So there was another school shooting yesterday. What do we do now?
Let's go to Facebook and see who's fault it was. (Real Facebook Posts in last 12 hours.)
Steve says: Trump
Jane says: Society (Liberals)
Svetlana says: The Gun
Doris says: Society (America)
Steve (again) says: Society (The Right and the NRA)
Not one person has mentioned Nikolas Cruz being at fault. Everyone says __________ is responsible, along with the shooter. Because the shooter's name doesn't matter, people use the shooter to advance whatever ideas they already had. These are just average Americans and they have Freedom of Speech in this country. Chances are you agree with one of the above sentiments, the cross-section of responses above is all across the spectrum. Let's ask some news organizations whose fault it is:
CNN says: The Guns
USA Today says: The Training?
Breibart News Network says: The FBI
Oh wait, this just popped up on my feed.
Sean Whalen says: Political Correctness
Sean Whalen is quite a speaker. Alright, that's enough of that. What am I getting at? Everyone has free speech and everyone is right or wrong to varying degrees. But what is the solution to the problem of school shootings? We talked about this in The Week in Guns and finished the article with the question: What do you do?
After the Vegas shooting, there was some momentum to ban a gun attachment called the Bump Stock. That way Congress could say they did something and the gun lobby could say "no guns were banned." But the Bump Stock ban, even the threat of it, did zero. Every single school district in America probably has, at least, one trouble-making student who has thought about "shooting up the school." What's next?
This is what my recommendation would be if I was in charge.
I would declare school shootings a national crisis in America and I would summon the heads of the Departments of Education and Homeland Security to my office and I would tell them to come up with a preliminary solution. Consider all sides, the right, the left, and everyone in between. Then I would ask the heads of the NRA, the NEA, and the NAPO to review the report and add, or subtract sections based on logistical concerns or violations of federal law.
There has to be a plan that can be hashed out that has a legitimate chance of implementation without turning a public school into a locked down fortress. I would think that the 5 people listed above would come up with a plan similar to putting an armed policeman in every school while re-imbursing local municipalities for the cost of extra police units in local school districts.
How much does that cost? Well, we can do some easy math. There's around 100,000 public schools in America. The average cop makes around $60,000 a year. 100,000 times 60,000 equals 6 Billion. A Year.
That sounds like a lot, until you realize that the military budget 637 Billion.
Easy solution. Cut military budget by 6 billion, invest 6 billion to secure America's schools.
If you control the access points, which schools already do, and have a full time officer at the access points, you should be able to contain situations. And you don't put new cops in schools. Cops have to have, say, a minimum of 10 years experience before moving from street cop to school cop. You have armed cops in malls, government buildings, and stadiums, putting them in schools is not a radical idea. In my solution, you are simply shifting security spending priorities.
Fred Hunt, you're a scumbag. Just. Ban. Guns!
Okay fine, ban guns. I won't even argue.
Here's the super-secret way how you do it.
Since you want guns banned, and everyone YOU know wants guns banned. Here ya go. Get to work.
Fred Hunt, you're restricting my kids' rights. More Guns!
There's a lot of people who think this way, not just John Lott Jr.
Fred Hunt, your idea is horrible. Cops are bad.
I've heard this argument: Who polices the police?
Listen. This is only a 750 word or so blog entry. What do you want from me? What I'm saying is that there are solutions. Spend more money on mental health options? I'll listen to that. I'm open to real solutions. Set up a Manhattan Project on School Shootings and do whatever they recommend....
What would have stopped the Parkland Shooter?
Editors Note: Names changed so we wouldn't get unfriended.