I despise writing about this.  In fact, I’m sickened by it.  Believe me, it’s WAY more fun writing about the moronic things that dribble out of Nancy Pelosi’s Botox-laden yap every five minutes, or railing on the Trump-hating tabloid fake news media.  The one issue that you’d think people could come together on…stopping mass shootings, particularly at schools……our kids are dying, after all… is regrettably, one of the most politicized.  We know the drill.  The gun-hating Left reflexively screams “BAN GUNS”…The Right and NRA interpret the mere mention of ANY limits on, say, assault weapons, as the beginning of the end of the 2nd Amendment.  Groundhog Day. Both sides rival Omarosa in the “Drama Queen” category as far as I’m concerned.  

Just like your friendly neighborhood drug addict, politicians look for a quick and easy fix in solving big, complex issues.  Sure, you can place a ban on THIS semi-automatic weapon or THAT semi-automatic weapon.  Clearly, the background check system needs to be more effective…including integration with state mental health records…quite lacking in their own right…and loopholes plugged.  Might these often heard “solutions” help on the margin?  Maybe. But thinking that either of these “low hanging fruit” or “common sense” solutions will do anything to SIGNIFICANTLY impact the problem would be at best, naivete…at worst, complete fantasy.  “Feel-Good” legislation, negligible impact…but knock yourselves out.

By the way, semi-automatic assault weapons like the AR-15 WERE banned in 1994, but that ban was allowed to expire in 2004 as study after study showed the ban to have no material impact in reducing violent gun crimes, and in fact, the vast majority of violent crimes were perpetrated with handguns.  Add to that the cities with the most highly restrictive gun laws…the Chicago’s and the D.C’s…consistently experience the most gun violence.  So yeah, as far as focusing on the guns themselves (as opposed to keeping them out of the wrong people’s hands)…color me skeptical, to say the least.  Sorry, but stats DO matter.

Then there’s the familiar mantra from the authorities of, “See Something, Say Something,” typically in the context of Islamic terrorism.  But in the case of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, and the 17 innocents gunned down by this maniac, people did say something…and say something…and say something…till their voices were raspier than Bruce Springsteen’s while belting out Thunder Road.  And they said it to the FBI…THE FRIGGIN’ FBI, for God’s sake…who COMPLETELY could have put the kibosh on this tragedy.  Unfathomable. Maybe if the tipsters said the dude frequented The Kremlin, it would have gotten their attention.  Frankly, if I hear this described as “Dropping The Ball” one more time, I’m gonna lose what’s left of MY mind.  This was an FBI F**k Up of epic proportion…full stop.  The system broke down worse than the rickety antique chair Michael Moore just sat on.  Shameful.

So where does that leave us?  The common thread, of course, in seemingly 99% of these mass shootings, is…altogether now…mental illness.  And five states have taken matters into their own hands…California, Washington, Oregon, Indiana and Connecticut have statutes that can be used to temporarily take guns away from people a judge deems a threat to themselves or others, called Gun Violence Restraining Orders (GVRO’s), or “red flag” laws.  As described by David French in a recent National Review article...”What if there was an evidence-based process for temporarily denying a troubled person access to guns? What if this process empowered family members and others close to a potential shooter, allowing them to “do something” after they “see something” and “say something”?  Broadly speaking they permit a spouse, parent, sibling, or person living with a troubled individual to petition a court for an order enabling law enforcement to temporarily take that individual’s guns right away.”  Such a law in Florida  clearly would have been a powerful tool in preventing this mass killing.  By all accounts, it’s making a difference in 5 states, so what the hell are the other 45 waiting for?  

No, I’m not so pollyannish as to think such statutes will eradicate mass school shootings.  We must accept the inevitability that some of these loony toons will ALWAYS slip through the cracks.  Hey, here’s an idea…how about FORTIFYING THESE DAMN SCHOOLS!  Yes, armed guards.  Yes, metal detectors.  Maybe even concealed carry for teachers down with that, instead of diving in front of bullets to save students?  Why the hell not?  Find the funding…federal, state, whatever…we always do for things deemed worthwhile.

And please spare me the pathetic lamenting and whining about how this is not the kind of society we want.  You REALLY want to go there?  Hate to break it to you, but that train left the station more than a generation ago.  Ya know what Toto, we’re not in Kansas anymore.  You want to save lives or don’t you?  Jesus, we can’t even walk into friggin’ Disney World without passing through metal detectors.  Or practically get sexually assaulted by TSA agents at the airport.  Are schools any LESS worthy of protecting?  (Random Note to TSA:  Inspecting my crotch with the BACK of your hand doesn’t REALLY dial down the creep factor of getting violated in front of hundreds of strangers…just sayin’).

Bottom line…waiting for Washington to get off their fat partisan asses to do anything but argue about this is completely futile.  The states that haven’t already, need to step-up and enact their own “red-flag” laws, AND find the funding to fortify schools.  That’s a one-two punch that will ultimately save lives AND take it out of the hands of an impotent Congress and the endless paralyzing gridlock in DC.

If anyone has any better ideas, I’m all ears.