Another Day, Another School Massacre

As of February 14, 2018, we have suffered one school shooting every 2.5 days. That’s 18 school shootings in the first 45 days of this year*.  This is more than double last year’s carnage.  In this number (18) there are incidents with no fatalities.  By the numbers.  Incidents with deaths: 17, 1, 2, 1, 1,1,1.  Incidents with injuries: 1, 5, 15, 1, 16.

AR 15 Semi-automatic Civilian Version of M16 Military Rifle

NATO round Designed to penetrate 15 to 20 inches in soft flesh

I would venture to say that the vast majority of sane Americans realize that the nut-job, I believe that is the correct medical term, who just killed at least 17 people at a Broward County, Florida school, should not have been allowed to legally purchase a semi-automatic rifle.  He was a known quantity, kicked out of school, with severe disciplinary problems, a loner, with declarations of intent to do violence on social media, and I’m sure more signs to come.  See the 3 images below and see if you don't think this man should have been flagged and not eligible to buy a gun.

Social Media Postings

Reported to the FBI in September

While the FBI claims they were notified they couldn't trace the individual responsible for the above post.  Curious that they found him in under 24 hours after the shooting.  Oh, that guy.  As general mass shootings go (those with 4 or more victims), this is shooting number 30 for the year. 

Locations of Mass Shootings in 2015

The National Rifle Association (NRA) spends big bucks to defend their interpretation of the second amendment. It is opposed to virtually every conceivable form of gun regulation, including restrictions on the ownership of semi-automatic rifles, retention of databases of gun purchases, background checks on purchasers at gun shows, and changes in the registration of firearms.

I have a couple of questions for every NRA member in America.  You say you need weapons for hunting.  You say you need weapons for self-protection.  You say there are no gun regulations that you would support.

•  What animal are you hunting in America that requires a semi-automatic AR-15 style rifle with a 20 or 30 round clip?  Moreover, the obvious follow-up inquiry, are you really that bad a marksman?
• What self-defense situation do you envision where you would need a weapon designed to place multiple 5.56x45mm rounds downrange at a distance of 300 to 800 meters?
• Why do you insist that prayers and condolences are the only solution to mass shootings and that the inconvenience of thorough and more comprehensive background checks and certain gun restrictions are a gross violation of your rights and that your rights are more valuable than those of the victims and their families?

Those are obviously rhetorical questions.  I included a link on the word rhetorical for those now wearing MAGA hats.

Nut Job

I won’t go into detail regarding my recommendations for gun control as they haven’t much changed since I wrote about them in January of 2016.  I also wrote about reasonable gun restrictions in June of that year as well.

It is long past time for change.  We don’t need condolences anymore.  Prayers aren’t working either.  We’ve been doing both of these things for years and yet, 17 more people are dead in Florida.  We can have gun ownership AND reasonable restrictions on gun ownership.  Those two things are not mutually exclusive.  Why can’t responsible congressional leaders pass meaningful legislation?  The NRA and the gun manufacturers lobby contributed $5,900,000 to Republicans in the 2016 elections cycle.  I guess we have our answer.  By way of full disclosure, Democrats received $106,000 during this same timeframe.

You can click the images below to enlarge and read.

2016 Presidential Candidates Career Donation Totals from Gun Lobby
(click image to enlarge)

Politicians with Career Gun Lobby Donations (click image to enlarge)

I have another idea.  I heard on CNN that they had collected graphic footage of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting but they couldn’t show it to viewers, as it was too horrific.  All members of Congress should be forced to watch the unedited version.

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* It must be noted that the number 18 includes all shooting incidents involving school property.  This number includes accidental weapon discharges, single bullets through a window or wall, suicides, and other incidents where there were no injuries or deaths.  For a complete list see this link:

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/school-shootings-year-article-1.3821162