Another Shooting

It has happened again.

A school–this time in Texas–was attacked by a killer. Eight students and two adults are dead as a result. More are in hospitals.

The shooter was a student at the school. Indications are that he targeted certain students and intentionally saved others. He gave up after what was variously described as 25-minutes of negotiations and gunfire with police.

He is now in custody.

It is a familiar story.

Also familiar is the response. Public figures declare that something must be done. They offer condolences and prayers. They say they are standing with the victims and their families. They suggest moments of silence.

After these moments of silence, silence really sets in.

Except for the students in Parkland, Florida, victims of an earlier school shooting, few are demanding consequential change.

Suggestions abound. The path of death across the country is littered with them. Tightening access to schools and more mental health services are good ideas. Raising the age of gun access is another. According to reports, the presence of armed resource officers also helps.

One element has been overlooked in all this. Some of the shooters in these incidents were young men who obtained their guns from their parents. That may account for the wide variety of guns used. These guns were generally legally purchased by adults, and then they fell into the wrong hands. Controlling guns at home may be a first step in limiting both accidental and intentional injuries and deaths.

This is not a matter for legislation, but of responsible gun ownership and responsible parenthood.

Yet, the use, proliferation and ease of access of guns in society must be addressed. Certain types of weapons should be restricted.

Just as there are limits to freedom of speech, reasonable limits to certain weapons should not be ignored. The First Amendment did not suffer from the limits, nor would the Second Amendment if done correctly.

It was not so long ago that automatic weapons were legal in the country. The Thompson submachine gun, or Tommy Gun, was designed for the trench warfare of World War One, but was not fully developed until after the war. Aside from gangsters, the company needed to create a market for it. So, the iconic Thompson submachine gun was widely advertised. One target for the advertising was farmers and ranchers for protecting their livestock from predators. In 1934 restrictions were put on fully automatic weapons and owners had to register them. Then, in 1986, they were banned almost altogether and restrictions were severely increased.

Neither of these moves resulted in a Constitutional crisis. Gun control is often looked at as all encompassing. It need not be, just as limits on free speech have not killed vibrant exchanges of ideas.

Gordon Forgey

Publisher