A Tragedy . . Some Context . . and Some Perspective

17 people killed at a high school in Florida.  A tragedy almost beyond words.  I've received no word yet on whether they were students or staff, or how many of each were killed.  I've also received no word on the number of injured.  It's every modern American parent's worst nightmare.

We hear the same mantra, the same calls, many from the same reliable sources, either directly or by inference calling for gun control, be it limits on accessories ("bump stocks" and large magazines), outright bans on certain types of firearms, bans on private firearm ownership (which would put the U.S. population at the mercy of its' government), bans on private sales of firearms, making private sellers go through the arduous process of forcing buyers through FBI background checks (never mind the fact that the FBI had the shooter in this case on its' watch list last year, yet did nothing to prevent the tragedy at
Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School (https://www.buzzfeed.com/briannasacks/the-fbi-was-warned-about-a-school-shooting-threat-from).

Bennight, the reporter of the "professional school shooter" video, reported it to You Tube, which took out the "professional school shooter" language.  However, despite allegations of taking down numerous allegedly-right-wing news feeds, YouTube, rather than taking down the "school shooter" video immediately, left it up until the evening after the shootings.  So much for filtering systems.

I have a few ideas regarding how to prevent such situations from happening in the future without abrogating our Second Amendment rights.  They are:

1.  Every school district in the country should pay for professionally-done total security assessments of all of their schools.

2.  Every district should implement Israeli-style security at all of their schools.  That means there's one way in to each school.  All of the other easy access points (doors, windows large enough for a person to easily fit through without being noticed, etc.) should be exit only (this also satisfies fire codes).  That one way in involves a student or staff member (They can go nuts too!) going through a metal detector with armed ex-military or ex-police in attendance.  There should be no "Well, I know this guy (or gal).  He (or she) is okay."  There should be no "Hey, I can't go through this right now.  I'm late for class!"  Too bad!  Go through the metal detector!  And while we're at it, let's take a look inside that bag!  Yes, bags and large bulges, any large hats, anything that raises any suspicion, should be checked!  And no excuses, girls!  If a girl has a suspicious bulge, etc., if necessary, a woman should be called in to check the person (and yes, this includes staff)!

3.  I remember that when I was a youngster, I lived next to a family which had a significant amount of violence in their home.  They had, from time to time, several long guns which they kept in their utility room next to an outside door!  Yet, I never heard gunshots ring out.  I never heard anyone threaten to shoot anyone else.  I saw someone being carted out on a stretcher once but that was for a different reason.  My father and I have marveled (and thanked God for it) that we didn't see people carted out of that house more often, including possibly shot and/or dead.  I remember one time when I expressed interest in the guns.  I was told by one of the children in the family in no uncertain terms that we never touched those guns!  The reasons were simple:  not only might someone get hurt (that was unspoken) but the father in the family would kick our asses!  Yes, we had fathers in the home who we were thoroughly convinced (rightly or wrongly) would kick our butts if we merely stepped out of line, much less did something like that!  There has been research done that indicated that adolescent male African elephants will do a massive amount of destruction if brought up in a herd that has no adult males.  These adolescent male elephants hyper-masculinize.  Yet, if there are adult males, the adolescents toe the line, and quickly!  I wonder why!  

In closing, I have to note, as President Trump has, that mental illness may have played a role in this catastrophe.  Relatives have told others that the shooter was autistic and possibly on psychotropic medications to deal with emotional issues (http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/parkland/florida-school-shooting/fl-school-shooting-cruz-20180214-story.html).