The Patriot Post® · Florida Shooting — Reflecting the Worst in Our Culture
Almost as soon as news hit the airways yesterday of the mass murder of 17 students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, at the hands of a 19-year-old former student, the nation braced for the politicization of yet another atrocity. And as night follows day, anti-Second Amendment politicians took aim and launched their salvos. House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) released a press statement that read in part, “Today, another American community is reeling from the horror of gun violence, perpetrated against innocent children. … Too many families have lost someone to the senseless epidemic of gun violence. Congress has a moral responsibility to take common sense action to prevent the daily tragedy of gun violence in communities across America. Enough is enough.” Recall it was just two weeks ago when Pelosi and her fellow Democrats refused to stand for the parents of two girls murdered by MS-13 illegal aliens.
Pelosi’s hypocrisy is nothing new, but it is a reflection of the worst in our culture. As we and many other defenders of Americans’ Second Amendment rights have pointed out time and time again, firearms are merely tools — the intent of the individual wielding the tool is where the problem lies. To attack the Second Amendment is to attack Americans’ Liberty itself. But political opportunists like Pelosi ignore the real cause of the problem and attack freedom.
The reality of the world is that people hurt others. And no matter the number of laws passed, nothing will change this fact. Taking away people’s rights to protect themselves doesn’t stop the evil; in fact, it only allows for the evil to grow. Too many people in Western culture have bought into the lie that people are essentially motivated by good, selfless impulses, when in truth the opposite is the case. How else does one explain evil?
With this latest atrocity, individuals who knew the killer were quick to acknowledge that they were not shocked that he would perpetrate this mass murder. It goes beyond his being described by several people as “weird.” In fact, a YouTube producer reportedly notified the FBI months ago regarding a comment he made claiming, “I’m going to be a professional school shooter.”
President Donald Trump also noted this, tweeting, “So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed, even expelled from school for bad and erratic behavior. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!” He’s absolutely right. When you see something, say something. And those warnings must be heeded.
The questions will be raised about what should have or could have been done to prevent this violent young man from engaging in this mass murder. What we do know is that Americans’ Second Amendment rights did not create this monster, and fixating on limiting gun rights as a “solution” to the problem only serves to punish the innocent for crimes of the guilty. This is a moral problem of the heart that politics is powerless to solve. Yet politicians like Pelosi chastise conservatives for defending Americans’ Second Amendment rights, while ignoring the blatant hypocrisy of demanding citizenship rights for illegal aliens who by definition are law-breakers.