LISTENING TO THE CACAPHONY over school safety, I've noticed that the current debate boils down to Gun Control a la Australia (Democrats) vs School Safety a la Israel (Republicans). One side wants the number of guns in the country severely curtailed--even entirely eliminated. The other side wants to safeguard Americans' natural and constitutional right to bear arms while relying on the 2nd Amendment to effectively defend our children in schools.
And this: Raising the age to own a gun from 18 to 21 still strikes me as empty-headed pandering. Though it may be politically expedient, I believe all rational folks understand that it will solve nothing. (Look at the age of other shooters over the past 10 years. Well over 18 OR 21. Thus, there is no magic age at which the possibility of madness is altogether eliminated.)
Also, and as I mentioned in a post below, setting age limitations on gun ownership is the Constitutional province of the States. (Yes, the Constitution needn't be cavalierly violated to achieve school safety--especially when such a violation is completely unnecessary; thus, I'm relieved to read that President Trump will defer to the States in this regard. Good for him.) I would warn Trump against overreaching his executive authority in gun control matters, but, to reasonably placate those who FEEL age is a key factor when projecting possible gun violence, I would ask him to urge Governors and State AGs at the President's upcoming confab with them to follow Florida's example: to own a semi-auto rifle, one must be 21. But, again, that should be properly left to the States.
Also, to ensure the safety of our schools, which should be our primary, overriding concern, sufficient armed personnel must be deployed full time at each school. A mix of willing and well-trained teachers and armed resource personnel would provide the defensive depth needed to properly deter and effectively react to a shooter. More thorough background checks and timely input of data into the national and State registries, more vigorous, proactive local engagement and mental health intervention and adequately armed and trained personnel at every school is the answer. No brainer.
**School safety is solvable. It's an easy fix, folks. But the Left would have you believe that disarming law-abiding citizens is the ONLY acceptable solution. Poppycock. They clearly appear to care more about advancing their totalitarian political agenda to disarm Americans than in protecting our kids.
