Friday, April 13, 2018

dispatches from the non-massacre:
what happens when the system actually works

An excellent post at BearingArms.com titled "The Mass Shooting You’ll Never Hear About" has this to say (courtesy Instapundit):

...the teen made a threat, the police acted, and no one is dead.

That’s what should have happened in Parkland, but didn’t. In Gardena — a mass shooting no one will ever hear about because it was prevented — the efficiency of the local authorities saved countless lives. Why? Because they acted.

While the anti-gun left is focused like a laser on guns, there were numerous failures that led to Parkland. By now, most of us have heard about them. At every level, it seems, the shooter was given a pass by supposed adults who didn’t do their jobs. Some have blamed pressure from the Obama administration to end the “school to prison pipeline” and policies that rewarded schools for not reporting problematic behavior.

[...]

It’s a shame, but this case will be forgotten by next week. Meanwhile, we’ll still be debating about AR-15’s and 30-round magazines. We’ll still be arguing over whether someone should be able to buy a long gun at 18 or 21. We’ll still be having these discussions because the system that has nothing to do with gun control actually worked.

That’s probably the biggest shame of all of this. When everything goes like it’s supposed to, such as in this case, it’s quickly forgotten. It takes a Parkland for the discussion to last more than a day or two, and then it goes in the completely wrong direction. Then it becomes about taking away people’s rights.

No. Just no.

Use the system in place. Use it correctly. Making threats is a crime. It’s grounds for investigating further and, if necessary, arresting someone for more than making a threat. Use that to end these horrible tragedies.

Don’t punish people who had nothing to do with it.

No disagreement here. I heartily endorse every word of this article.



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