Perhaps I’m a prime candidate for self-flagellation but I would rather stand by what I believe in the face of ridicule and scorn—even from those I once considered friends—than surrender my self-respect for the sake of being liked by those who would turn on you in a heartbeat.
And I know no one would ever mistake me for Tom Petty but as he said in that great song, I won’t back down.
So go ahead, pile on the criticism and outrage at what I’m about to say but know this: If and when that awful day comes when some deranged individual bursts into a school, armed with an AR-15 somewhere in Louisiana, you’d better pray to God he doesn’t gun down your child or grandchild.
And make no mistake, it can happen here.
You might want to remember that, Sen. Bill Cassidy ($2.8 million), Sen. John Kennedy ($9,900) Rep. Garrett Graves ($6,000), Rep. Clay Higgins ($3,500), Rep. James Johnson ($1,000) or Rep. Ralph Abraham ($1,000), and—of all people—Rep. Steve Scalise ($23,850) before you accept any future campaign contributions from the NRA.
A further breakdown of contributions for just the 2016 election cycle can be viewed HERE. Rep. Charles Boustany, Kennedy, and Scalise each received $4,950 from the most powerful lobby in the universe.
Here is a partial listing of some of the recipients of the more generous NRA direct and indirect contributions These include contributions in support of these candidates and contributions in opposition to their challengers. They may cover several election cycles:
As for the latest slaughter, this one in Parkland, Florida (where, incidentally, a Denham Springs resident had two grandchildren enrolled—fortunately, they were unhurt), we can count on our members of Congress who, lacking the backbone to stand up to the NRA, will utter these same two worn-out clichés:
“Our thoughts and prayers (shortened to TAP) are with the families of the victims.”
“Now is not the time” to talk about legislation to curtail access to automatic weapons.
And, of course, mouthpieces for the NRA will continue to spew the garbage that the best deterrent against bad people with guns is good people with guns. Just what we need, a shootout between teachers with a pistol and a maniac with an AR-15—with school kids caught in the crossfire. Brilliant strategy.
The chorus of protest certain to arise from this post will consist of criticism of any advocacy of additional laws to control ready access to automatic weapons. That, I will admit, is a valid criticism: Those laws should have been enacted long ago but for the collective cowardice of Congress.
Some will say there are already laws on the books if we would just enforce them but there are gaping loopholes LOOPHOLES in the law that addresses access to automatic weapons like the AR-15, which seems to be the COMMON DENOMINATOR in these mass shootings. In fact, there is a package of BILLS—backed by the NRA—that would actually make it easier to purchase silencers like the one used in the Las Vegas attack that killed 59 people. Here’s another link to the AR-15 popularity.
The only people with real courage in this oft-repeated scenario are the ones like the teacher at Sandy Hook or the COACH at Parkland yesterday who shielded students from their attackers and took a fatal bullet in the process. Or the teacher at Parkland who had the presence of mind to herd 19 students into a CLOSET during the rampage.
Those are the heroes. Too bad we can look in vain for any member of Congress who would do as much. They would rather offer TAP and continue to take NRA money.
Sen. MARCO RUBIO ($4,950), Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart ($27,450), Gus Billrakis ($16,450), Vernon Buchanan ($15,450), Bill Posey ($13,500), Dennis Ross ($11,000), Charles Crist Jr. ($9,900), Daniel Webster ($7,950), Carlos Curbelo ($7,450), Brian Mast ($4,950), Theodore Yoho ($4,000), Ileana Ros-Lehtinen ($2,000), Tom Rooney and Neal Dunn ($2,000 each), and Alcee Hastings, Matt Gaetz, and John Rutherford ($1,000 each) may also wish to justify their NRA contributions to their Florida constituents.
Full disclosure: I own a .22 rifle and a .38 revolver. Does that make me a hypocrite? Perhaps. But I do not own an AR-15 nor are either of my guns equipped with a silencer. I’m not a hunter but if I were, I fail to see why I need an automatic weapon to bring down Bambi. If I’m not good enough to do it in one or two shots, maybe it’s time to take my checkerboard to the park and hobnob with some other equally inept old geezer. And why would I need a bump stock to go squirrel hunting anyway?
Moreover, while I readily acknowledge the rights of non-felon mentally sane Americans under the Second Amendment, there’s this thought, for what it’s worth:
The universal expression in invoking the Second Amendment is the protection it gives us in preventing the “guvmint” from swooping in and confiscating all our weapons.
Well, to those folks, I say you might want to take a look around you.
Local police departments—even college and university police departments—are stocking up with heavy-duty MILITARY ARMAMENTS even as I write this. These are weapons designed for massive destructive force. Lethal would be a good word to describe them.
Why would a small-town police department need an armored urban assault vehicle? Why would it need a military helicopter?
And if the “guvmint” ever decided to swoop in and confiscate your weapons, what effect might your deer rifle have in preventing that? Against those kinds of weapons, even an AR-15 would be the equivalent of a bb gun against a grizzly bear.
So, go ahead. Take your best shot. I stand by my outrage at the silence and inaction of our political leaders in the face of such obviously escalating CARNAGE.
I don’t profess to have the answers. But I do know this: TAP and saying now isn’t the time ain’t the solution; it’s a weak-kneed cop-out. TAP aren’t going to stop a bullet and now most certainly IS the time to talk about it.
Perfectly put Tom. Stop the rampant gun lunacy in our country now!
Well written screed.. Question: What law would you propose that would have stopped this carnage. The only thing I can think of off the top of my head is an immediate ban of all weapons followed by blanket confiscation and pray that everyone complies. Knee jerk outrage can sometimes lead to unintended consequences. Why should I, a law abiding citizen, no criminal record, no mental illness, a professional and generally a person of good character suffer consequences of a crazed deranges madman’s actions. Sorry. I share your outrage at the carnage, but I disagree with your direction of blame. I do criminal defense work and see every day the unintended horrible consequences of well meaning legislation when it finally reaches the Street.. I call it the alimentary canal of law. By the time the finest filet of legislation is passed and digested through the alimentary canal of government and exits to the street to be actually put in action is has assumed another form and those of us at the bottom are left to deal with it.. My opinion based on 35 years of shoveling through it .
I understand where you’re coming from but to just sit idly by and try to ignore this is unacceptable. As I said, I don’t have the answers, but I do know this: in countries where there is some sanity in gun laws, you just don’t see this kind of mass killings or if you do, it’s so very rare compared to this country. Thirty mass shooting already this year in the U.S. and we’re still in February? C’mon! You just can’t be content with the status quo.
If I knew the answer I would certainly share it. The issue goes way deeper than guns and if I thought for a minute that banning guns would solve the problem, I would be on it like gravy on rice. Unfortunately over the past 35 years I have witnessed a decay that most are unaware of. Cops see it but nobody likes to listen to cops. Our society has decayed past the tipping point and the bad guys are winning. Well meaning legislation is full of problems. Case in point the new criminal justice reforms implemented in Louisiana. GREAT for my clients for sure-but as a private citizen, I am scared shitless. I have talked to probation and parole officers and have been told what the new laws mean for release dates and it it frightening. People on probation have to damn near kill someone to get revoked and it goes on….Something needs to be changed, but the point of my post is PLEASE no knee jerk legislation as it 9 times out of 10 causes more problems than it fixes. Would love to share my thoughts further but alas if I did I would use up all of your bandwidth. Enforce the existing laws would be a GREAT start, but the problem is that the prosecutors and court systems are overwhelmed as is it and they are trying to lessen the prison population rather than increase it.
BTW this is the most civil and interesting discourse I have ever read in any internet forum about this horrible issue and I applaud all who contribute. Usually discussions such as this degenerate into ad hominum attacks but this has been refreshingly lacking.. Well, that’s my allotted two(2) posts on the subject so I bid adieu.
Gary, as someone experienced and informed in this area, what would you propose be done to at least lessen if not halt this carnage?
Tom,
I agree with you, wholeheartedly.
I rode down the street this morning, counting 17 houses, and imagining if each of those houses had a child shot to death. It’s not easy to imagine what those families are suffering. And, it’s not hard to imagine that there will be more massacres of the innocent. More must be asked of our elected representatives.
I’m writing letters today.
I don’t have all of the answers either but focusing entirely on “guns” is not the answer either. Based on reports that have come out there was ample opportunity to see that this guy was a problem and presented a great threat but there was no action taken. I’m sure there will be many “feel good” discussions in the days ahead and each will have their targets to blame but as individuals, we need to really assess ourselves, our homes and seek what we can start with their beginning with a lot of prayer.
None of us have all the answers, and certainly not me. But to just shrug this off and go on with our lives would be dereliction and unforgivable. But your observation of focusing solely on guns not being the answer is absolutely correct. That’s why I’m constantly baffled at our elected officials—beginning with Jindal and now with Trump—saw fit to pull support from mental health programs when they’re needed today more than ever.
Really well-written, heartfelt post, Tom.
We let the horses out of the barn on this a long time ago, unlike the countries that have controlled firearm ownership for decades or even centuries.
Now, like you and me, pretty much everybody has at least one gun. If nothing else, that simple fact should totally defuse, from a purely practical standpoint, the argument by some that if we enact anything to attempt to even control access to assault rifles, next thing you know, government agents will go door-to-door taking everybody’s guns away from them – except the criminals, of course, who will then be the only ones with guns.
It is hard to imagine anybody could believe this myth, but apparently some people do. As far as our elected officials are concerned, their views seem entirely based on how much money the NRA sends their campaigns.
Tom, I’m with you all the way, and if any hate and criticism come your way about your stance on this issue, I’ll share it with you. I’m tired of useless thoughts and prayers, and yes, NOW IS the time to talk about guns, insanity, the meaning of the Second Amendment and the reckless endangerment of our society by the profiteering NRA. The time to talk about it is every day that the US does not have rational gun laws and our people are at risk of annihilation at the hands of anyone with an agenda and firepower.
Full disclosure: I too have two weapons, an inherited .38 and a decades-old semi-auto pistol. I believe in responsible gun ownership, and made sure they were locked up where our children could not get to them. Son and daughter both took firearms training so they would be educated in how to use weapons and what those guns were capable of doing.
It’s long past time in this country to institute rational gun ownership. Assault weapons have no place in the hands of civilians and should be banned – again. The feds should institute a buyback program to get private owners to turn in as many as possible, and ban private and secondary market sales. There will be no stopping the underground market, true, but we need to start somewhere.
As a society, we need to protect ourselves as much as we need to protect those with mental health issues. People with a mental health diagnosis should be prohibited from purchasing firearms. Perhaps we should re-think the need for in-patient facilities, that protect and shelter the mentally ill patient and also prevent the dangerously-ill from preying upon the rest of society. Thoughts and prayers don’t get the job done.
Rational people also need to call out the National Rifle Assn. for what it is. The NRA does not exist to protect Second Amendment rights, it’s a marketing arm for firearms manufacturers. We should start shaming the NRA as complicit in these mass murders and further shame any politician who accepts donations from the NRA and gun lobby. We are all held hostage to this insanity.
One more point, as people have questioned what we are doing for school safety: some 20 years ago the LA Department of Education created a comprehensive safety manual for schools that spelled out how to recognize problems, practice safety techniques and deal with shooting incidents and other dangers. It was distributed to all schools in the state and followup ensured that schools used the information. Don’t know if such information is still being distributed.
Sorry for the lengthy post. Like Tom, I’m mad and don’t want to take it anymore.
Thanks for always being so courageous and such a great investigative reporter and writer. You are the man.
Possession of automatic weapons is illegal. Semi-automatic ie. fires each time the trigger is pulled is not the same. There are between 300 and 400 MILLION guns in the USA. There is no way to remove those weapons. Secondly, no law can prevent crazy. Thirdly, that school was a “gun free” zone by law. How well did that work. Fourthly, we have stringent gun laws; how is that working for us ? Fifth; why do schools in Florida not have “Resource Officers” like we do in Louisiana ? That school district employees over 30,000 people. And no security ? That is incompetent.Sixth; The NRA is simply a lobbying group that represents its’ members, which number in the millions. They are no different than the NAACP or PETA or Teacher Unions – they all represent their special interest as they are supposed to do. How much money do the Unions spend, yet still maintain tax free status ? How about Pharmas ?
The real problem in this country is not the guns. It is the lack of morals, respect for each other, lack of religion, lack of family structure. Cure that, and things will improve.Criminals do not respect the law, so laws only inconvenience law abiding citizens. Wake up !
Zoe, baby, slow down. Why do you insist on leaving spaces between the ends of your sentences and the punctuation? Spend less time defending these scumbags and learn more about grammar. “Its members” doesn’t take an apostrophe.
And the NRA is not “simply a lobbying group,” although you do make a valid point in comparing it to the pharmaceutical industry. The NRA is a consumer; it consumes legislators.
Your argument is the typical fallback of the gun nuts and it’s starting to wear a little thin.
I don’t think Tom ever once advocated getting rid of all guns (if he did, please point out the passage to me–I missed it). His point was the easy access to weapons like AR-15s and there is absolutely no justifiable reason for people to own those weapons.
Now, take a deep breath.
zoe1970, you are a closed minded and uninformed individual. The school alone had two “Resource Officers”, one a Sheriffs Deputy and the other a City policeman, on duty at the time of the shooting. Comparing the NRA to a labor union or PETA is just plain stupidity on your part. They have no relationship whatsoever other than they are groups of people. It’s mental dolts such as you that are dragging this once great nation through the quagmire of misguided “Don’t Tread On Me” lunacy. Get a grip.
if you want to call people names, you should have the intestinal fortitude to do so registered under your own, instead of cowering like a little bitch behind a cutsey internet “handle.” Zoe1970 made well-reasoned points, and you demean your and your allies credibility when your only rebuttal is name calling. Not everyone agrees with you. That could be a huge part of why the majority of Americans have elected legislators who work to protect the rights granted to us by God, through the Founders, like the Second Amendment. The issue isn’t “guns” or access to those guns. The issue is behavior, compounded by the degradation of values in our society. We need to realize that not everyone possesses the intelligence or reasonably agreed upon set of values to entitle them to live freely among the rest of us. The idea that the mentally ill need to be deinstitutionalized and forced upon society has led to a malignant normalization of horrible behavior. The vicious assault on wholesome family values led by the radical left has compounded this problem by an exponential scale. Until we develop the stomach to face our own failings as a society, the less intelligent will continue to blame unacceptable behavior by unacceptable members of society on inanimate objects. I suggest that it is you who needs to “get a grip.”
I don’t watch or listen to the POTUS’ speeches anymore, but I’m sure his supporters took great pride in his speech on this a little earlier:
Headline: Trump Calls For Steps That ‘Make A Difference’ On School Shootings Without Specifics
https://www.npr.org/2018/02/15/586009781/president-trump-to-address-the-nation-on-florida-school-shooting
return fire. terminate the threat
Yep, and maybe catch a couple of teachers and some students in the crossfire. As Tom said, brilliant.
Hi, Tom. I really enjoy your reports, as a native Coon-ass forced to live outside of Chicago due to life events. I am a former EBRSO Deputy and I was a Deputy Coroner, years ago. I agree with most of your writing and followed with particular interest the continuing LSP saga. However, I do not agree with this column.
I would like to note that in none of the mass shootings in the US going back decades, were any of the perpetrators NRA members. The NRA is the whipping boy of the liberal media but I do not buy it. In the interest of full disclosure, I am a member.
These mass shootings and attempted shootings have spiked the past 30 years or so. The culture has changed in that time; parents ceased to be parents (in many instances) and wanted to be friends to their children. They did not want to be disciplinarians but peers and buddies. These kids are having kids of their own and are even more so in that way. Everyone gets a trophy and if they don’t get their way, they pitch tantrums. As a result, we have a batch of teens/young adults who have no respect for institutions or laws.
Now, let’s sprinkle in the (over)prescribing of psychotropic drugs, because somehow, it seems 7 out of 10 male kids have ADHD and we drug the hell out of them. Nearly every single mass shooter going back years has been on these meds-going back to Columbine and before. Also mix in the fact that due to liberal policies, folks can not hardly be committed to treatment without an extreme situation. This guy in FL had waved tons of warning signs, the news reports “every one was waiting for him to blow” yet there was nothing to stop his actions nor to stop him from getting a weapon. There are many more things that kill people in the US than guns-for example, autos and medical malpractice. If you deduct out a few places like Chicago, Baltimore, Detroit and one or two more, you would significantly change what the death rate by guns is in the US. These places have the strictest gun laws yet the highest homicide rates.
These mass shootings take place in “gun free” zones where the ordinary decent citizens obey they laws, yet the malefactors could not care less. Hell, they are going there to kill, anyway-you think a sign will stop them? These are the softest of soft targets. We need to protect them better.
Cain killed Abel with a rock. It is a people problem.
Okay, so let’s just do nothing.
What you say are valid points, I suppose, but it doesn’t change the fact that in every other civilized nation where access to weapons is controlled, there is far less violence and virtually no mass killings.
Oh, by the way, it was a “bump stock” the ass in Vegas had, not sound suppressors. Suppressors do not alter your rate of fire but bump stocks do allow the cycling of the weapon more rapidly.
You are correct. My mistake and it has now been corrected, thanks to your keen eye.
It’s a crying shame that another “nut” case has taken a gun and used it against innocent individuals however your approach isn’t going to stop another “nut” case from getting a gun (whether it’s from their closet, a friends closet, their car, burglarizing someones house or wherever) and killing whoever it is that they intend to kill. And if you take all of the guns away then the only people who will have them are the criminals and they aren’t going to give up their guns. Quit being a stupid liberal and if you don’t have a way to stop the killing then shut up. You are a flaming obamite and lover of Hillary Clinton and every other liberal who wants to take away law-abiding citizens guns. Go stick your head back in the sand…
And good day to you, too, sir. Nice, mature comments. Name-calling is always a sure way to win a debate, isn’t it? It’s pretty obvious that by calling me a lover of Hillary Clinton, you know precious little about me. I have gone on record on numerous occasions expressing my disdain for Hillary and my extreme disappointment for Obama, so perhaps you need to do a little background research before mouthing off.
Also, if you read my full post, you should have seen where I said that I don’t have the answer. No one does, certainly not you. But just a point to consider: how do you explain the fact that in countries that have taken measures at controlling access to weapons, the crime rates are soooo much lower than here?
Also, if you bothered to read the post (which it seems more and more apparent you didn’t) you’d know that I am a gun owner and have NEVER advocated an abolition of gun ownership (do you realize how silly you sound by saying otherwise?). But this easy access to AR-15s is pure insanity. Not a single civilian alive needs one of those. They are made for one thing and one thing only: killing. Not hunting animals, killing humans.
You are so blinded by the propaganda of the NRA that you can’t see what is obvious: this is not a conservative-liberal issue, it’s an issue about whether we want our children to be safe. Period. I could do a little name-calling myself and it would be just about as constructive as your vitriol. But I choose not to stoop to your level.
If you are truly content with the status quo, then you are part of the problem. Seriously.
And I’m pretty sure the founding fathers never foresaw the advent of automatic weapons. When the Second Amendment was passed, they still had muskets, flint, and loose powder, not AR-15s.
Tom, I am also a gun owner and I have the same concerns as you. We need to have a grown-up discussion among all parties without the name calling or resorting to position statements in the effort to arrive at some concrete solutions to the problem.
There are many issues not just related to mass shootings like the Valentine’s Day attack in Florida but also like the shootings at Mardi Gras in New Orleans where a fight broke out among 10 or 12 people and there were weapons discharged in the middle of the crowd and like the mall manager in Alabama who was caught in a crossfire between two groups who ran into each other at the mall and just started shooting with no regard for bystanders.
I don’t know all the answers myself but I am fed up with the hand-wringing and symbolic gestures such as gun-free zones that only the law abiding citizens honor. We have to take back our streets because the threat is less of a dictatorial government taking over than it is of pure anarchy reigning supreme.
Time after time the common denominator is the government knew of the guy and failed to follow the existing law. Why? There are those in the ranks of government that would love to see an unarmed populace, unable to resist even in the least. These same people see nothing wrong with allowing needless deaths to achieve their goals.
Another mischaracterization is labeling the AR-15 a automatic weapon. This is false. It is semi-auto just like any other hunting rifle. Again see end result goals, you start with one thing them push things down the slippery slope until you accomplish your goals.
There are laws against people owning automatic weapons, this was not the weapon used here. Also the gunman should have been denied a gun based on existing law. Then you add in the fact that the fbi was notified multiple times about him, droping the ball every time, why?
What new law changes anything in this situation other than eroding a right in the Constitution that certain parts of the government would love to see you lose?
Next up will be encryption of your data.
Yes, the FBI seems to have dropped the ball here. This is no defense of Trump, but what I can’t understand is how the FBI can have all this evidence of Russian tampering but can’t discover the source of that posting in which the shooter said he wanted to be a “professional school shooter.” Of course they could have found the source of that message. As for the FBI having been notified “multiple times,” I heard of only one time, but I defer to your claim since I really cannot refute it.
And yes, the gunman should have been denied the gun on the basis of existing law.
But to fall back on the defense of semi-automatic weapons as opposed to automatic is parsing words and disingenuous at best. You have zero evidence of any specific “part of government” that wants to see you lose any rights guaranteed in the Constitution. You are simply repeating the well-worn mantra of the NRA zealots. There is no evidence of that claim whatsoever. It’s McCarthyism downsized to fit the NRA agenda.
I don’t know how much plainer Tom can make his case that neither he, you, nor anyone else has the answers. He has said repeatedly that he doesn’t have the answers but he also has said repeatedly that it is well past the time to discuss the problem openly and candidly. Yet, the Paul Ryans and the Marco Rubios of the world want to say “now is not the time.”
There’s no harm in talking about the problem of the mass slaying of children. To say otherwise is just plain stupid. To throw up any other argument only shows your allegiance to the NRA which has spent million upon millions of dollars to indoctrinate you to its way of thinking.
Now why do you suppose they would do that?
Very good column, I don’t have all the answers either, but doing nothing is not an option, we must do something. My late husband was an NRA member, until he saw it morphing into something, he didn’t like, and he dropped his membership, as did G.H.W. Bush, he saw and heard something in the rhetoric that quite frankly disturbed him, he loved to hunt,and he liked his guns, but he always maintained that assault weapons didn’t belong in civilian hands, they were made to kill people.
The NRA has waged a propaganda war on common sense gun control for decades, and painted politicians, citizens and pundits who dared to speak their minds, as somehow infringing on the 2nd Amendment, which makes no sense to me, because a single shot musket was the weapon used back in the day, a far cry from the killing machines of today.
So thanks, Tom Aswell, for saying what needs to be said, and keep saying it.
How about locking the damn doors of the schools? These shootings aren’t from the streets or the parking lots. School buildings are locked after everyone is gone and there is no one inside to protect. Lock all the access from the outside doors, admit no one that is not scrutinized first and has a real specific reason for wanting access.
Mr. Aswell: As I read your proposed “fix” for what happened at Parkland, it is: “BAN AR-15’s.”In my view, that not only will NOT “work” to prevent the next “urban terrorist”, but that it would constitute another incremental erosion of the rights of law abiding citizens under the 2nd Amendment (not to mention under Article I, Section 11 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974).
In my view, there were already several ways for COMPETENT Administrators and Law Enforcement Officers to have prevented this tragedy.
The most obvious is for the FBI and the local Sheriff to have done their jobs. The FBI IGNORED two “tips” that should have “stopped Cruz in his tracks” had either been acted upon. The “local yokels” had been to Cruz’s house over 30 times previously. ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! And the FBI and the Sheriff apparently did not “talk” to each other and share information, to go into some type of governmental database.
The Administrators of the school had recently gone from “zero tolerance” for student misbehavior to be reported to law enforcement, to a “self-policing” system, which allowed Cruz to return to the campus and gain access while carrying a gun and ammunition! THIS GUY SHOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ALLOWED ACCESS, much less carrying a gun and ammo in his backpack, which he had been banned from carrying on campus, anyway. This school campus was like a sieve, when it should have been “protected” from intruders like Cruz, who had been expelled. This could have been very easily accomplished with “single point of entry security”, which apparently was NOT in effect.
More evidence of the Administrators’ INCOMPETENCE is (1) There were two armed security personnel on campus, but they were in other buildings and DID NOT ENGAGE Cruz notwithstanding the fact that he was “shooting” for several minutes (some say as long as six minutes – we STILL haven’t seen a “timeline”, more than two days later). (2) He spent time trying to shoot out the “hardened” windows out of a third floor classroom, so that he could shoot DOWN at escaping students from the broken classroom windows, which he couldn’t break (apparently he never thought to OPEN the windows!), unmolested by any armed security person. ENGAGEMENT by an ARMED “protector of the children” should as IMMEDIATE as possible. (3) Cruz disgarded his weapon and ESCAPED by “blending in” with fleeing students, which took more TIME, again, without being discovered and confronted while disarmed. (4) After the shooting was over and Cruz had escaped from the campus, he spent over an hour without apprehension, even visiting Wal-Mart and McDonald’s. To me, this all demonstrates the utter INCOMPETENCY of the Administration and local law enforcement, who should have ENGAGED Cruz ASAP by rushing to “the sound of the guns” (some are even saying that “some” of the students may have been shot by cops!).
I also do not have enough information to agree with the Lame Stream Media statement that “Cruz legally purchased the AR-15”. I haven’t seen his application to purchase a firearm. I don’t KNOW how he answered questions on the application. particularly those addressing any prior “arrests” (YES, they ask you about “arrests”, as well as “convictions”) and “mental health issues”. My bet at this point is that Cruz LIED on the application, multiple times, which would render his purchase of the AR-15 ILLEGAL, also implicating The False Statements Act, 18 United States Code, Section 1001.
The LSM is reporting that Cruz had been undergoing some “mental health” evaluation and treatment, but that he voluntarily withdrew @ one year prior to his RAMPAGE. Let’s see those records! Lets see what the doctor(s) said about him, ie. his diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.
Why the application process FAILED in this instance is still unknown, but wholly aside from Cruz’s possible LIES is the fact that the FBI had IGNORED the prior tips, and that local law enforcement apparently didn’t report the “over 30 visits to his home” to some governmental database.
My BOTTOM LINE: If the “system” had worked like it was “supposed” to have worked: (1) Cruz would never have had a gun; (2) Cruz would never have been permitted access to the campus, particularly while carrying a gun; (3) Cruz would have been confronted and “taken out” by an armed security person very soon after the shooting started; and (4) Cruz would have been re-directed to “mental health evaluation and treatment” from which he voluntarily withdrew @ one year before his RAMPAGE. I also believe that “we” have to do a better job of “protecting” or “hardening” our schools, so that people like Cruz are DENIED ACCESS to school campuses.