The shooting in Texas and the subsequent flurry that guns are the problem, not the fingers that pull the trigger, made me curious.
I went back in time to learn more about the genesis of school shootings: Columbine.
The untimely death of anyone is a tragedy; the killing of children scars the heart. So what’s happened since 1999, nearly a quarter century ago? In reading about the two teenagers who committed the atrocity, I wondered, what turned them?
From all the research done, it appears there’s no real direct answer other than somewhere the wires got crossed. Today’s catch-all term is “triggered.” A sardonic use of words. It seemed that, in the Columbine case, it was a combination of things: girl issues, hating school, feeling like they’re being indoctrinated, depression, not fitting in, wanting to make a statement and their own problems with suicide. I would think that combination is likely attributable to most, if not all, the shooters since then.
The internet and video games seem to come into play as well. How can you not become a bit anesthetized to killing when you’re playing a game, days on end, slaughtering fictitious characters?
In the last 21 years, hundreds, maybe thousands of new gun measures have been enacted. And in that time, it’s been a constant effort by the left to strip Americans of their guns, based upon the actions of a small percentage of the deranged population.
Yet despite all the new restrictions, the situation has grown worse, and it’s not because of access to guns, but because of the mental state of our country.
Despite these shootings, as terrible as they are, the number of deaths doesn’t statistically come close to the number of kids who die from drunk driving, drugs, alcohol, accidents, suicides, cancer, drowning, child abuse. The numbers run into the hundreds of thousands as opposed to the dozens in school shootings. This doesn’t diminish in any way the revulsion of the massacres, but rather it points out the political game that is used against the second amendment.
The deceptive simplistic (and purely political) argument that if you stopped selling guns it would end the shootings, is just that, deceptive.
After all the shouting and finger pointing settles down again, no one bothers to explain the reality of life after a new law has been enacted, and politicians gloat on what a great job they did when, in fact, they have accomplished nothing. If someone wants to cause harm, they’re going to figure out how to do it. Sadly, we all know that.
We could only hope if it were more difficult to obtain a weapon that a time delay may change a killer’s mind. However, I think psychologists would argue once the brain is twisted, it won’t unwind itself.
And as we know, guns are not the only weapon of choice; cars plowing through parades, bombs in crowds and even fertilizer.
So what do we do?
To begin with, stop playing politics with the souls of the dead.
The world has changed radically since 1999. The internet is a blessing and a nightmare in so many ways. Cell phones are the death of social interaction. Video games have become so lifelike I wouldn’t be surprised if after 10 hours locked in a room, players begin to believe it’s real and feel empowered.
Long gone are the days of playing outside and actually talking with other kids and not having a hand clenched around a phone constantly checking if you missed something. I always ask my grandkids just exactly what are you doing that’s so darn important you can’t stop texting? I don’t think they even know. It’s the new world, and it’s not necessarily a good one.
During the coming election cycle, we’re going to be barraged with a blame game over who cares more about the kids. In less than two years, the Democrats have devastated the country. They have a zero platform to stand on. Then along comes the rebirth of the abortion debate and the battle over guns. Sadly, death is being used to try and breathe life into a social(ist) experiment that has failed miserably.
Democrats used the coronavirus in 2020 as a political weapon, again on the backs of all those who died, and they plan on doing it again with babies and guns.
We can turn a nation into tattle tails using a “red-flag” law, which will be terribly abused. Some would-be killers may be culled from the herd, but many innocents will have their rights violated by an angry spouse or a feuding neighbor. And as we know, once the accusation has been made, now it’s up to you to prove otherwise. We should always be paying close attention without the need of the government implementing another law.
It could/should have been used against Hunter Biden for lying on his gun application. An unpredictable alcoholic/drug addict surely would fall within the red-flag parameters.
In almost all shooting cases, the signs were there.
For Columbine, it appears it could have been prevented if law enforcement had followed up on some very legitimate warnings. They neglected to do so and then made things worse by blaming others and trying to cover it up. The Uvalde shooting also appears to have its own share of problems still unfolding.
A mom in Spokane summarized what should have been done yesterday but can be done literally tomorrow; “implementation of metal detectors, increasing bullet proof barriers in schools, updating the emergency notification system.” And don’t say we don’t have the money.
We’re sending $40 billion to another country , and we still have billions of COVID-19 dollars floating around that hasn’t even been spent yet. We have the money! President Joe Biden printed it!
You can ban all guns, you can try to go after decent people, you can use fear, but it’s impossible to find all the bad people. And more and more are twisted every day. Just how do we fix that?
Henry Schulte welcomes questions or comments at hschulteopinions@gmail.com.
