Every day, all day, gun control is front and center on every news channel — both broadcast AND cable — spinning the political correctness features of it from every side. Quite honestly, we see and hear the same things immediately following EVERY mass shooting incident, especially when at a school.
Here are the solutions (in no certain order) that are being touted by pretty much everyone, from the President to school teachers:
- Outlaw private gun ownership
- Confiscate all guns from private citizens
- Outlaw semi-automatic weapons — long guns and pistols
- Raise the age for legal gun ownership to 21 for long gun purchases. It already is 21 for semi-automatic purchases
- Add stiffer requirements for those who purchase guns
- Include in that process intense screening of those who file applications who have a history of mental illness or being under physician care for mental issues
- Arm some teachers who volunteer and go through professional gun training
- Provide on-site professional armed guards at every school
- Mandate (with state and federal funding) mandatory security provisions at every school, elaborate fencing, one way in, mandatory credentials for all who enter, constant monitored security cameras
Each of these definitely has some possibility. But each comes with issues that could preclude their inclusion in any security process to protect schools. Several are currently un-Constitutional and would require amending the U.S. Constitution. But, to be honest, I feel strongly that NONE of these (that are legal) would have stopped a single mass school shooting since the first years ago in Colorado.
In reality, each of these is an example of “political social engineering” that is becoming more and more common, and less and less effective. There ARE things that could significantly impact (and in many cases stop or severely limit) school shootings. But most of these things are not “politically correct,” have been discussed momentarily in the aftermath of every such shooting, and then tabled because they do not fit the framework of political correctness. And so the shootings continue as do the deaths and maiming of innocent students and teachers.
Want to hear about the epitome of the failure of a “sure thing” in political social engineering? Consider this:
Broward County
The Broward County school district’s adoption of a school discipline policy that was praised by the Obama administration for seeking to reduce the reported number of school suspensions, expulsions, and arrests may have played a role in the fact that Nikolas Cruz remained under the radar until his shooting rampage in Parkland, Florida, on February 14. The program was called “PROMISE.” (Preventing Recidivism through Oppotunities, Mentoring, Interventions, Support, and Education) “The facts pattern that has emerged strongly suggests it played a role,” Manhattan Institute senior fellow Max Eden said. “It’s not actually accurate to say that what Broward County did was the result of the Obama policy. It might be more accurate to say that what Broward County did was in some way the inspiration for Obama’s policy.”
The Obama-era Departments of Education and Justice – under education secretary Arne Duncan and Attorney General Eric Holder –issued school guidelines in 2014 that claimed students of color are “disproportionately impacted” by suspensions and expulsions, a situation they said leads to a “school-to-prison pipeline” that discriminates against minority and low-income students. “Broward County was the first to have the goal of lowering suspensions, lowering expulsions, lowering arrests,” explains Eden. “And, so, they decided to reduce police involvement by not bringing in cops to arrest kids for a whole range of serious offenses, and then, as you would expect, the arrests go down when you stop arresting — from 1050 to 365 annually. That was taken to be a sign of success, based on that metric alone.”
What was in this program for Broward County? In exchange for the school system taking on adjudication of “minor” crimes in the schools rather than reporting those offenders to local police, they received $54 million in grants to “assist them in helping those student offenders through Opportunities, Mentoring, Interventions, Support and Education” rather than calling the cops. This is simply another example of “Pay for Play.”
According to the Obama administration’s 2014 “Dear Colleague” guidance, any school district whose disciplinary measures showed “disparate impact” – meaning a disproportionately greater number of minority students are affected – is open to investigation by the Departments of Justice and Education, regardless of whether the behavior leading to the discipline is unacceptable. Cruz, according to The Washington Post, had a long history of escalating behavioral problems which got to the point of some teachers becoming scared of him. “I can say I was so uncomfortable around him, I did not want to be alone with him in my classroom,” one former teacher told The Post. “That is how disruptive his behavior was.”
Sheriff Israel has repeatedly shifted responsibility regarding the multiple red flags his office received about Cruz, as well as why his armed deputies did not enter the school to engage Cruz. “As I said, I’m the Sheriff, my name’s on the door,” Israel told a local NBC reporter. “The people responsible are the ones who took the calls and didn’t follow up on them, as it was with the FBI, as it was with any person.” Eden scoffed at Israel’s assertion saying, “There’s this way in which it’s like dereliction of duty as virtue signaling. We’re going to stop doing our jobs and then we’re going to issue press releases saying look how much arrests have gone down. And then when something bad happens, well we weren’t informed about it but the entire policy was to not inform the police.”
The Broward County School District’s highly touted PROMISE program prevented Nikolas Cruz from getting arrested, which could have blocked him from purchasing his armory, if convicted. Because of PROMISE, Cruz was allowed to continue to walk the streets, evade any arrests, and allowed him to slaughter 17 innocents in Parkland! “Political Social Engineering”
Summary
There are many options for schools, law enforcement, parents, teachers, and everyday citizens to use to work together to stop the mass shootings. There is NO easy fix — NO single fix. It will require numerous elements available to all to put together like a puzzle to right the ship. But one thing is certain: Political Social Engineering by the federal government to attempt to cure a local problem has not and will not work.
We have heard this statement over and over again. And even though it is tired and maybe cliche, it is STILL the truth: “Guns don’t kill people. People kill people.” We can’t take care of guns killing people without taking care of the PEOPLE who use guns to kill people!
