The proposed solutions don’t work

Melissa McEwan of Shakesville has a few things to say about the shooting at the high school in Parkland, Florida.

First, McEwan goes through the various reasons lawmakers use to say guns aren’t the problem.

* The shooter did have access to mental healthcare.

* He was flagged to authorities repeatedly. People did say something.

* There was an armed police officer on campus, who froze.

So. The proposed solutions are not actually effective in preventing mass shootings.

And, yes, there were failures. Perhaps if everything had gone the way it should have, this wouldn't have happened. Or maybe it would have happened eventually, no matter how many interventions were made — because the one thing that authorities are rarely empowered to do in a country where gun ownership is legal is take away guns.

The only thing that will ever be truly effective is reduced access to weapons designed with no purpose but to kill.

And that is the one thing the governing party refuses to even consider.

Second, McEwan looks at it from what officials are allowed to do.

Police can’t take away guns without a good reason, which is hard to do because of so many people asserting Second Amendment rights.

Family Services (mental health people) can’t swoop in and toss “crazy people” into “asylums.” They must have a good reason and the shooter may not have exhibited any reasons (“not all mass shooters are mentally ill”).

But let us also take seriously the reality that, even in the best of circumstances, law enforcement and social services — and family and friends and schools and community — might do everything they are able to do and still it won't be enough to prevent a mass shooting.

And that the only thing that would be enough is significantly reducing, if not eradicating, access to guns.

We as a nation have been praising the teens from the Parkland school (at least the people who aren’t smearing them). But Diane Alston, in a Twitter thread, reminds us of some important points:

* They’re kids. They’re dealing with trauma. They’re bound to make mistakes. When they slip up don’t swoop in and drag them to hell.

* They shouldn't have to be in this fight. The only reason why they are is because we failed them. We didn’t solve the problem.



In response to the Parkland shooting and the wonderful activism of these kids several companies have cut ties with the NRA. Mostly these ties have been that NRA members get some kind of discount. Several car companies, including Hertz, have dropped such discounts.

Andrew Kaczynski on Twitter noted this campaign to make the NRA toxic to corporations. But there will be a backlash from the millions who see the NRA as their voice.

One of those companies cutting ties is Delta Airlines, based in Atlanta. Georgia Republicans are threatening to withhold a hefty tax break for the airline because of those cut ties. Democrats several other states have invited Delta to move their headquarters to their welcoming state.



Damon Linker, writing for The Week, thinks this time the response to a shooting may make a difference. He ponders what is a primary purpose of government? To protect the citizens. Considering its success, how does the government we have now differ from no government at all?