New Gun Policies Won’t Stop Mass Shootings, but People Can

[mountaineer]

New Gun Policies Won’t Stop Mass Shootings, but People Can
National Review
David French
Feb. 15, 2018
EXCERPTED

The United States is facing a puzzling paradox. Even as gun crime has plunged precipitously from the terrible highs of the early 1990s, mass shootings have increased. Consider this: 15 of the 20 worst mass shootings in U.S. history have occurred since the Columbine school shooting in 1999. The five worst have all occurred since 2007, and three of those five were in 2016 and 2017. It’s horrifying, and governmental solutions are hard to find.

Twitter’s fondest wishes to the contrary, the unique characteristics of mass shootings mean that they often escape the reach of public policy. The Washington Post’s Glenn Kessler (hardly an NRA apologist) famously fact-checked Marco Rubio’s assertion that new gun laws wouldn’t have prevented any recent mass shootings and declared it true. Time and again, existing laws failed, or no proposed new gun-control law would have prevented the purchase.  ...

But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing we can do. When policies fail, people can and should rise to the occasion. Looking at the deadliest mass shootings since Columbine, we see that the warning signs were there, time and again. People could have made a difference.  ...

I can’t assume it won’t happen in my school or in my town. Rather than tweet impotently, I’ve armed myself to protect my family and my neighbors; in my past role as a member of a school board, I’ve worked to better secure my kids’ school; and I’ve vowed that if — God forbid — I ever see evidence or warning signs of the darkness of a killer’s heart, I’ll have the courage to seek the intervention that can save lives. That’s not public policy. It’s personal responsibility. It’s also the best way to confine the contagion that’s killing our kids.

Read more at: http://www.nationalreview.com/article/456436/new-gun-laws-wont-stop-mass-shootings-people-can

[driftdiver]

People were there in this case and reported him to the FBI.  He made postings on youtube that he was going to be a profession school shooter.

The real question is what did the FBI do?   What did local law enforcement do?

[mountaineer]

The real question is what did the FBI do?   What did local law enforcement do?

I believe the FBI, local LE and the school district failed miserably.

[mountaineer]

Dan Bongino
‏Verified account @dbongino
12h12 hours ago

The Secret Service did an exhaustive and revealing study on targeted school violence. As a former agent, and a parent, I can’t recommend this report highly enough. School administrators should make this mandatory reading ->  Threat Assessment in Schools: A Guide to Managing Threatening Situations and to Creating Safe School Climates.

[Restored]

The Gun Control argument is based on the premise "We can't stop school shootings from happening but we can prevent people who don't shoot up schools from legally defending themselves with a gun. We can make it harder for people to get a gun just like we made it harder for people to get Marijuana and Heroin. But the government can't prevent people from getting a gun, just like they can't prevent people from driving illegally. "

The only way to prevent school shootings is to make the shooter think it can't be done.  Most likely, the shooter found the locations of the armed people and went to another site away from them. A school shooter knows he has a target rich environment with little chance of preventing the shooting. Schools are created in a way that they are ideal for shooters.

[Sanguine]

Good post, @mountaineer.

[Lando Lincoln]

Good post, @mountaineer.

Yes.  Excellent post.

[Oceander]

The Gun Control argument is based on the premise "We can't stop school shootings from happening but we can prevent people who don't shoot up schools from legally defending themselves with a gun. We can make it harder for people to get a gun just like we made it harder for people to get Marijuana and Heroin. But the government can't prevent people from getting a gun, just like they can't prevent people from driving illegally. "

The only way to prevent school shootings is to make the shooter think it can't be done.  Most likely, the shooter found the locations of the armed people and went to another site away from them. A school shooter knows he has a target rich environment with little chance of preventing the shooting. Schools are created in a way that they are ideal for shooters.

The rejoinder is just as simple: no guns, no shootings.  If we do not get more creative in coming up with creative solutions that are effective, that is what will happen. 

Turning schools into the Wild West, with everyone armed to the teeth is not a solution.

[Cyber Liberty]

The rejoinder is just as simple: no guns, no shootings.  If we do not get more creative in coming up with creative solutions that are effective, that is what will happen. 

Turning schools into the Wild West, with everyone armed to the teeth is not a solution.

Sure.  Just make guns illegal.  Look how well it's worked for crack, heroin and bank robberies.

I love lawyers.  They think everybody respects the law.   

[Restored]

Here's how you stop a shooting before it happens

http://dfw.cbslocal.com/2018/02/15/grandmother-stops-school-shooting/

[Restored]

The rejoinder is just as simple: no guns, no shootings.  If we do not get more creative in coming up with creative solutions that are effective, that is what will happen. 
Turning schools into the Wild West, with everyone armed to the teeth is not a solution.

You completely missed the point. There will always be guns. There are guns in countries where they are banned. You can't stop mass shootings by banning guns because you can't get rid of guns anymore than we got rid of Heroin by making it illegal.
If guns were the problem, the states with highest rates of gun ownership would have the most mass shootings, which would be Wyoming, Montana, Alaska and South Dakota. 

[aligncare]

The rejoinder is just as simple: no guns, no shootings.  If we do not get more creative in coming up with creative solutions that are effective, that is what will happen. 

Turning schools into the Wild West, with everyone armed to the teeth is not a solution.

No guns, no shooting? True, but where there is no access to guns the deaths of the innocent are planned using a butcher knife or machete as happens in Asia or Africa, or by using a heavy vehicle in a crowded Middle Eastern market place.

[Bigun]

When someone shows up at a school with a gun trying to kill people is NOT the time to worry about why he got there or how he got the gun! It's the time to stop him from doing what he is intent on doing by whatever means are necessary at that precise moment!

[INVAR]

People were there in this case and reported him to the FBI.  He made postings on youtube that he was going to be a profession school shooter.

The real question is what did the FBI do?   

The FBI has been busy working 24/7 to exonerate Hillary Clinton and frame Trump for what the Democrat Party itself was doing.

They didn't have time to deal with an insignificant nut job who dreamed of being the next school mass murderer.

Besides, doing nothing ensured that when his timer did go off - the antigun crowd would take the agenda to the next level.

And so they have.

[LauraTXNM]

People were there in this case and reported him to the FBI.  He made postings on youtube that he was going to be a profession school shooter.

The real question is what did the FBI do?   What did local law enforcement do?

Just like with the Pulse Nightclub shooter, I don't think they actually could do anything.  This guy's threats -- was there some reason he couldn't be prosecuted?