A mad dog runs loose and murders seventeen helpless victims in a high school in Florida.  Helpless onlookers all over the world cry, “We have to do something!”  And, as always, that turns into “We have to blame someone!” And voila, the now inevitable wave of twits on Twitter calling the NRA a terrorist organization and, by natural extension, all its members terrorists.

Simply banning and confiscating AR15 rifles and other guns with magazines of significant cartridge capacity is the demand once again.  Let’s see, fifteen million guns to be confiscated (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/america-s-rifle-why-so-many-people-love-ar-15-n831171).  The cheapest for which one can be bought is about $700.  That’s $10.5 billion in compensation that would be due to their legitimate owners…and it grossly understates the cost, because so many AR15s carry four-figure price tags.  (Hey, gun control rabble-rousers – you weren’t planning on confiscating property legally purchased and responsibly owned by American citizens without compensation…were you?)

And where will the funding come from to send our nation’s 800,000 law enforcement officers to more than a hundred million homes to find and confiscate these guns?  And what tragedy and bloodshed and shattering of rights might arise from that?

The morning after this atrocity, we were tuned to CNN.  For more than an hour they discussed this incident non-stop, as if there was no other news in the world…and were absolutely tone-deaf to their own hopefully unintentional complicity in motivating the next monster. They implicitly told every thwarted loser in the country that they could get instant 24/7 fame and attention, and all they had to do for it was murder some helpless schoolkids.  See: https://pjmedia.com/trending/5-things-terrible-media-communicates-every-potential-school-shooter/

When Emotion collides with Logic, Emotion resorts to lies.  Read this expose of the grotesque exaggeration as to the frequency and casualty count in “school shootings” recently put forth by the now-dominant anti-gun group, “Everytown,” financed as a pet project of billionaire Michael Bloomberg: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/america-s-rifle-why-so-many-people-love-ar-15-n831171.

But none of the antis will compromise their precious political identity by supporting something that could actually work to deter or at least greatly mitigate things like this: arming selected, trained volunteer school personnel so someone there on the ground can interdict a mass murderer in time, as soon as he reveals himself as such.  Some wise legislators in Alabama have already taken that approach in the wake of the Florida atrocity. http://whnt.com/2018/02/15/alabama-lawmaker-to-propose-bill-allowing-teachers-to-carry-guns-at-school/.  Good for them!

Too bad something like that didn’t come in time for Aaron Feis, the courageous assistant football coach and UNARMED school security guard who was killed in the massacre. (https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/parkland-school-shooting-hero-football-coach-aaron-feis-died-shielding-n848311).  Per Elizabeth Chuck, Associated Press, and NBC News:“The death toll, witnesses said, would have been even higher had it not been for Feis. They said that when the gunfire broke out, Feis quickly draped himself over students, acting as a human shield.”

Note the words, “WHEN THE GUNFIRE BROKE OUT.”  If that is correct, Feis was one of the first victims, or perhaps the very first.  If he had been armed and could have shot back in time, how many lives would have been saved?

That, in the last analysis, is the real question.  A question that those more invested in their politically-defined self-identity than they are in actually saving lives, simply refuse to face.

57 COMMENTS

  1. Priceless, Mr. Ayoob!

    God rest the hapless, hopeless victims and their families.

    Unarmed security guard…the mind boggles at the stupidity of that logic too.

    • unarmed security guard. What’s he spozed ta do, shove his big thumb into the muzzle? Well, we all know how “secure” he made the place. WHY do gummit insist on forbidding the very item most suited to seeing to “the security of a free state” to faithful men who WOULD protect their charged IF THEY COULD? Its like the horse farmer bidding the geldings be fruitful and multiply. Ain’t a gonna happin. What a tragic waste of life this whole schemozzle is. And totally preventable (well, perhaps not quite… he COULD have got one or two victims hit before Mr. Feis was able to get a draw and a good bead on him).

  3. I have long been an advocate of concealed carry. When I am with my family regardless of generation I carry. The only time I am unarmed is when I have to go through a metal detector. I don’t care if it says “gun free zone” or not, no metal detector I am prepared to defend mine! I firmly believe in Col. David Grossman’s discription of sheep dogs and sheeple’. If your not familiar with Col. Grossman look him up. I’m 3/4 of a century old. What are they going to do to me 3 hots and a cot – Oh well!

  4. Fallout from CA Demos lay the blame directly on the NRA and the support in the last election for President Trump. They rail about universal background checks as being the panacia and restricting guns from those with mental illness. Nobody wants wack jobs to have guns, that’s just plain insane. But who is monitoring this issue. From what I have read, the FBI know about this guy last fall and failed to follow up on what was reported. Tragic, absolutely. Solution, more due diligence by those agencies that are aware of these individuals at any level. Plus getting past the emotion of arming certain school officials who could have been the first responder and made a
    substantial difference.

  6. Sadly, with the recent spate of gun-free-zone school shootings, (and to a lesser degree, churches) again, we hear cries and demands for stricter gun-control laws. In point-of-fact, there are approximately 22,000 existing laws on the books.

    Cries and demands are being made calling for ways to limit a person with “mental” issues. Yet, under existing law, (HIPPA), is it “legal” for anyone to scrutinize another’s medical history without their knowledge or consent?

    And, again; WHO would make the decision, WHO gets to decide that such-and-such individual does or does not meet an, as yet undescribed and undefined, medical policy or criteria?

    As for appealing to, and enlisting, retired police officers, sheriff’s deputies, and military veterans, I have some personal concerns on this.

    I have no military experience. I do, however, know several veterans who served in all branches of the Armed Services. Their collective firearms experiences vary from; “I qualified in Basic Training”, to full-fledged warriors with much combat experience. Yet, I feel it necessary to point out, from my police-background only – combat principles do not necessarily transfer over to police work. Simply, the mission-parameters are vastly different.

    Which leads me to this; if an individual, with some firearms experience, wishes to volunteer to act as additional security at their local school – how can their “skills” be adequately assessed?

    Again, I have no idea how the military train. I do have some first-hand experience seeing how law-enforcement officers are trained in handgun and shotgun use. Now, I do not wish to paint with too large a brush, because there are some clear exceptions….but, by and large many officers do not shoot well. I know this may seem counter intuitive, that their side-arm might have to be used to defend their life, or that of an innocent third party. Most are just satisfied with passing the semi-annual qualification courses, but leave behind the thought of any further training.

    Now, the exception-to-the-rule, are those officers, AND civilian shooters, who, on their OWN time and on their OWN “dime” take advanced courses in marksmanship and tactics. Tactics means “moving”, shooting at different and changing distances and targets; training and using different positions; using one’s “non-dominant” hand as effectively as one’s dominant hand.

    There are several “shooting academies” nationwide, probably, most notably are Thunder Ranch and Gunsite Academy, and surely there are others. Also, there exist notable trainers, nationwide, where the student travels to their location. These extracurricular training courses are not inexpensive, but the knowledge and skills that you take-away are invaluable.

    Which leads me to another concern….how well will those “qualified volunteers” be accepted?

    Starting from the top of the chain-of-command: the local Chief of Police or Sheriff – what is their opinion of such volunteers? Do they wish to have anyone NOT currently employed by them on “their” turf? Or, do they accept the proffered assistance with gratitude?

    Next, what opinion does such department’s firearms or SWAT officer feel about having outside help? Regardless of the Chief’s or Sheriff’s approval, an unwilling or biased supervisor will dampen any volunteer’s program.

    Next, consider the School Resource Officer – he or she is the first-line-of-defense, the “boots-on-the-ground” at that particular school. Same considerations apply to him as apply to the Chief or SWAT-officer. Some SRO’s might “resent” someone “looking-over-their-shoulder” on a daily basis.

    Next, how does the local school board feel about an armed, volunteer program? How does the local City Council, or Board of County Commissioners feel? How do the parents feel?

    So while the idea is sound and has much merit, it would seem to me there is no simple: “Make It So”.

    While there are robust people who would honorably and commendably volunteer their time for such an endeavor, they would necessarily be subject to whatever background check the law-enforcement agency and school board required.

    I whole-heartedly agree with the proposal, and would be inclined to participate myself, but there is much to be discussed and implemented beforehand.

    In rural, Conservative, America this program would have a decent chance of implementation. But, in the bigger cities, where Liberalism and the notion of “Gun-Free-Zone” mentality exists and is prevalent and pervasive, it would never stand a snowball’s chance in Hell to being adopted.

  7. “Hey, gun control rabble-rousers – you weren’t planning on confiscating property legally purchased and responsibly owned by American citizens without compensation…were you?”

    Already happening. See: The People’s Republic of Massachusetts and bump stocks.

    The Statists don’t have to send cops in harm’s way. If the threat / punishment is severe enough, people with a life/money/family to lose will comply. (see: the 33% penalty for not reporting funds that are held offshore.) Grab a couple who haven’t complied and make a good example of them, most will fall in line.

    Scary!

  8. An Old Friend, Co-Worker, and Veteran, placed a Photo, with the following comment, on my Facebook web-page:

    One Way to STOP School Shootings!

    1. Place 3 Armed Veteran’s in every School.
    There are Thousands of Unemployed, Trained, Veteran’s,
    and Retired Police Officer’s, who Would Love the Job of
    “Protecting Our Children”!

    I think this could be one of the best, and cheapest, solutions to be offered to the “Gun-Free School Killing Zones”, but I doubt that any of the Guilty, Corrupt, Politician’s, who would have to “PASS IT INTO LAW” will be interested in it?

    Paul

  9. In regards to the banning of the AR types of rifle… won’t change much. A pump or level=r action rifle with a tube feed magazine will work in such situationis. Not quite as repid fire, but WE all know shot placement and hit power are the two factors making the difference in the results.

    as an Appleseed Instructor I have seen some interesting and amazing things. I will relate what I saw up close anad personal with my own eyes as I worked the right end of the firing line on a VERY large shoot. I will never forget what I observed. ”

    Some background: Appleseed is a rifle marksmanship programme cunducted by a highly trained and skilled all volunteer corps of folks dedicated to our heritage and the part rifle arksmanship played in it in the beginning, and continues to play today. Our goal is to equip anyone to be able to hit whatever it is they wish to with whatever rifle they choose to bring. We use the old Army Qualification Test target…. for this to hit home I’ll briefly describe it. Four sections, top with a head and shoulders “bell” the apparent size, at the range we work with (25 meters, 82 feet)of a soldier at 100 yards. Each section lower on the target has more “bells” that get progressively smaller, appearing to be the size of the target at 200, 300, 400 yards. Each “bell” has a centre part worth five points, and four more larger ones surrounding it, each larger ring worth one less point. Centre is five points.
    The target ie engaged as follows: top section is aaddressed standing, no support but your body for the rifle. One large bell, ten rounds, one or more magazines, commence at “fire” and two minutes later CEASE FIRE ends your string.
    Second “stage” has two bells, apparent 200 yard size, ten rounds total three rounds left bell, change mag, two more in left, then last five in right. Total ten rounds in two mags. But here’s another kicker…. this stage begins standing, rifle at low ready, UNLOADED. At FIRE, rifleman drops into seated/kneeling position loads rifle, performs the stage.. in FIFTY FIVE SECONDS TOTAL. Few get all ten rounds off.

    THird stage has THREE bells, apparent size at 300 yards. Again, begin standing, rifle unloaded. At FIRE, drop to prone, load rifle…. two rounds in left, change mag, one more rond in left, three in centre, then four in right side. SIXTY FIVE SECONDS.
    FOurth stage, FOUR bells, apparent size 400 yards. Start in prone, shoot in prone. Two munutes, but the “count” must be two in far left, two in left-centre, three in right-centre, three in far right, time for this stage is TWO MINUTES, and this one each shot is counted double.

    Total forty rounds, max score is 250, qualifying is 210 or better.

    WHY did I explain all this? Because the memorable thing was this: one of our shooters decided to engage this target with his bolt action Remington 700 scoped rifle. FIve round well mag, not detachable A simple hunting rifle. OK fine.. hard enough. BUT he had only brought his own hand loaded rounds, and the projectile he had used made the round so long it would not fit into the well magazine. Thus he had to HAND FEED every round for every shot, as well as cycle the bolt each time. He kept them in his shirt pocket for the offhand stage, carefully laid them out on the mat prior to commencing each subsequent stage. On second stage he ran out of time, only got 8 rounds off. Third stage, he got nine. In less than six minutes he hand fed and fired 37 rounds, fired in three different positions transitiioning to two of them, and his final score was 238… out of 250. That means seven of the rounds fired ONLY scored 4 instead of 5. The other rounds all scored fives….

    So, no, not having an AR does not mean you cannot fire a whole lot of rounds quickly and accurately. When he shot atual distance (rather than apparent) with that same rifle, his accuracy was just as good.. he was firing one inch groups, hand feeding, and in surprisingly rapid order.

    As always, it ain’t the arrow, its the indian. Here is one man who would hardly be slowed down if all he could use was a standard bolt action hunting rifle. He’d be far more effective tham nost even military with an AR type rifle.

  10. Why didn’t the FBI or Florida State Police or the local Sheriffs/city PD take that kid downtown for some serious questioning.

    Questioning about what? Oh…

    a) The FBI was warned about a YouTube user named Nikolas Cruz after he posted in September that he was “going to be a professional school shooter yet they ‘forgot’ to warn the local police.
    b) Deputies called to killer’s home 39 times!
    c) Was investigated after cutting himself on SNAPCHAT!
    d) He was expelled for disciplinary reasons from Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida (expelled for allegedly for bringing knives to school.)
    e) A teacher at the school said Cruz had been identified as a potential threat to fellow students in the past. Math teacher Jim Gard told the Herald, “There were problems with him last year threatening students, and I guess he was asked to leave campus.”
    f) He posted on instagram photos of guns and knives and wanted more.
    g) Police Received a Tip That the Suspected Shooter Was Watching Videos About Making Bombs
    h) friends have said he was known to always be mentally ill and would kill animals.
    i) A YouTube account believed to be associated with him was also flagged for making troubling comments on various video posts in the past.

    The comments include: “I wanna die Fighting killing shit ton of people,” “I am going to kill law enforcement one day they go after good people,” and “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.” A YouTube user reported the latter comment to law enforcement officials after it appeared on his video last September, and officials confirmed to CNN that the FBI had received a report about the post, which was promptly taken down.

    Yes folks, everybody knew and everybody did nothing. Kind of hard to tell kids to ‘see something, say something’ and the authorities don’t do shit.

    Yet they want to take my guns from me!!!

  11. I know this is outta left field, but…

    1940’s, mandatory firearms training in MANY high schools, or shop or home-economics.
    1950’s, same protocol, nationwide, but elective.
    1960’s, things started to change within the academics. With the sours of the Viet Nam conflict, many folks opted to remove gun training from the classroom, due to the violence associated with GUNS.
    1960’s, firearm training ceased from most scholastic programs.
    And today, we have what we have.
    Is there an answer? Maybe? Who knows?

    I suggest we bring the gun culture back into the classroom! Shux an estimated ‘300,000,000.’ guns are in our country legally, wouldn’t it be great if we all knew how they operate? sorta…

    To the present: firearm training has been eliminated from the curriculum, THIS is the problem, in addition to mental health reporting agencies, without training and proper guidance, guns are dangerous.

    Just saying, if ya got gun knowledge and ya hear something that red-flags your brain, maybe ya should say something? Family, friend or otherwise, all could benefit, dagnabbit! If necessary, get rude. I will. Stay safe. [MEANING SNITCH]

    EACH AND EVERY GODDAM CASE THAT I HAVE BECOME FAMILIAR WITH OVER THE LAST 4 YEARS, HAVE HAD PRE-INFORMATION AVAILABILITY. Reported to “AUTHORITIES”, law enforcement AND our federal data base BEFORE the actions took place. Reminder, Bernadino-CA, Texas church, NC church-Dylan Roof and so on.

    PRE-INFORMATION AVAILABLITY. Let that sink in… information is known, pre-indictors suggest a pattern of movement, YET, NO LAW BROKEN, then the law IS BROKEN, and common sense CANNOT prevail. How do we correct the “CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM” to the “VICTIM JUSTICE SYSTEM”?

    [sigh] Puppy chasing his tail. Thanks Mas.

  12. Yo Mas: As always you are spot on with your information and advice. All Gun Free Zones in America need to be eliminated. They are nothing but Killing Zones for the innocent, who are not able to defend themselves against a armed nut, with either a score to settle, or going out in a blaze of glory, being aired on Prime Time News, World Wide.

    Lead ON Bro, Stay Safe and God Bless You and the Princess!

  13. Fantastic as always. The coach defines the word hero. Let’s not forget Zackary Walls and Colton Haab the students who used their JROTC and Police Explorer training to protect and defend their classmates and teachers. We need to celebrate these wonderful people and shun the cowardly scumbags who do this.

  14. Utah, Kansas, Ohio, and some other states have been allowing teachers and staff to be armed. That is Concealed Carry. So, now in those places, the question for the creeps is “does she or doesn’t she?” If your state doesn’t have this policy, talk to your local legislators.

  16. “Hey, gun control rabble-rousers – you weren’t planning on confiscating property legally purchased and responsibly owned by American citizens without compensation…were you?)”…well, actually, MA just did that for ” bump stocks”. Three stalwart citizens have complied and brought in their stocks.

    I had wondered about the FL outcome if a teacher had illegally kept a pistol in handbag or pack and been able to intervene but apparently none did. Maybe those MA bump scofflaws would have surreptitiously kept a revolver in a locked drawer if they’d been teachers and changed the outcome.

  17. First: May God Bless all the victims, friends, and families of the recent Florida mass casualty, active shooter incident. Your comments resonate with their usual supernova luminosity of reason, compassion, and logical solutions.
    Second:To my mentor( since I was approximately 16); the brilliant and incomparable Massad F.Ayoob, Capt.,Deerfield& Grantham P.D.s, ret./ Director- L.F.I., Dad(Cat&Justine),former Husband of Dorothy, ret,;), significant other of Gail Pepin( hi Gail),Author,Instructor,Orator, etc,whose life work has saved countless innocent LEO & Civilian lives Worldwide,in addition to their honor, reputation, assets, and Freedom.Mas, this email is decades too late. I have purchased almost ALL of your books thru the decades;squirrelled away just about every copy Of COMBAT HANDGUNS, HANDGUNNER,Weapons For L E.,etc for your priceless instructional articles that appeared in same… And bought your vhs tapes,etc, etc.I have not yet had the pleasure of shaking your hand nor taking any of your Firearm/ Tactics courses.I trust that will be remedied soon, as my older daughter Samantha resides in Melbourne, FL. I grew up reading my heroes. You, Jeff Cooper, Elmer Keith, Jack O’Connor, Charlie Askins, Skeeter Skelton,Mel Tappan,Evan Marshall, Chuck Taylor,Walt Rauch, et al.I drank deep of your collective knowledge, wisdom, kindness, and love of teaching.Your collaborative hard work and prolific words suffused into my marrow & soul.It is why I became a Cop for a large Federal Agency.Mainly, because of men like you who inspired me. I lost almost everything physical in Superstorm Sandy; massive library, clothes,priceless items of sentimentality, etc. Fortuitously, one of the items remained which I have saved just for you Mas, since I entered our Academy in October of 1988. It is the FBI LAW ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN OCTOBER 1981.VOLUME 50.NUMBER 10 Edition. The article is: Driver Training For Your Department??? By Lt.James J.Barron&SGT.Steven L.Aurilio It was at the end footnotes I found you, Mas;Ayoob,M.F.” Liberty Mutual’s Skid Control Training for Police.” LAW & ORDER ” November 1974, p 28.Yes, I found the name of my mentor, perusing the L.E.rags in between Law& Firearm, and P.T.classes.
    Man, how time flies. I trust u might not have the issue. I hope to hand it to you someday soon.Or maybe I’ll send it registered to Live Oak. God Bless you Mas, Cat, Justine, Gail, and all of your family, students,and friends worldwide. Always be safe. With sincerest admiration,love, &, respect,
    Phil from nyc
    FED COP 1988-2015
    ??????
    phileo7973@gmail.com

  18. Mr. Ayoob’s understanding, insightfullness, and prescience are beyond profound. Why is it that some refuse to acknowledge the obvious?

    Perhaps, because none are so blind as those who refuse to see.

    Having an unarmed security guard charged with protecting the lives of schoolchildren is absurd beyond believe.

    Mr. Ayoob, thank you for speaking the truth calmly at a time of overwhelming emotion.

  19. This is example of liberal stupidity in action, from http://www.breitbart.com/california/2017/10/30/gov-jerry-brown-signs-bill-removing-penalty-using-gun-crime/

    “At the end of the latest legislation session Gov. Jerry Brown (D) signed a bill removing mandatory enhanced sentencing for criminals who use guns in the commission of their crimes.

    He did this at the same time that he signed other legislation making it illegal for teachers to be armed on K-12 campuses for self-defense.”

    It boggles the mind.

    • That’s California for you. They also made it a felony to call someone by the wrong pronoun. Meanwhile, knowingly infecting someone with HIV has been downgraded from a felony to a misdemeanor.

    • I recently watched the old Hitchcock movie “Vertigo” which stars Jimmy Stewart. This film was made in the late 1950’s and was shot, on-location, in San Francisco, CA.

      One thing that jumps out at the viewer is the utter beauty of San Francisco years ago. One could take many of the background still shots (from this movie), blow them up, frame them and then hang them on the wall as art. The City was simply gorgeous. Not just in large details (such as views of the Golden Gate Bridge) but in the street views. The streets were clean and the buildings well-maintained and artfully designed.

      Sadly, San Francisco has literally “gone down the toilet” in recent years. See this link:

      https://www.redstate.com/kiradavis/2017/10/17/san-franciscos-human-poop-map-shows-city-deep-doo-doo/

      What happened? Simple, the Leftists gained almost total control of CA and, of course, San Francisco. They implemented their sick, twisted Left-wing ideology at every level of Government. The results become more manifest with each passing year.

      To quote from Rush Limbaugh: “Wherever you have pure, undiluted Liberalism; you have misery”.

  20. The Parkland High School has over 3,000 students enrolled plus staff and teachers. Is there any town in the world that has no police? Yet our Idiocracy believes that all that is required is posting a no guns allowed sign. After all, the people making these decisions aren’t the people who are being killed.

    • @ Bruce Pankratz – I read your article with interest. My reaction is mixed. I think that you are partially on the right track. However, I also think that your ideas are flawed in other areas. Let me explain:

      You are very correct about the concept of the Terror of Death. I think that this death terror is the primary motivator of human actions and psychology. Early theorists, such as Sigmund Freud, who thought that the sex drive was the primary motivator were clearly off-base. Humans have the intelligence to truly understand, as a species, about the inevitability of death and the resulting death terror affects all our actions from reproduction, family interactions, work interactions and, especially, our political actions. So, you are 100% correct in your identification of the “death terror” as a primary driver in the gun control debate as, indeed, it is in all of politics and of human actions in general.

      Where you go wrong is with this creation myth stuff. You identify one myth (the Progressive myth) as being associated with the anti-gun side and then another one, the Patriotic American myth, with the pro-gun side. These are American myths, yet we know that gun control is debated (sometimes just as strongly) in other countries. It is difficult to see how American myths could have a worldwide effect. This whole “myth” idea is leading you astray.
      Instead, there is another factor at play. The tendency (as I explained in another comment) of the human mind to favor simplified solutions.
      What happens is as follows:

      1) As a human matures, he or she develops a generalized view toward other humans. To put it bluntly, most humans make a judgment (usually subconsciously) that humanity has a general tendency toward either good or bad behavior. In other words, humans are generally either “Good” or “Bad”.
      2) The above assumption affects one’s politics. If one believes that humans are generally “Good”, then (clearly) the blame for the world’s evils must be placed upon social or environmental forces exterior to mankind. One develops the “Progressive” (or Left-Wing) mindset that factors such as poverty, racism, drug addiction, weapon proliferation, etc. are the roots of the world’s problems. If one believes that humans are generally “Bad”, then this gives rise to the mindset that evil people are the root of the world’s problems rather than all these exterior variables. We call this mindset “Conservative” or sometimes “Right-Wing”.
      3) The death terror combined with the human ego drives people to join political “causes” so as to feel that their life is significant. You are right on this point.
      4) Leftists generally join causes that fight against some environmental factor that they have identified as a source of evil. Causes such as fighting against poverty, fighting against racism (i.e. Black Lives Matter) or Gun Control (AKA Fighting for Firearms Prohibition). These causes come and go. Alcohol Prohibition, for example, is a leftist cause that came and went.
      5) The Conservative movements generally form to fight against the perceived excesses of the Leftists. The NRA started out, for example, as simply an organization to promote the shooting sports. The excesses of the 1960-70’s gun control groups are what caused it to transform into a Pro-gun political organization.

      Since Progressive humans and Conservative humans make such different assumptions about the nature of being human, they develop radically different worldviews. So different that the groups have trouble even communicating with each other. The political solutions that they favor also tend to be radically different. The gun control debate tends to be particularly divisive because, as I explained in my other comment, it generates a binary solution with no (zero) common ground between the Progressive and Conservative groups. The Leftist Worldview fixates upon weapon proliferation as the absolute root of the problem and, as shown by their success in other countries, they will not be satisfied with anything less than universal disarmament of the civilian population. This solution, frankly, “scares the hell” out of the Conservative groups who fight against it “tooth and claw”.

      So, your “myth” idea is all wrong. The division springs from the Left-Wing / Right-wing ideological split which is worldwide since it is rooted in basic human psychology.

  22. I keep hearing comments like, let’s take away the guns, we can’t afford to put armed guards in all of the schools. Why don’t we consider investing in technology of drones. These can be deployed from within public places including our schools to take out a threat that endangers the lives of innocent civilians. The payload on these drones could be tear gas, concussion grenades, flashing stobes or as a last resort a bullet.

    If you really stop and think about it, it would make more sense to restrict drone usage mainly to our medical, police and military applications, than it would to take away 15 million guns. We have smart people and smart technology in this world. Let’s put all of that to good use. Instead of sending Rockets to Mars, maybe we should fix what’s wrong here on planet earth first!

  23. There is a rash of arson fires plaguing your community. Do you……..

    A. Call for a law banning matches

    B. Limit gasoline purchases

    C. Encourage or require fire extinguisher ownership

    …..are you smarter than a 5th grader?

    D. None of the above

  24. I agree that CNN and other media outlets help set the occasion for the next mass murder-observational learning is a well established principle. If they really cared about public safety they would take responsibility to decrease or eliminate altogether the attention provided to the murderer.

    I think CNN commits fraud by labeling its product as “news.” It is nothing more than a political activist organization. Deliberately spewing lies and wrongfully smearing law abiding citizens (NRA members and gun owners generally) is tantamount to the political propaganda we saw in the USSR. The term “fake news” is no longer an apt descriptor. The risk of actual harm to specific groups of people (social, political, economic, and even physical) and to our country is all too real.

    What needs continued exposure is the complete corruption of the media and federal government. It’s time that we law abiding citizens stop being punished with the loss or threatened loss of our civil rights because of media and government failure. And because of their self-interest and callous disregard for the people of this country.

    I believe these issues go well beyond the gun issues. The threat posed by media and government corruption is something that affects ALL Americans. Addressing the threat directly is something that could potentially unify people from diverse backgrounds and political positions. A civil society can achieve this and this forum is a good model of how respectful debate without hostility can work.

    The challenge is how to scale this up.

  25. I would recommend anyone who wants address this issue read Clayton Cramer’s book, My brother Ron, which talks about mental illness and our society’s response to it in the context of these kinds of incidents.

  26. Dear Mr. Massad Ayoob,
    Would you mind if I copied your article (giving you credit of course) and emailed it to my Federal and State congress?
    One big problem we have is not teaching our children/grandchildren that violence does NOT solve problems. And murder is NOT acceptable. (Self defense is totally different from murder).
    Are we being parents teaching our children morals, how to handle stress/bullying or are we totally ignoring them? What are our children learning when they watch violent movies and violent TV shows? If we accept violence in movies/TV shows are we not teaching our children that violence is acceptable?

    • Maureen,

      Home schools. No shootings, no bullies. Just sayin’.

      Also, if there were no public schools, property taxes could go down by 66%. It seems the only things the federal government can do right is fight World Wars, The Manhattan Project, NASA and the Post Office. It fails at everything else, and our tax money is wasted.

  27. The governments knew! But did nothing! What better way to get any law passed than to have an “Incident” occur which will create a climate that will help get another “sensible gun law”” passed!
    The only way to stop these massacres is to start removing those “people” who allow these murders to happen!

  28. I’ve been a bit of a so-called “professional student” on and off (mostly on) since 1990. I have several degrees and I’m working on another one now. I am also very well trained in the use of firearms for both sporting and defensive purposes, and have had a CCW permit for many, many years. About 14 years ago I made the decision to (in the words of Suzanna Hupp) “stop obeying a bad law” and I have been carrying at school ever since and I will continue to do so. I fully realize the precarious situation I will be in if there ever is an attack at school while I am there. Whether or not I am able to close with the attacker and take him out (fully realizing that I will need to keep my gun unseen until the last moment lest I be mistaken for the shooter), it is almost a sure thing that my weapon(s) will be discovered as the police clear the building and check each student. I find this to be a very disturbing thought. But not as disturbing as the thought of being in such a situation, unarmed and unable to do anything to help myself or those around me.

    Hopefully the laws will continue to be changed, State by State, locale by locale. But in the meantime, I ain’t waitin’.

    Best wishes,

    45StayAlive

    P.S. And yes Mas I am sure you could do a bit of sleuthing and track me down by comparing the (real) name I normally post under. But even if you do, I am not worried about the thought of you knowing who I really am.

  29. Amazing that no news media and even the gun community don’t beat the drum that in fact murder rates and violent crime has plummmeted over last half century. That so called “school shootings” have seen NO increase over last 20 to 30 yrs. And there are only half dozen or less per year for 325 million population. That 80 percent of nations counties see next to zero or actually zero murders per year. Even saw Dr John Lott on tv and he failed to mention his own research results. Just like the Republican party, the gun community sucks at communications.

  30. The gun control debate is absurdly simple once you understand human nature or, more specifically, the human mind.

    The human mind has been programmed, by evolution, to seek simplified and quick (Silver Bullet) solutions to problems. This is because humans use intelligence as our defense mechanism. Other creatures used great speed, or camouflage, or armor (like a turtle) or toxins for protection from predators. Humans have none of these things, so we evolved to use our brains to survive. This means that humans evolved the ability to recognize threats, develop an intelligent counter-plan and then react upon the plan to counter the threat. We humans have been literally programmed, by the survival of the fittest, to think quickly upon our feet. We have also been programmed to seek quick and dirty, “simplified” solutions to complex problems.

    Now apply this principle to violence with firearms. A human uses a firearm to execute a horrific crime. Any reasonable person wants to put a stop to this kind of thing. What is the quick and dirty solution that the human mind naturally seeks? There are four (4) options:

    1) Blame the human and then develop policies to try to control such human behavior. (i.e. Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.)
    2) Blame the firearm and develop anti-gun (aka gun control) policies as the “Silver Bullet” approach.
    3) Blame neither the human nor the firearm. Instead, blame some nebulous third factor (such as poverty, lack of jobs, drugs, gang activity, etc.).
    4) Reject that there is a single point of blame and, instead, assume that it is a result of several factors acting in concert.

    Since the human mind wants “single-point” and “quick and dirty” answers, it tends to reject options #3 and #4 above even though #4 is probably the closest to the truth. The hard fact is that these options are too complex and do not yield the “quick and clean” policy decision that the human mind instinctively wants. So, politically, it comes down to a choice between #1 and #2.

    The guiding Commandment of Left-Wing ideology is as follows: All human beings are basically good. Therefore, thou shalt not place the blame for any of the World’s evils directly at the feet of the individual who performed the evil. Instead, thou shalt always seek to blame factors external to mankind.

    No Leftist will ever break the above Left-Wing Commandment. Therefore, no person (enslaved by left-wing ideology) will ever adopt Option #1 above. A Leftist MUST ALWAYS choose Option #2 to avoid breaking the Left-Wing Commandment. Therefore, those on the Left (in politics and in the media) will always embrace gun-control as their “Silver Bullet” solution to violence. They even label such violence as “Gun Violence” just to make sure that no one mistakes where they place the blame.

    The binary nature of the above choices (only Options #1 or #2 being available) plus the restricted nature of the human mind (which wants that “Silver Bullet” solution no matter how complex the underlying problems) means that there can never be a compromise solution to this issue. Those on the Left will always seek to destroy gun rights and the 2nd Amendment. It is their nature. They are driven by their narrow political ideology to do so.

    So, to preserve our rights and the 2nd Amendment, we can never compromise with the Leftists. They are simply people who cannot compromise. They will take anything you offer and then only be encouraged to go for the rest. They will never stop until our gun rights are utterly destroyed.

    The only viable option, for gun rights supporters, is to fight to the finish. We must demolish the gun control movement. We must make the prohibition of firearms as much of a dead issue (politically) as the prohibition of alcohol. The gun control groups must be torn out like pernicious weeds. They will keep sprouting out again until they are completely killed off because they are continually fertilized by Left-Wing ideology. We need to come up with some form of “Round-Up” that will shrivel up and kill off the gun control groups for all time. There can be no compromise with the Leftists. It is victory or death for Gun Rights.

  31. The terrible truth is exactly as you have stated it, they are more invested in their politically motivated identity than protecting lives. I wish I could see this changing but parents won’t suck it up and demand that their kids are protected. As long as parents/taxpayers allow this it will continue.

  32. Consider: Approximately 125,000 elementary and high schools exist in the United States. Spending $100,000.00 to upgrade security on each school would cost approximately 12.5 billion. Contrast that with your stated 10.5 billion in compensation for AR15 owners. Which is the better “investment”?

    • @ thatgreatnorthernguy,

      One serious problem with your math. You don’t consider what you get for your money.

      The $10.5 billion will be spent in disarming honest, law-abiding gun-owners who never had any intention of going out and shooting up a school. The evil and/or crazy folks that would do such a thing will just hold onto their AR15’s, thank you very much. So, the $10.5 billion spent on compensation for AR15 owners will simply be flushed down the toilet. There will be nothing to show for it.

      On the other hand, $12.5 billion spent on improving school security, if done effectively, will turn schools into hard targets. The crazies will start going elsewhere for their blood-thirsty kicks.

      $12.5 billion, that buys real protection versus $10.5 billion of “feel-good” and wasteful Federal spending, is the better “investment” in my book.

      • That was the point I was attempting to make- that upgrading security is a real investment, versus spending a lesser amount on gun confiscations. The liberal side of politics always labels a spending program as an “investment” when it is nothing of the kind. I must come up with better ways to make this point. Thanks.

  33. As we know only a good guy/gal with a gun beats a bad guy with a gun. Good guys with guns prohibited by shit for brains politicians. Why do we still listen to them. Their decision making leads to disaster in almost all cases.I would not put my kid in any school that did not have a plan to PROTECT him

  34. What I’d like to see.

    1- End the gun free zones at schools & daycare centers. Because it doesn’t work. Words on paper will never stop evil actions.

    2- Allow anyone legitimately on school property, that is legal to carry in public, to carry concealed. Teachers, administrators, maintenance, contractors, parents, students, & family / guardians. Because those that legally can carry have proven to be the least likely to be evil. When I attend my nephew’s archery tournament, I’m not the person you should be worried about being evil.

    3- I see a bigger apple in a lack of communication & medical ability. Schools need to develop a system to communicate with the arriving police & medical teams. Where is the threat, where was the threat, who needs medical help, routes of ingress / egress. Have certain amounts of medical gear & a list of those with training on site. Location based apps could be very useful. Dispatch could have on record where gear was pre-staged. I’ve chatted with friends that attend churches with this setup. Local police have been very helpful in setting up & evaluation of these systems.

    4- Local police, if not already done, need to add schools to their routes. Making peaceful contact with students & adults at schools will strengthen the community. Stronger communities have less crime & are easier to govern. It’s a win-win with no excess costs.

    5- If a community wants to develop in-school first contact teams. Setup like volunteer fire fighters. Train together. Communicate with police. Build the bonds that strengthen our communities. This might be the best area for retired Police & Veterans. But don’t leave out other Sheepdogs in our communities.

    6- We as adults need to face the fact that evil exists in our world. The willingness to face evil & stop it is difficult but necessary. Learn how to stop evil & help save lives. Then teach the following generations what we learned.

  35. A great many people would volunteer to stand watch at schools. This country has a very large number of retired and otherwise available military, police, and folks who take classes or obtain certifications. How many people, for example, would take a couple week armed guard class and stand watch for 1 day a week or month at a local school? I’d guess it would be millions.

  36. I’m not seeing any blame being put on the schools.

    They stand legally “in loco parentis”, and they are responsible for the safety and well-being of their children in their charge.

    They failed.

    There’s a bunch of squalling and finger-pointing, but… they failed *hard*.

    A “no tolerance” policy and a “police resource officer” are no substitute for basic security measures.

  37. The problem is multi-faceted with no simple solution. Barriers to an intelligent approach to a solution include:

    1. The Anti/Banners are unable/unwilling to realize that no 3rd party is going to be able to protect them (the folks who can afford private armed security excepted, but the security squad is not really a 3rd party).

    2. Refusal to accept personal responsibility for themselves or their children. The “I/we had no idea” claim translates to “We have no idea who our children’s friends are and/or what they’re all up to. Nor do we have any desire to”.

    3. Related to #1 & 4, apparent disconnect with reality.

    4. Willingness of persons to utilize tragedy for political purposes.

    I retired after a long career in what’s now referred to as Protection Services. Hardening potential targets usually isn’t all that difficult. The major problem is convincing people it’s both really necessary in the real world and cost effective.

    It would be quite interesting if some group who really wants to effect actual change would take legal action against the attack site for failure to protect. Holiday Inn lost a landmark case decades ago on this basis with the suit brought by a famous singer (can’t recall her name) over a rape.

  38. In reaction to the horrific murders perpetrated at a high school in Parkland FL, the degree of anger, hatred and vitriol shown by thousands of progressive commenters on The NY Times’ and Washington Post’s online editions has been irrational to the extreme.

    The raging commenters’ targets of the moment have included: AR-15s, owners of AR-15s, state CCW laws, nationwide CCW reciprocity legislation, Congress, all guns, all gun manufacturers, all gun owners, high capacity magazines, NRA, pro-RKBA politicians, Second Amendment, semi-automatic firearms, semi-automatic firearm owners, America’s historic “gun culture”, etc.

    Many commenters’ talked of working to ban all guns, to confiscate forceably all “assault weapons” and all high capacity magazines, and to overturn the Second Amendment.

    Most unsettling was a recurring theme stressing the need to regard all law abiding gun owners as “future criminals who could commit violent acts without warning.”

    Again and again, seething progressive commenters presented bitter opinions of all American gun owners as “undesirables” who, as a subset of American society, must be both maligned and marginalized during a newly launched campaign focused on crushing private gun ownership by law abiding citizens.

    Coming from a family of diverse ethnic origins in which five languages are spoken with pride on a daily basis, I wonder if progressives’ rabid demonization of and pathological hatred directed toward American gun owners of all colors, creeds, ethnicities, national origins and sexual orientations would qualify as felony hate crimes in an era where hateful actions can be prosecuted as violations of state or federal law?

  39. Mas.

    Occasionally when I see an atrocity like the shooting in Florida I will browse Twitter and pose some questions to any twitterer who seems to be anti-gun like the following which I posted a few days back

    ‘Can I ask you a serious question. If you were at home with a relative living with you and you came into their room and saw a lunatic person with a six inch knife about to stab and kill your relative because they believed they were the one of Satan’s minions. What would you do?’

    So far I have probably posted that question or a variation of at least a hundred times and I have only had one conversation that might have provided some insight. I don’t know really why I bother anymore. But I still preserve in the hope that it might just click.

    By the way since it’s recently been the fifth anniversary of the Helicopter Hog Hunt that Had A Harrowing Halt, you might have the though of having another hunt in a better helicopter.

    If you do watch out for elk. Looks like they are also in the Helicopter Hunting business.

    http://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2018/02/liberte-austin/elk-takes-helicopter/

  40. I’ve got a feeling that this time around some sort of gun control legislation will be legislated. I’m guessing bump stocks and a reinstatement of some form of “assault weapons” ban similar to the Clinton era ban.

    Why? Because the media and the liberals have latched onto this narrative to try and extricate themselves from the Trump Russian that has dominated their conversation ever since the last election. The latest Mueller revelations dictate they silence that conversation as quickly as possible to limit the egg on their faces. What better avenue for them than shifting to non-stop attacks on gun ownership in the aftermath of this school massacre?

    With the help of the couple of liberal republicans and the spineless “moderate” republicans, democrats will get their way.

    By the way, ain’t no way soon in this climate that National Reciprocity is going to be brought up, much less passed.

  41. why has no one mentioned ISRIAL!!!! they have armed teachers and staff.
    they have more people trying to kill them than we have citizens, yet no student massacres. just a thought from an old dumb redneck.

  42. Aaron Feis is a dead hero. If he had been armed, he may be a live hero. Or, maybe he would still have lost the fight. What if he was able to put just one bullet in the fiend? The fiend may have slowed down, and left a blood trail. If I remember correctly, he was arrested 90 minutes later, after having gone to a mall.

    Charlie Manson is gone. I guess we might be looking at the next imprisoned media darling. NC will probably get life, then get married and have conjugal visits. Tex Watson had four children that way. My, my, it’s better to live in an American prison than to be free in Venezuela, Somalia, Sudan or North Korea.

    Club Gitmo; where Americans treat terrorists better than the terrorists’ moms treated them.

  43. The Government banned alcohol, made bootleggers rich and later legalized it.
    They banned certain narcotics made dope sellers rich, legalized some of it
    and the banned narcotics are easily obtained. The Government is very successful
    at wasting money, though

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