Townhall.com
Joy Overbeck
May 21, 2018

As the horrific events at Santa Fe High school unfolded, all the usual experts popped up on TV panels and interviews once again recycling their “never again” and “we’ve-gotta-do-something” solutions. These are respected authorities like former DOJ special agents, sheriffs, former NYPD detectives, and parents of children killed in previous school shootings. And not one single thing they recommended to stop school massacres will work.

More gun laws. Every state has literally volumes of gun laws. Killers, usually not old enough to legally buy a gun, have proved themselves very resourceful in obtaining one despite all the laws. At Columbine, the teen killers were too young to buy firearms so they got them from an older friend. The Sandy Hook kid killed his Mom with her own gun, took her gun and murdered six teachers and 20 little first graders. Nikolas Cruz, a notorious local psycho, though reported many times to the FBI and the Parkland FL police, was still able to pass a background check. And the latest crazy teen shot up his Santa Fe, Texas, school using his dad’s guns. The only thing that these school massacres have actually taught us – that a determined killer will always be able to get a gun despite all the gun laws – is stubbornly ignored by the gun-grabber left.

Single point of entry. This bright idea requires 500 to 2500 or so middle school and high school kids to enter their school through a single door. Kind of like a wedding planner recommending one little pot of fondue for 1000 wedding guests.

Metal detector at this single entrance. Can we posit a scenario here? A violent teen with lethal firearm under trench coat will: a. Wait patiently in line with 1,000 or 2,000 fellow students or b. Blow the metal detector guy away before storming the school in a hail of bullets.

Red flag laws and monitoring students for mental health problems. Parkland, FL mass shooter Nikolas Cruz was a veritable parade of red flags for years. Twice the FBI failed to follow up on alarming tips – such as vowing on social media “to be a professional school shooter.” The local police made 39 trips to his Parkland home because of his violent and erratic behavior.

His schoolmates knew he was nuts. Yet over a year ago the 19-year-old somehow passed “background checks” and legally purchased the rifle he used to kill 15 students, a teacher and a coach at the school from which he had been expelled. In response to their failure, the FBI has promised to “take corrective actions.” And the Florida legislature passed a law that you must be 21 to buy a firearm. Yeah that’ll help.

In a larger context, most of the privacy laws in the nation would need to be erased in order to access an individual’s medical or psychological records. And, honestly, is there a teenager who doesn’t have mental health problems? These are young people in the emotional maelstrom years. Exacerbating their immaturity, confusion and psycho drama, they often smoke weed which is six or seven times as strong as their parents’ weed and hardly conducive to metal stability. These kids eat Tide detergent pods and steal their parents’ meds. They are tossed and tormented by their chaos-inciting hormones. They play video games that give them instructive practical target practice in annihilating enemies – rehearsal for real life school massacres. And good luck with the entertainment industry scaling back video or film violence out of the goodness of their hearts.

None of these fixes have worked in the past, and none of them will work in the future. It takes but a minimum of common sense to realize the only way to stop a murderer shooting school-kids is another shooter who threatens or kills the murder. The timeline is quick; most often the killing is over before law enforcement can respond. It takes only moments to kill lots of people. The average time of these lethal events is 3 to 4 minutes – it took the Parkland shooter under seven minutes to take 17 human lives. And since the killing takes place inside the school, it only makes sense that’s where the defenders must be.

The only intelligent, sane voice was Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick who said on the Friday of the shooting he and Governor Abbott visited the wounded and their parents and classmates who “all to a person said ‘our teachers should be armed.’” Patrick speculated that an ex-Marine who taught in the classroom adjacent to the one the killer shot up may have been able to stop the shooter had he been armed. Though there were two armed officers on the campus, Patrick pointed out “four or five guns to one” is preferable to one or two.

Leftists who refuse to allow willing and well-trained teachers to protect their students reveal to all that their compassion is nothing but hollow hypocrisy. What parent in the world wouldn’t rather their child have a chance against a killer instead of being shot dead cowering in a closet, like those poor kids in Texas.

Teachers are already protecting their kids with their bodies and dying along with them – two at Santa Fe High School, two at Parkland, and six at Sandy Hook. Yet their union leaders like American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten are more than willing to sacrifice the lives of the 1.7 million educators the AFT represents to gun-hating liberal mythology.

Following President Trump’s proposal to arm teachers after Parkland, this woman said she spoke to 60,000 educators in a telephone town hall. “The response was universal,” she insisted, “even from educators who are gun owners. Teachers don’t want to be armed…we would never have the expertise to be sharp shooters…” And her preposterous drivel continues: “would kindergarten teachers be carrying guns in holsters? When you have seconds to act...is a teacher supposed to use those seconds getting her gun instead of getting her students to safety?”

But when a school suddenly becomes a war zone, there is no safety except behind a teacher or staff member with a gun. And Weingarten is wrong about teachers being unwilling to defend their students and themselves; they’re not nearly as suicidal as their union boss thinks. In a March 5-8 poll Gallup found that about one in five teachers would take their school district’s required training and carry a firearm in their schools. One-quarter of all the teachers currently own a gun, and unsurprisingly they were four times more likely than those who don’t to volunteer to be trained to carry in school. While the left promotes the lie that teachers just are too incompetent to defend their charges, two-thirds of those who want to carry said they are very confident they would be effective in a shooter situation, while one-quarter are somewhat confident. Since they already own guns, some for many years, they’re not self-defense newbies nor are they likely to believe leftist anti-gun propaganda and prejudice. Think: If one in five classrooms has an armed teacher, the odds for students’ survival dramatically improve.

In another March Gallup poll, the number of people who thought arming teachers and other school officials would be effective in stopping school shootings (47%) were exactly even with those who didn’t (53%) when accounting for the 3% margin of error.

Despite the media’s mocking and belittling arming teachers as dangerous and foolhardy, those who have actually dealt with these tragedies rejected leftist irrationality when the Parkland victims’ family members all signed a statement supporting the Florida bill that, among other things, provides millions for training and arming teachers.

The terrible irony is that since 2012 Texas has been one of the 30 states allowing trained and willing teachers to carry firearms in their schools. Yet only about 170 school districts out of the over 1,000 in the state have authorized these programs. And Santa Fe isn’t one of them.

Link

Excellent article, spot on!

How long will it take for enough people to become aware of what will work before they make it happen?

And sooner or later, some youthful idiots will “raid” the school like the idiots in the article I posted, the teachers and resource officers will shoot one or more, and the nabobs of negativism will go berserk.

^^^^^
Early in my banking career, a Canadian bank decided to arm all its retail branch managers with S&W M-10 revolvers. One of the managers took his newfound responsibility seriously and taught himself how to shoot at a local quarry. He employed his skills one day, shot a robber armed with a shotgun in the head, instant stop.

The bank's response? Confiscate all the guns they had just issued.

I kind of like the monitored 'single point entry' into the school to slow/curb these school shootings. Notice I did not say stop school shootings. I don't really think they will ever be stopped as kids/adults will always come up with something new...

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
the nabobs of negativism

Spiro, is that you?
Loved that expression!

Seriously, though, you are of course absolutely correct.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
the nabobs of negativism

Spiro, is that you?
Loved that expression!

Seriously, though, you are of course absolutely correct.

Spiro’s were nattering nabobs. These today are just ordinary plain nabobs, in a plain brown wrapper, by the dozens.

Yes, “nattering nabobs of negativism,” IIRC.
I could look it up, but what fun would that be?

Guns are simply a Tool, an inanimate object. The problem is NOT Guns, it is young people who have been selected and trained to be mass murderers. Lets just imagine that Guns didn't exist, so how would one these mass murderers accomplish their goal.

These murderers could get on Wikipedia and do a bit of studying on how to make Nitro Glycerine. Yeah you can actually find an accurate description of the process for manufacturing this High Explosive on Wikipedia. While it lacks some specific details there is enough information there to allow someone with a good Organic Chemistry textbook and time to experiment to allow someone with enough intent to make up a batch of Nitro Glycerine.

If they want a quicker path then they could get on Youtube and look up some videos showing EXACTLY how to manufacture Black Powder. BTW, when confined in a container that allows the Transition Pressure to be achieved Black Powder can become a rather powerful High Explosive. Just look at the videos of the Boston Marathon bombing.

For an even faster option, the mass murderer could simply start collecting 1 or 2 gallon milk jugs. Tell the local gas station he's started mowing lawns and he can purchase 15-20 gallons of gasoline a day. Then when the big day arrives fill the bed of a pickup truck with all those milk jugs with 5 or 10 of them without caps. Then take the truck up to 40 or 50 and just drive through the front doors of the School of Choice and once inside toss a road flare into the bed. Wont be long before they is a massive firestorm in that school.

So, how do we actually stop these Mass Killing Events. Banning guns won't do it, I've only touched the surface of what can be done without going near a firearm. Actually it's rather simple to stop these Mass Killing Events. The answer is to STOP TURNING CHILDEREN INTO MASS MURDERERS.

So how can we do that. It is actually rather simple.

Step One is to put an end to all the bullying that is now ignored. Right now I am a bit over 63 years old and when I was in school bullying was darned near non existent compared to what goes on today. There also wasn't ANY Ganging up on some single individual, because everyone considered ganging up on someone as something only a Coward would do. I'll also point out that the Special Ed Students (those who were mentally retarded or special needs) were OFF LIMITS. Fact is we were expected to act as Mentors to the Special Ed kids and protect them if necessary.

Step Two, put an age requirement on violent video games and enforce that requirement with a Felony for any violation. If fact IMO these types of games should actually be Banned for all. Because study after study has shown these games desensitize the players of these games to acting out with Violent Fantasy's and Actions.

Step three, there are certain mental health illnesses that can predispose someone who has endured many years of bullying into becoming a mass murderer. These students need to be monitored, in treatment, and have limits placed on them on what types of activities they can engage in. These are conditions that contain Obsessive/Compulsive behaviors. First, there is good old Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Second, there is Autism. BTW, a universal aspect of Autism is Obsessive Behaviors. So, why is Obsessive behavior such a problem. It is actually rather simple, children who are bullied and Obsessive will in time obsess about those bully's AND anyone they perceive as a Bully. Which can be someone who did something as simple as moving away from a lunch table they sat down at. So what happens with these types. Well, when they get home they will often start to "act out". Then Mom, or Dad, may park them at a First Person Shooter game so they can "vent their frustrations". Guess what happens to that child. They become, desensitized, trained and conditioned to be a Mass Murderer. If you want examples of this look into the shooters at Columbine, Sandy Hook, Parkland, and now Sante Fe, Texas. I also suspect the Las Vegas shooter was an Obsessive in addition to being Bipolar.

Four, we need to limit the media exposure on these Mass Killing Events. They give the susceptible an incentive to go out on their own killing spree.

Finally, we need to change the Culture in our schools, both Public and Private. Students need to be told the cold hard truth that their actions have, and can, create Mass Murderers. It takes some long term and intense abuse to take a young child and implant in them enough rage and hatred to go out and try to kill everyone they think did them wrong. The people who are creating these monsters need to be told they are all accountable and they must stop. Note, I'm old enough to actually remember when Bully's could be expelled at will by a principal without any repercussions.

PS; I have seen so many things taking place in the past 20 years or so that I sometimes wonder if the Liberal Media and Politicians aren't actually creating these Mass Murderers intentionally. Because think about it, the power to expel an unmanageable student has been removed from on site administrators. Teachers can be hit and injured by a student without any real repercussion to that student or his/her parents. Then there is "mainstreaming" students who cannot and will not ever be capable of "fitting in" without anyone being responsible to see that these students aren't subjected to daily verbal or physical abuse. And Finally there is this "everyone is a winner" crap. All that does is result in a student who has no grasp at all of Personal Responsibility or the simple concept that you cannot succeed in life without making an effort.

Scooter, everything you said can be summed up in one word:

ACCOUNTABILITY.

Unfortunately, we have lost that.

The one that also goes unsaid is doping the kids up on Ritalin because they are bored as the class creeps at a glacial pace for the slowest kid in the room.

If the kid is so hyper, put an AP textbook in front of them and see if they can (nonliterally) run with it. The most important thing in a child's education in public schools is the day that they were born. No other qualification are considered before this. See if the child can read, calculate, etc... at one, two, or five years ahead of their 'grade level'.

If a child can go at their Nintendo Switch for five hours at a time, the attention span wouldn't seem to be an issue. If the subject matter is below their comprehension skill set, they will become disengaged in about eight minutes and slowly gaze into oblivion or start pulling the posters out of the frames and waiting for the walls to melt...

quote:

Leftists who refuse to allow willing and well-trained teachers to protect their students reveal to all that their compassion is nothing but hollow hypocrisy. What parent in the world wouldn’t rather their child have a chance against a killer instead of being shot dead cowering in a closet, like those poor kids in Texas.

The very worst thing that could happen with regard to the Leftist's agenda to abolish the 2nd Amendment would be for school shootings to stop.

Let that sink in for a moment.

IMHO.... You put discipline and fear of consequences back in schools as it existed when I was a kid and this will stop.

Scooter is dead on. Lots of talk about guns, armed teachers, blah, blah, blah. But the focus should be about the kid, the conditions that brought him to kill and world he lives in.
This is about the kid, not the gun.
Something else I have been considering:
How many times have these kids sat in front of a TV or movie screen and watched someone killing and that killer faces no consequence at all? Pretty common in entertainment these days.
Do they think they can kill like they see on the screen and have no consequences?

quote:

The terrible irony is that since 2012 Texas has been one of the 30 states allowing trained and willing teachers to carry firearms in their schools. Yet only about 170 school districts out of the over 1,000 in the state have authorized these programs. And Santa Fe isn’t one of them.

That statistic surprises me. It would seem that in 6 years, Texas of all states could muster more than 17% of their school districts to participate in these programs.

quote:

Originally posted by sigfreund:

quote:

Originally posted by JALLEN:
the nabobs of negativism

Spiro, is that you?
Loved that expression!

Seriously, though, you are of course absolutely correct.

I remember encountering Agnew's '...effete corps of impudent snobs...' speech as a teenager. No computers, no Internet, but after a quick lookup in the dictionary, I learned the meaning of effete.

quote:

Originally posted by YooperSigs:
Scooter is dead on. Lots of talk about guns, armed teachers, blah, blah, blah. But the focus should be about the kid, the conditions that brought him to kill and world he lives in.
This is about the kid, not the gun.
Something else I have been considering:
How many times have these kids sat in front of a TV or movie screen and watched someone killing and that killer faces no consequence at all? Pretty common in entertainment these days.
Do they think they can kill like they see on the screen and have no consequences?

I think they lose the gravity of the act after watching and participating in virtual killing for years. Life, other than their own (and sometimes not even that), has lost its sanctity. It is not precious. It is not valuable. As such, gun control, knife control, bomb, automobile, poison, fire, arrow, baseball bat control will mean nothing. The weapon is human (barely) and it was manufactured by a sick media culture.

Weed, Tide pods, and video games. Yep, there’s your problem.

You’ll forgive me if I had to stop reading right there. Let’s all give a round of applause to Tipper Gore, shall we?

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Weed, Tide pods, and video games. Yep, there’s your problem.

You’ll forgive me if I had to stop reading right there. Let’s all give a round of applause to Tipper Gore, shall we?

I think Tide pod eating is a symptom. It is weed and X Box.

quote:

Originally posted by jhe888:

quote:

Originally posted by P220 Smudge:
Weed, Tide pods, and video games. Yep, there’s your problem.

You’ll forgive me if I had to stop reading right there. Let’s all give a round of applause to Tipper Gore, shall we?

I think Tide pod eating is a symptom. It is weed and X Box.

I.... I just gotta quote this. For posterity.



From thy keyboard unto the gospel. Sure it is. Nothing more to it.

And every preceding generation has a firm handle on what, exactly, the following generation’s problems are, and how to fix them, if they would just listen....

It’s the weed and the Xbox. Got it. Tipper was right all this time.

quote:

Step One is to put an end to all the bullying that is now ignored. Right now I am a bit over 63 years old and when I was in school bullying was darned near non existent compared to what goes on today. There also wasn't ANY Ganging up on some single individual, because everyone considered ganging up on someone as something only a Coward would do. I'll also point out that the Special Ed Students (those who were mentally retarded or special needs) were OFF LIMITS. Fact is we were expected to act as Mentors to the Special Ed kids and protect them if necessary.

There was bullying, and a lot of it fairly tough, physical as well as so-called emotional, mental, etc. You dealt with it, one way or the other. What you didn’t do was go berserk, grab guns, knives, etc. and start killing people.

People were more resiliant, tougher, I believe. Not everyone got a trophy in those days, so a lot of energy was expended trying to compete, excel if possible, and if you missed, you had the consolation of having tried your best. Humiliation was always lurking in the murky future, and few escaped without at least some run-ins with that uncomfortable state.

Yes, you had to sometimes prove you weren’t “just a big chicken” or, God forbid, a sissy. Sometimes the big tough guys would rough someone up a bit, do mean things to younger, less experienced students, demeaning names, insults of various kinds. You had to watch your mouth. What you said could, and was, held against you in various ways. If you did or said something perceived as stupid, you could expect a vigorous mocking, taunting, belittling.

There were a lot of hispanics in school here. You pick a fight with one of those guys, and guess what? All 300 or so of them were cousins!

Those of us in the band were referred to as “band queers” for wearing white shoes as part of the band uniform.

A lot of us went into the military just after high school, some drafted, of course. It seemed pretty rough, but you sucked it up. Some years ago, I had a friend tell me her son was at boot camp, and called home crying....... good grief! Really?

What ever became of “sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me?”