Reflections on Tragedy


Condolences and prayers.  Governors order flags at half-staff.  We call them insane and mentally ill, even if we don’t fully understand what mental illness entails.  It doesn’t explain it.

They are simply evil.

Some Dickless Asshole (This Blog never mentions the name of spree shooters.  They can find their “Fame” elsewhere.) decides he wants to be a professional school shooter and kills helpless children and one adult at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida.

There’s a lot of outcry from the general public.  The FBI should have done something.  What that something is isn’t stated.  We don’t arrest people for making outrageous claims on YouTube. If we did, half of Hollywood and most of our sports teams and all of the sportswriters would be in jail.  Talk radio would be a barren field of static.

NICS should have flagged Dickless, critics say.  HIPAA laws make the use of medical records without the consent of the patient illegal.  Using social media as a medical diagnostic tool might be a step worse than reading tea leaves.

An NPR media person indicated that Florida is considering a law which would allow a person to be taken into protective custody if it is thought the person might be a danger to themselves.  That’s more than a little scary.  Imagine the police showing up with a pre-crime warrant for your evaluation because of e-mail or something you posted on a blog or Facebook. 

Evaluation?  Remember the person interviewing you is paid to determine if you’ll hurt yourself or someone else.  They aren’t doing their job if they don’t find you dangerous.  Everyone, under the right circumstances, can be more than a little dangerous to themselves and others.  No, I think they’ll unjustly find a lot of people with the potential to harm themselves.

Society is demanding change, even if it doesn’t accomplish anything.  The NRA stands opposed to it.

Still, this is fight the NRA might lose. 

Society has changed.  We are no longer the rural community, where boys and girls learned about firearms from fathers, mothers, uncles, and grandparents.  I’m not convinced that today’s average 18 year old has the same maturity as most 18 years did in the early 1900s.  Maybe having to contribute to the family purse with a job since you were 14 or having spent the last 12 years at farm chores in addition to attending school gave them a different maturity. 

In any case let’s change the age required to purchase a gun to 25.  That’s any gun, airsoft, BB or .22LR.  Most youngsters don’t fully understand all the repercussions of their decisions until they are in the mid to late 20s. 

And no, I don’t see this as a slippery slope argument.  Our society limits access to many things based on age.  That’s why you don’t see 12 year olds behind the wheel of a car.  You’re not blocked from owning a gun, just delayed till your 25 birthday.  This doesn’t prevent them from participating in the shooting sports.  It just means their parents have to provide the weapons and be present to take responsibility for the firearms. 

There a practical side to this as well.  That gives anti-social Dickless Assholes more years to screw up bad enough to bring them to the attention of the legal system, which would now have the power to deal with them.

And I think our schools can do better.  Can teachers be trained to recognize that a personality is degrading?  We know some of the hallmarks: grades suddenly declining, dropping old friends and becoming more of a loner, increased absenteeism and behavior problems.  We can provide our teachers the training to recognize potential problems. 

Can we help them build bridges to the students so they trust teachers and administrators?  Can guidance counselors discuss problems and solutions with parents without fear of blowback?  Can we demand they follow through to see if the parents are engaged with the child to find a solution? 

Sure we can.  Yes, it’s going to cost money and we taxpayers are on the hook.  That’s not a complaint. 

Lastly, let’s recognize it takes a good guy with a gun to stop Dickless Asshole with a gun.  Look, we already live in an armed camp.  Criminals don’t care what law they break and carry when they want.  Most communities participate in CCW so you’re already living in an armed camp.

Our last best option is allowing teachers with CCW, who wish to, to carry in school and at all school events.  Additional training isn’t a bad idea.


Is it that simple?  No, but it’s a start.

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