United States – -(AmmoLand.com)- When discussing how mass shootings are a major vulnerability for our Second Amendment rights, there is one place in particular that Second Amendment supporters should be paying attention to: Schools. These are the worst types of mass shootings for obvious reasons. Not only is there a horrific tragedy, but all too often, the victims are children with a whole life ahead of them.
The mass shooting at Columbine prompted a new push for semi-auto bans. That was bad enough for Second Amendment supporters, but the Sandy Hook mass shooting was, in some ways, a game-changer. Why? In addition to a half-dozen teachers, 20 six-year-old children were killed. This was easily the most horrific event you could imagine outside a major terrorist attack. We will never know whether that horrific act was a crime or act of madness, due to the shooter committing suicide, but that doesn’t negate the horror nor the damage done to our rights.
Let’s face it, even though Second Amendment supporters beat back efforts to reinstate a federal semi-auto ban, in some ways, the cause of freedom still lost. It wasn’t just seeing new semi-auto bans pass in several states, it also came in the form of anti-Second Amendment extremists upping their attacks.
Things went even further after Parkland. Now, any Second Amendment supporter knows how the bumbling cowards of Broward County failed to stop the shooter long before that tragic and horrific mass shooting. Those failures, though, are what Second Amendment supporters must address.
Again, it should be common sense for Second Amendment supporters to work to address school shootings. Again, if we don’t have Second Amendment-compliant solutions, then Bloomberg’s bought-and-paid-for politicians and stooges will propose their extreme anti-Second Amendment agenda – and a bunch of freaked-out soccer moms will back that agenda in order to protect their kids.
What sort of Second Amendment-complaint solutions should be considered? Making the schools harder targets is one of them. Passive security measures, like metal detectors and surveillance cameras, are one option. Another, of course, is better active security – armed security presence, including, but not limited to, willing school personnel.
This generates controversy but shouldn’t. Second Amendment supporters are all too familiar with the harsh reality that when seconds count, the police are only minutes away. Thankfully, the NRA School Shield program is being offered. This program is something Second Amendment supporters should be promoting at their local school boards – if for no other reason than to get the refusal to consider the program on the record.
But that is only part of the solution. The fact is, as was shown with Parkland, the potential shooter gave off a lot of warning signs. Some existing laws could have addressed the situation: Second Amendment supporters may not like the Gun-Free School Zones Act, but it could be a tool to at least address some potentially dangerous students (keep in mind, the Parkland shooter was caught with ammunition and knives on school grounds) – and given the expansion of concealed carry, there is much less chance a law-abiding citizen exercising their Second Amendment rights will be caught up in it. As is the case with other mass shootings, the debate over ERPOs/”red flag” laws also enters into this, along with the use (or lack of use) of civil commitment laws. It’s not ideal, but we need to focus on what is achievable, and deal with the situation as it is, not how we wish it to be.
One voice Second Amendment supporters should back is that of Andrew Pollack. Since the death of his daughter in the Parkland shooting, Pollack has founded Americans for Children’s Lives and School Safety (CLASS). None of this group’s proposals attack our Second Amendment rights, which should allow Second Amendment supporters to back them in good conscience.
Finally, if you have kids in school, this is important: Talk to them. Encourage them to say something if they see something. Make sure they are prepared to defend the Second Amendment. Find out what is going on in their schools. If they have concerns, sound the alarm.
Mass shootings in schools give anti-Second Amendment extremists the chance to make major gains. The smart move is for Second Amendment supporters to work for preventing them with a Second Amendment-compliant agenda. This isn’t being a “Fudd,” an “appeaser,” or “capitulating” to those who oppose our freedoms, it is about heading off attacks on our rights before they happen.
About Harold Hutchison
Writer Harold Hutchison has more than a dozen years of experience covering military affairs, international events, U.S. politics and Second Amendment issues. Harold was consulting senior editor at Soldier of Fortune magazine and is the author of the novel Strike Group Reagan. He has also written for the Daily Caller, National Review, Patriot Post, Strategypage.com, and other national websites.
Do you REALLY want to keep children safe at school? Arm the teachers! The ONLY answer to a bad guy with a gun has always been a good guy with a gun. Our nation is founded upon the BIBLE and our constitution, bill of rights, amendments and declaration of independence reflect that fact. Scripture, the LORD HIMSELF, mandates us to be armed. This is reflected by the 2A. Ever since Cain killed his brother Able, there have been evil people in the world and there has been an arms race. To deny that fact is death. To defend from the… Read more »
So according to Harold, second amendment supporters need to stop school shootings from happening or our rights will be void. We need to do this… we must consider that… we should be aware of this… argh! Harold sets up an Un-winnable scenario, as no one can prevent these atrocities. It isn’t our responsibility, and failing to stop the unstoppable has no impact on whether our rights are infringed. We can and should try to convince school boards and local governments to enact certain protocols. But we do not control the execution or the planning, and our rights are in no… Read more »
Ok Harold, how about we start holding these family members accountable for letting their mentally defective relatives loose in society. The Sandy Hook shooter’s mother and father both knew that he was a nut case of the first order. And that bullshit about “she was trying” doesn’t cut it. What was going through her mind when she took him “target shooting.” It was most definitely a “crime” that was committed by a mental case who was abetted by his family and anyone else who knew his mental state and access to firearms. In Florida the family got the authorities involved… Read more »
Hmm, should we thank the government for “allowing us to defend our own lives” like the minister did last night too, That’s scary as hell he said that and shows what the American people think we get our rights from…MAN! Meaning they can be taken away. And they are! This is absurd, giving up our rights is not the answer to stop evil in any form. This is surrendering to tyranny and ignores the establishment of the Militia. We need to incorporate the 2A Militia requirement which will eliminate gun control laws. Too many 2A “advocates” are unaware of this… Read more »
The outcome of the West Freeway Church of Christ church shooting yesterday near Fort Worth, Texas should be instructive. Criminal church shooter tragically got off a couple of shotgun rounds, but multiple volunteer church security team members were locked on to him in seconds, and he was neutralized in 6 seconds. Instead of one overworked school resource officer (a potential first target for an attacking shooter) guarding a school, multiple armed school guardians coming from different directions offer a much better chance of taking out an attacking shooter quickly and saving lives. Until locals and state governments get serious about… Read more »
More Bravo Sierra from the defeatist, appeasement-minded quisling, Little Harold!! HAROLD IS ACTUALLY SAYING WE SHOULD SUPPORT GUN-FREE ZONES & RED-FLAG LAWS!! THE EXACT THING THAT MAKES MASS SHOOTINGS POSSIBLE & DISARMS LAW-ABIDING CITIZENS!! If you see this, sign the petition so we can put this lying, traitorous, duplicitous @sshat off the platform!! https://chng.it/Sjs8VzLz Also, Harold, we are SERIOUSLY SICK TO DEATH OF YOU SHILLING FOR THE DO-NOTHING NRA. THE NRA WON’T EVEN FIGHT ALL-OUT GUN CONFISCATION IN ITS’ OWN BACKYARD!! If the NRA won’t defend 2A in its own backyard, it won’t defend 2A anywhere. NRA is now a… Read more »
As I recall, the school at Beslan was “secured” by by a couple of armed guards as well. Just as at the Pulse nightclub, they were the first to die. Open the schools to anyone with a carry permit, just as they do in Utah. It has worked there for about 15 years.
I walk past state and federal buildings nearly every day and see how much is done by those in government to protect themselves.
As I drive by nearly any school in my district, I think how “soft” a target it is because we refuse to spend the money to make them “hard targets”.
Colorado congressman passed a bill funding better school safety. I’m not sure what schools will do with that funding, however.
Yes, Harold, the anti-gun types use the grave mounds of murdered children to stand on to delivery their rhetoric. They also look forward to more such platforms to made available. For this purpose,they will do nothing to interfere with murdering. The use of firearms in committing criminal acts is a primary pretense to oppress us, they will not give it up. There is an overwhelming number of people who control our schools who are anti-gun and those who possess arms. They call people resource officers instead of police or guards to show their detains of the armed. There are no… Read more »
In California, schools are always begging for money crying “it’s for the children”. In reality it’s for the salaries, stadiums and grief councilors. It is time to procecute those in charge who are responsible for making schools victim zones.