Gun responsibility needs to be enforced, and irresponsible gun owners need to be held to account.
Some ideas: require a license for concealed carry. Require a license for anything other than a shotgun, bolt-action rifle, or single-shot revolver. Require safe storage of weapons at home (trigger locks, safes, etc...).
I am less interested in who gets to carry. More interested in where they can carry, and how the weapon is stored when not carried. Mandatory home gun safes, or store in a rented gun safe at a range is a good start. If you want to sleep with your warm gun, fine. But lock it up when you leave. In Israel, malls have gun safes and professional security. Office buildings have gun safes. Schools? If teachers want to qualify to carry I am all for it. Like pilots get to.
It just seems like it makes sense to have limits on what one can or cannot acquire based on something more than "has a heartbeat and passes a simple background check". Licensing is a good way to do that, perhaps also requiring insurance for those weapons that would require a license.
The mother of Dylan Klebold, one the Columbine shooters, published a NYT bestselling book in 2016. "A Mother's Reckoning" took more than 6 months for me to finish. I could only absorb the pain, the rawness, the love, the guilt and all the rest in small doses. It is a book every parent should read and it was a true and brave public service for Ms Klebold to write it.
And Steve, if you care to look, surveys do indeed confirm that most teenagers worry about school shootings, with lesser rates as age decreases.
I understand your feelings about Harris, but she was not incorrect about this.
I live even closer, less than 15 miles. I can see Barrow County at a spot less than 500 yards from my home. I worry every day about my granddaughter who teaches high school in Buford. I worry about her daughter who will not be starting school for several years. A small blessing was that I never had the same worries about my son who was 30-years old when the Columbine shooting occurred.
I too wish the government could protect our children as well as the school resource officer at Apalachee High School who confronted the shooter and stopped the carnage. Today's culture being what it is, a more robust school security force is in order.
Just keep teaching your own, that Father created each soul cause He wanted their love, given freely via freewill...and no one has a right to take that from another via murder.
Colin Gray, father of shooter Colt Gray, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children.
Truly terrifying isn't it? When the kid was 13 there were reports of the police contacting the family for reported threats of gun violence. Dad claims all they have are hunting rifles. Months later, dad gifts his kid his very own AR style weapon. Dad should go away for the rest of his life. Just sick.
I’m not American. But I’ve lived there. And visited often. And readily realize 2A is the law of the land, and as close as to make no difference, it always will be.
But I also think the kid who “might be thinking about how their life is an endless target for bullying. Or how their home life is such a wreck that prison might seem an improvement. Or their anger and bitterness and disappointment at a variety of things is overwhelming to the point where that gun in the cabinet might be tempting” could and probably does exist everywhere the world over…except for that gun-in-cabinet bit. The Appalachee’s of the world are a fairly uniquely US phenomenon…and one does not need to wonder too hard, to figure out (most of the) why.
Nevertheless, the obvious solution is an impossible one, for Americans. So a plan B is required. As you say, there is a lot of real estate btw “taking all your guns” and utter indifference to school shootings. You would think that a reasonable compromise should not be so unattainable. But if history is any guide, on this issue, sadly, it probably will be.
Lots of invective online. Even when the law gives authorities the perfect right to confiscate guns, the government fumbles. The deadliest shooting in Maine history was because government fumbled. Uvalde was a government fumble. The gun there was purchased legally, as it is in many cases.
Start by enforcing existing laws and cleaning up criminal possession of guns. And protect schools from anyone bringing guns on campus except the officers there to protect kids.
The gun in the cabinet could be a knife or machete. And mass killings happen in other countries. Banning certain guns does not solve the problem. It’s been tried.
This is what frustrates me with the 2A supports' position on school shootings. I admit that there is no 100% solution. Sure, as you state, mass killings happen on other countries too .... but has you actually looked at the stats? B/c it REALLY isn't comparable. Part of the in-comparability stems from how lethal guns are compared to knives and machetes. If you'd accept that some amount of gun control would have a measurable impact on mass killings*, then you'd at least understand why everyone else in this country is fed up with the 2A people.
I just don't know how you realistically protect schools 100% without making them unbearable. Life has risks, and everyone accepts that--generally speaking--you aren't 100% safe living in this world. However, while acknowledging that the real statistical risk of a school shooting impacting you directly is still low, it's still too high. And that is as measured by the rest of the freaking developed world! And guess what--there's a pretty clear reason for it: guns.
*- who knows how long it would take to have a measurable affect, given the insane quantity of guns already circulating in the US.
2A is the law of the land. And a constitutional right. In that sense, it needs to be preserved, just as ALL constitutional rights need, and deserve, to be preserved. You usurp 1 constitutional right, and all are vulnerable. And the bar to amend the constitution is a high (and probably impossibly high) one, for very good reason. It is THE reality in the US. Period. End of story.
However, that does not make 2A an objectively good idea. And I dare say it’s probably the most ass-retarded thing your founding fathers conceived of. It’s a right, sure, but a butt-numbingly stupid one.
Why? Cuz literally no one else in the world has it. And the rest of the world gets by just fine, thanks. Was it understandable to have codified it, at the time of your nation’s founding? Absolutely. But it has aged about as well as warm milk.
Everyone in the US can access a knife, or a machete. Even more easily than a gun. So why are mass shootings such a phenomenon in the US, vs mass stabbings or slashings? Cuz if you want dead bodies per unit time (or effort), gun is the way to go. It’s not even close.
Now, in places without guns at least in the way it exists in the US, sure, knives and machetes (or whatever) are options. But you simply do not see the mass carnage with those other implements in other countries, that you have in the US on the regular with guns.
So yes, in the US, what is needed is some reasonable compromise that protects constitutional rights (including 2A) while maybe slowing the body count a little. And making schools a gun-free zone doesn’t hurt….recognizing that all the usual 2A arguments AGAINST the efficacy of gun free zones apply….but in the case of schools, maybe reasonable people can agree to an exception.
But let’s not for one nano-second pretend that 2A would be in any way a defensible concept, absent its constitutional status and protection. There is no “good reason” for 2A to exist, apart from having the best reason to exist. It’s unfalsifiable, like religion. Which it is in the US.
I don't have kids and i have never owned a gun. If i did it would add to the emotional attachment over the issue. Which is exactly why i waited to this morning to respond. I read the article last night and your comments were clearly emotional.
This morning i went online to see how many schools there are in the US. Goggle told me 115,000 plus (including private schools). I would have expected it to be much higher. Thinking about your article, my immediate reaction was what would the cost be to refit schools with all of the technology necessary for them, so the "government could protect kids?"
I know the argument, whatever the cost is should not be the issue. Sadly it is and always will be. Public schooling has been under attack for as far back as i can remember. Blaming teachers was often the argument.
Hell, in AZ where i live now, we rank like 48th educationally. Our teachers are poorly paid and we've opened the door to paying private (Christian) schools to teach our kids. The projected costs were under 100 million dollars have exploded to 400 million in just a few years with no end in sight.
Your comments surprised me regarding it being the "governments job to protect your kids." You claimed at least twice they failed. Maybe. It does sound intellectually lazy to say that. I know that sounds cold, it's not intended to be.
Here's why: In your line of work, you know data matters. Not a little, but a lot. While many love waving the second amendment flag as patriotic, the real question for me is in what the data shows us. I'll summarize because i am too lazy to pull up the statistics:
1). More guns than people in the country.
2). More guns per capita compared to any other developed country.
3). More mass shootings in the US compared to any other developed country.
On number three it's not even close, no one has anywhere near the per capita gun murders. It's just data Steve. Sadly that's no reflection on the gut-wrenching misery people across this country feel when a loved one is shot.
In your business (or any other for that matter), you cannot ignore what the data is telling you. Nope, it's not an answer, but there are always answers. In this case, too many people refuse to consider the options and elect to wrap themselves in the flag of patriotism.
For my money, we need to look in the mirror and begin to start embracing those tenets we were built on and around: responsibility, accountability and ownership. Sorry for the length, but this is a gut wrenching topic, especially when it hits so close to home.
I saw that Apalachee HS has the same Centigix system that north Fulton schools have. That’s what made kept what could have been ten times worse a crime to “only” 4 people. The shooter could not reenter the classrooms and was apprehended in the hallway within a minute. A minute can kill a lot of people.
I’ve had my kids watch our company active shooter training and learn the mantra run, hide, fight.
The chances of being involved in a mass shooting are very low, but they aren’t zero. It pays to have situational awareness and a plan.
Most shooters exhibit warning signs as well. It’s important to say something if you have read to believe that someone is dangerous.
I recommend this video:
https://youtu.be/5VcSwejU2D0?si=1zBoG3zeD3MI0kjo
Gun responsibility needs to be enforced, and irresponsible gun owners need to be held to account.
Some ideas: require a license for concealed carry. Require a license for anything other than a shotgun, bolt-action rifle, or single-shot revolver. Require safe storage of weapons at home (trigger locks, safes, etc...).
I am less interested in who gets to carry. More interested in where they can carry, and how the weapon is stored when not carried. Mandatory home gun safes, or store in a rented gun safe at a range is a good start. If you want to sleep with your warm gun, fine. But lock it up when you leave. In Israel, malls have gun safes and professional security. Office buildings have gun safes. Schools? If teachers want to qualify to carry I am all for it. Like pilots get to.
I'm interested in both.
It just seems like it makes sense to have limits on what one can or cannot acquire based on something more than "has a heartbeat and passes a simple background check". Licensing is a good way to do that, perhaps also requiring insurance for those weapons that would require a license.
The mother of Dylan Klebold, one the Columbine shooters, published a NYT bestselling book in 2016. "A Mother's Reckoning" took more than 6 months for me to finish. I could only absorb the pain, the rawness, the love, the guilt and all the rest in small doses. It is a book every parent should read and it was a true and brave public service for Ms Klebold to write it.
And Steve, if you care to look, surveys do indeed confirm that most teenagers worry about school shootings, with lesser rates as age decreases.
I understand your feelings about Harris, but she was not incorrect about this.
I live even closer, less than 15 miles. I can see Barrow County at a spot less than 500 yards from my home. I worry every day about my granddaughter who teaches high school in Buford. I worry about her daughter who will not be starting school for several years. A small blessing was that I never had the same worries about my son who was 30-years old when the Columbine shooting occurred.
I too wish the government could protect our children as well as the school resource officer at Apalachee High School who confronted the shooter and stopped the carnage. Today's culture being what it is, a more robust school security force is in order.
Just keep teaching your own, that Father created each soul cause He wanted their love, given freely via freewill...and no one has a right to take that from another via murder.
Colin Gray, father of shooter Colt Gray, has been charged with four counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of second degree murder and eight counts of cruelty to children.
This is really where law enforcement and the courts can help with better parenting and responsible gun ownership.
"An ounce of prevention..."
Truly terrifying isn't it? When the kid was 13 there were reports of the police contacting the family for reported threats of gun violence. Dad claims all they have are hunting rifles. Months later, dad gifts his kid his very own AR style weapon. Dad should go away for the rest of his life. Just sick.
I’m not American. But I’ve lived there. And visited often. And readily realize 2A is the law of the land, and as close as to make no difference, it always will be.
But I also think the kid who “might be thinking about how their life is an endless target for bullying. Or how their home life is such a wreck that prison might seem an improvement. Or their anger and bitterness and disappointment at a variety of things is overwhelming to the point where that gun in the cabinet might be tempting” could and probably does exist everywhere the world over…except for that gun-in-cabinet bit. The Appalachee’s of the world are a fairly uniquely US phenomenon…and one does not need to wonder too hard, to figure out (most of the) why.
Nevertheless, the obvious solution is an impossible one, for Americans. So a plan B is required. As you say, there is a lot of real estate btw “taking all your guns” and utter indifference to school shootings. You would think that a reasonable compromise should not be so unattainable. But if history is any guide, on this issue, sadly, it probably will be.
Lots of invective online. Even when the law gives authorities the perfect right to confiscate guns, the government fumbles. The deadliest shooting in Maine history was because government fumbled. Uvalde was a government fumble. The gun there was purchased legally, as it is in many cases.
Start by enforcing existing laws and cleaning up criminal possession of guns. And protect schools from anyone bringing guns on campus except the officers there to protect kids.
The gun in the cabinet could be a knife or machete. And mass killings happen in other countries. Banning certain guns does not solve the problem. It’s been tried.
Protect the schools. Period.
This is what frustrates me with the 2A supports' position on school shootings. I admit that there is no 100% solution. Sure, as you state, mass killings happen on other countries too .... but has you actually looked at the stats? B/c it REALLY isn't comparable. Part of the in-comparability stems from how lethal guns are compared to knives and machetes. If you'd accept that some amount of gun control would have a measurable impact on mass killings*, then you'd at least understand why everyone else in this country is fed up with the 2A people.
I just don't know how you realistically protect schools 100% without making them unbearable. Life has risks, and everyone accepts that--generally speaking--you aren't 100% safe living in this world. However, while acknowledging that the real statistical risk of a school shooting impacting you directly is still low, it's still too high. And that is as measured by the rest of the freaking developed world! And guess what--there's a pretty clear reason for it: guns.
*- who knows how long it would take to have a measurable affect, given the insane quantity of guns already circulating in the US.
Sorry for the rant, I just get so frustrated...
Now wait a sec.
2A is the law of the land. And a constitutional right. In that sense, it needs to be preserved, just as ALL constitutional rights need, and deserve, to be preserved. You usurp 1 constitutional right, and all are vulnerable. And the bar to amend the constitution is a high (and probably impossibly high) one, for very good reason. It is THE reality in the US. Period. End of story.
However, that does not make 2A an objectively good idea. And I dare say it’s probably the most ass-retarded thing your founding fathers conceived of. It’s a right, sure, but a butt-numbingly stupid one.
Why? Cuz literally no one else in the world has it. And the rest of the world gets by just fine, thanks. Was it understandable to have codified it, at the time of your nation’s founding? Absolutely. But it has aged about as well as warm milk.
Everyone in the US can access a knife, or a machete. Even more easily than a gun. So why are mass shootings such a phenomenon in the US, vs mass stabbings or slashings? Cuz if you want dead bodies per unit time (or effort), gun is the way to go. It’s not even close.
Now, in places without guns at least in the way it exists in the US, sure, knives and machetes (or whatever) are options. But you simply do not see the mass carnage with those other implements in other countries, that you have in the US on the regular with guns.
So yes, in the US, what is needed is some reasonable compromise that protects constitutional rights (including 2A) while maybe slowing the body count a little. And making schools a gun-free zone doesn’t hurt….recognizing that all the usual 2A arguments AGAINST the efficacy of gun free zones apply….but in the case of schools, maybe reasonable people can agree to an exception.
But let’s not for one nano-second pretend that 2A would be in any way a defensible concept, absent its constitutional status and protection. There is no “good reason” for 2A to exist, apart from having the best reason to exist. It’s unfalsifiable, like religion. Which it is in the US.
I don't have kids and i have never owned a gun. If i did it would add to the emotional attachment over the issue. Which is exactly why i waited to this morning to respond. I read the article last night and your comments were clearly emotional.
This morning i went online to see how many schools there are in the US. Goggle told me 115,000 plus (including private schools). I would have expected it to be much higher. Thinking about your article, my immediate reaction was what would the cost be to refit schools with all of the technology necessary for them, so the "government could protect kids?"
I know the argument, whatever the cost is should not be the issue. Sadly it is and always will be. Public schooling has been under attack for as far back as i can remember. Blaming teachers was often the argument.
Hell, in AZ where i live now, we rank like 48th educationally. Our teachers are poorly paid and we've opened the door to paying private (Christian) schools to teach our kids. The projected costs were under 100 million dollars have exploded to 400 million in just a few years with no end in sight.
Your comments surprised me regarding it being the "governments job to protect your kids." You claimed at least twice they failed. Maybe. It does sound intellectually lazy to say that. I know that sounds cold, it's not intended to be.
Here's why: In your line of work, you know data matters. Not a little, but a lot. While many love waving the second amendment flag as patriotic, the real question for me is in what the data shows us. I'll summarize because i am too lazy to pull up the statistics:
1). More guns than people in the country.
2). More guns per capita compared to any other developed country.
3). More mass shootings in the US compared to any other developed country.
On number three it's not even close, no one has anywhere near the per capita gun murders. It's just data Steve. Sadly that's no reflection on the gut-wrenching misery people across this country feel when a loved one is shot.
In your business (or any other for that matter), you cannot ignore what the data is telling you. Nope, it's not an answer, but there are always answers. In this case, too many people refuse to consider the options and elect to wrap themselves in the flag of patriotism.
For my money, we need to look in the mirror and begin to start embracing those tenets we were built on and around: responsibility, accountability and ownership. Sorry for the length, but this is a gut wrenching topic, especially when it hits so close to home.
I saw that Apalachee HS has the same Centigix system that north Fulton schools have. That’s what made kept what could have been ten times worse a crime to “only” 4 people. The shooter could not reenter the classrooms and was apprehended in the hallway within a minute. A minute can kill a lot of people.