Traumatized teens marching against guns target wrong culprit

Blame and threaten Pres. Trump, NRA rather than gun free zones

Statistics point to the fact that it is guns in the hands of the wrong people — psychotic shooters in gun free zones — who are the actual culprits.

This National Review article,”A Look at the Facts on Gun-Free Zones,” was published over two years ago, prior to the carnage perpetrated by an expelled student charged with  killing at least 17 classmates and wounding more than a dozen others at his former high school in Parkland, Florida. The LA Times provides an overview of the shooter.

The nation’s sympathies are with the survivors of the horrific bloodbath and the families of those who were mowed down by the manic assailant, who mysteriously slipped through the hands of law enforcement, though the FBI was pre-warned about him in January. Students, encouraged by anti-Second Amendment activists, have called on their peers around the country to demand action. The National School Walkout on March 14 and the March for Our Lives on March 24 have been scheduled. With no understanding of the Second Amendment, they are calling for its repeal as they blame the NRA and President Trump for the actions of a former classmate many described as odd and troubled. That would be analogous to banning cars for highway deaths or bread knives for fatal stabbings.

“We’re marching because it’s not just schools. It’s movie theaters, it’s concerts, it’s nightclubs,” student Alex Wind when appearing on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“This kind of stuff can’t just happen. You know, we are marching for our lives, we’re marching for the 17 lives we lost. And we’re marching for our children’s lives and our children’s children and their children.”

“These people who are being funded by the NRA are not going to be allowed to remain in office when midterm elections roll around,” student Emma Gonzalez declared. “They’re going to be voted out of office. Incumbency rates are going to drop.”

Mute when 14 mass shootings occurred during Barack Obama‘s presidency, they obviously have been well coached to blame President Trump. Student David Hogg, called the president “disgusting” for questioning a lack of action by Democrats when they controlled both houses of Congress and the White House.

Ignoring Obama, whose gun-controlled hometown of Chicago rivals a battlefield, Hogg stated, “You are in that exact position right now, and you want to look back on our history and blame the Democrats? That’s disgusting, You’re the President. You’re supposed to bring this nation together, not divide us. How dare you!  Children are dying, and their blood is on your hands because of that. Please take action. Stop going on vacation in Mar-a-Lago. Take action. Work with Congress.”

What they don’t understand is that “gun free zones” are tantamount to issuing an invitation to would-be assassins, alerting them to the fact that there’s no security.

There is no question that our culture has made violence an entertainment staple for decades, from violence in cartoons watched by toddlers to video games favored by preteens and their older siblings, willingly purchased by their obliging parents who slough off the mind numbing effects. Movies and song lyrics contribute to desensitization to violence.

The Second Amendment was placed immediately after the First enshrining freedom of speech for a reason. Our Founders regarded gun ownership as that important.  Not only for hunting, but to provide a means of defense against an over-zealous government.