Houston Tx School Shooting

A small minority of the population prioritize their gun fetish over children’s lives and they’ll use any argument, however flawed, to hold on to their security blanket because they can’t feel safe without a weapon

 

Felony... No more guns for good ol' Dad.

 

He should be sharing a cell with his son.

 

I agree.

 

I guess I needed to put "lol" for some users.

 

Especially in a thread about murdered children

 

Did you seriously think I meant to ban trench coats and boots?

 

No of course not. Lots of insane people in a genuine way react to any hint of gun control with a histrionic slipper slope argument about banning everything.

 

I assure you that I'm not insane, Kerri.

 

This shooting doesn't seem to have stemmed from a gun control problem. The shooter took his father's shot gun and revolver, for the crime. More stringent gun control laws wouldn't have changed this outcome, considering the teen would have still taken his dad's guns. It's the responsibility of the gun owner to keep his/her guns out of the hands of minors.

That, coupled with that schools are soft targets, in terms of having protective measures in place so people can't enter the school with guns, is the issue with this particular shooting. Plus, the shooter also put bombs in and around the school. Not sure how to safe guard schools against a troubled individual wishing to use bombs. There's a deeper issue here that goes beyond ''stricter gun laws.'' The fact that they are planning to open the school back up in a few days (what I heard on the news) shows they simply aren't getting it. Schools need to be like airports now...that type of security, with metal detectors, etc...and until then, they should be closed. All of it backed with federal funding. Just my opinion, anyways.

 

I agree with the metal detectors and I think that maybe they should at least put fences with concertina wire around school property.

Neighbors would probably complain about the lack of aesthetic appeal but saving student lives takes priority.

 

I have no trouble believing that

 

That was refreshingly sane!

 

Bombs are pretty easy to make and as easy to hide as a teenager's porno magazines. I agree with your second point though. It seems like a lot of teenagers are on the edge of suicide, but a few decide to take others out. This mania is never addressed adequately.

I often wonder if the "gun control" argument after one of these events is an attempt at therapeutic reconciliation in some people's minds. It keeps them from having to examine the unsolvable "why" of the budding psychopath's actions. Something that can't be controlled, so it heads for the back burner while the marches get organized.

Your point about "lonely time" is salient. Our schools pay the greatest attention to a privileged minority of the students. Athletic programs eclipse everything else, particularly with regard to resources. So in a school of 500 students about 400 have nothing in the way of school-sponsored diversions (except maybe cheering for the athletes). The clubs have to raise their own money, which has teamwork and entrepreneurial value.

But most of the students have too much time on their hands, they're not "popular", they're making average grades and spend their days trapped in a world of brutal self-examination. Thankfully most of them seem to pull out of it. Still, our schools are badly managed or they would be more engaging. It still amazes me we have unionized teachers these days. Education has become a weird factory environment.

What's weird is that we don't have more school killings. The potential is there. But we don't deal with that as a society, we go after the tools instead. And I'm the one who is supposed to be insane!

 

So absolutely true!

 

I wish reporters wouldn't highlight the names of these killers, and post their mug shots all over the media so often. Making them famous only encourages this kind of stuff.

 

Excellent points! I think that it's just such a complicated mess. It's a situation that has many layers, but the layer that seems to be concentrated on the most is ''stricter gun laws,'' and that's not going to solve this right now. In the short term. In the short term, most schools are still soft targets, and even if we banned all guns tomorrow, a troubled person determined to carry out violence like the Parkland shooter or this teen, will find a way. The mental health issue is important, but the Parkland shooter had glaring red flags that everyone ignored. The FBI dropped the ball. So, the situation is rather complex, and the only immediate fix I can see, is to become proactive in protecting students when they're in school. It won't solve everything, but it will mitigate these types of shootings, I think.

 

I disagree with this..i mean, I agree this is the responsibility of the gun owner but I disagree with the notion that gun control wouldnt make a difference here. Storage requirements are exactly the sort of thing people are referring to with the term "common sense gun control." Mandatory storage requirements were put into place when Australia passed their sweeping gun control laws. I can think of at least 3 school shootings where the killer obtained unsecured guns from their parents. Enforced laws mandating how guns are stored would have prevented these incidents

Then they could be enforced by random checks. Australia does this as well. The threat of a heavy fine or even jail time would be enough to keep most people compliant

 

I posted above, that the father should be sharing a cell with the son. So, totally agree with you. The father is culpable in his son's crimes, as well. But, that law has already been created, the father clearly didn't have his guns stored in a place where his son couldn't gain access to it.