And what are we gonna do about it?
They first heard the fire alarm go off. Strange, they must have thought. We just practiced a fire drill hours earlier that day. Then it was pop, pop, pop, pop… Fireworks? In school? Then another rapid-fire pop, pop, pop. Gunshots, the ROTC students knew. In the school? What’s going on? The fire alarm drew them out, then the home-grown terrorist with a semi-automatic weapon created what turned out to be a horror scene in a Florida high school.
Seventeen dead in Parkland, a small community just north of Miami that has been called one of the safest in the country. And the cause? An expelled student, as reported by the Miami Herald, that “had undergone mental-health treatment and may have been reported to the FBI for allegedly posting an online comment saying he wanted ‘to be a professional school shooter.’”
And in spite of it all, this teenage “professional school shooter’ was allowed to purchase guns. Used in this specific shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was an AR-15 rifle described by police authorities as a “civilian version of a military rifle.”
A rapid-fire, military rifle used by a teenager to kill children in school. And all we get from the politicians who can do something about this is what we always get. Words. “Our prayers are with the families,” they will tell us. “Our condolences to those who grieve at this terrible moment.”
When pressed on the issue and what to do about this plague of catastrophes, politicians like Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Rick Scott and too many others offer answers probably scripted by the NRA: “This is not the time to discuss the issue. Families are grieving…” Of course, they then rush out to have photos taken with the grieving high school students — this is good for the next campaign brochure.
Aurora, Orlando, Las Vegas, Sandy Hook, the Texas church, San Bernardino, and now Parkland. All places where people have been massacred here in the United States. Not by terrorists from Islamic countries, but by perfectly legal (and sick) U.S. citizens who were able to buy an AR-15 — the civilian version of a military rifle.
And still as we slowly kill our young people inside churches and grade schools and concerts, the powers that be and their bought and paid-for politicians stay quiet. Worse yet! They up their advertising at these horrible moments and tell us: “Buy a gun.” “Defend yourself!”
As for terrorism, the word d’jour in this world we live in, what bigger terrorist group than the National Rifle Association right here in the U.S.A. It is an organization that should be held greatly responsible for what is occurring in this country. And every member of congress who allows guns like the AR-15 to be sold like a MacDonald’s hamburger should be added to a list of persons considered state sponsors of terrorism.
There are many others who would fit on these lists and found guilty of terrorism right here on our shores. But that is not what I would like to highlight today. What we should all be asking ourselves is a simple question: When in God’s name will we start addressing the issue of gun violence in this country?
Consider this: There have been 18 school shootings in the United States in the first 45 days of 2018.
Just hours ago President Trump tweeted: “No child, teacher or anyone else should ever feel unsafe in an American school.” I agree Mr. President. And what are you going to do about it?
