that a LOT more could be done in the way of having older students and / or those demonstrated to have good “responsibility skills” act as leaders, or “big brothers and sisters” to search out and befriend kids who are shunned, bullied, or feel isolated. And I suspect a lot more can be done to teach kids inner strength and coping skills.
I also suggest that the NRA propose a program in which they or even local gun clubs partner with local Law Enforcement to, instead of denying all sales of firearms (or even specific firearms), to work with and screen potential young buyers, review backgrounds (publicly available info.), teach gun safety, etc. Young buyers would have to complete a NRA “program” and screening which would take 4 weeks, before being able to purchase a firearm or ammo. (Subsequent firearms repurchases would get a 2-session / week NRA “review”.) Records of approved buyers, beyond what are normally kept now, anyway, would be deleted after 1 year. Report problematic kids to LE, and make public inaction on such if it occurs. (Only the inaction and the LE responsible for it to be made public; young citizens’ names would be “redacted” in public statements by the NRA. This could be win-win: It gives the NRA a means to make overtures to more potential new members, while the NRA provides some of the “hours” and extended contact with buyers that local LE may not have. (I am thinking this up at 4:30 a.m., so it probably needs some refinement!)
Last... I wonder if current depictions of “super heroes”, super villains, etc., in movies and games, may be a factor in modern school shootings? “Back in the day”, I think teenage kids easily recognized “non-reality”. Today’s characters, take “The Hulk”, or “Thor”, for example, are more “fantastic” than ever, but are also through CGI, etc., made more “real”, or believable. There also is quite the trend of many “super heroes” depicted as misunderstood “nerds” or outcasts, who then redeem themselves through violence. The characters are exaggerated, but are still... too real, perhaps? Can this have a cumulative subconscious effect on our kids? Most of us already believe the level of violence and gore in many modern electronic games has some effect, but I am going beyond that...