On August 1, 1966, Charles Whitman took an M1 carbine, a semi-automatic 12 gauge sawed-off shotgun, a Remington 700 bolt action rifle, a .35 calibre rifle, a 9mm Luger pistol, a S&W .357 magnum revolver, a .25 calibre semi auto Galesi-Brescia pistol, and over 700 rounds of ammunition, to the University of Texas tower and became the first mass "school" shooter in my memory. He killed a total of 17 people and wounded 31 others. He previously sought treatment for mental illness that he described as overwhelming violent impulses including a desire to shoot people from the Texas University tower. He acquired all guns legally. At autopsy they found a brain tumor.
Charles Whitman was born 33 miles north of Marjory Stoneman Douglass High School.
Not much has changed in the ensuing 52 years. We have not done much to keep weapons out of the hands of the mentally unstable. In fact, President Trump used the obscure Congressional Review Act to reverse a rule that would have provided the NIC Background Check System with information from the SS Administration of people receiving mental health benefits.
The latest Trump budget proposals would cut the Education Department grants for Safe Schools by $24 million and further slashes spending for the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Administration by $665 million.
The Trump proposed budget also cuts funding from a program called School Emergency Response to Violence, or Project SERV, which was used to help schools recover from a violent or traumatic event in which the learning environment has been disrupted. Project SERV was put in place following the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting in Newtown, Connecticut.
Talk is cheap Mr. President. In poker playing parlance, "Money talks, and Bullshit walks."
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