High Score Gamer

    In the aftermath of the shootings at Sandy Hook Elementary School on queue the anti-gun talking heads trip all over themselves calling for stricter gun laws and as usual they failed to think the tragedy through clearly.  In their minds they’ve identified the cause of the problem, at least what they wanted the cause to be.   The gun was just the tool of choice, it could have just as well been an ax, a hammer, a baseball bat, an automobile or even a couple of gallons of household cleaner (with a potential for an even more devastating attack).

      As a mechanic I look at catastrophic system failures through a different perspective, the failure is often the end result of a list of cascading occurrences and missed opportunities.  I’m not privy to first hand information so all I can do is ask questions that came to mind from the information I’ve gleaned from the news reports.  Maybe someone will come forward with the answers.

First

    Why was a gun available to a person with a documented mental illness?  It’s been reported that his mother used it as a way to connect with him.  Did she get the opinion of a mental health care professional on the suitability of this form of interaction?

    Would the form of mental illness this young man suffered from make him prone to violence or acting out?  Did he have access to violent movies or video games that would feed these tendencies? 

    Was this young man on pharmaceutical maintenance and was it verified he was taking it as prescribed?

Moving on 

     Was a single locked door the entire security plan for the school, had they even discussed contingency plans?  Do they have severe weather drills, fire drills, have they even considered an intruder drill?  Was Columbine so long ago they don’t remember?

    Did they ever consider an armed security guard or did they find a “Gun Free Zone” sign was the best protection available?  If “GFZ” signs are the answer why have TSA in airports.

    Did they consider the presents of an armed security guard to be offensive or detrimental?  How do they feel about the police officer on patrol in their neighborhood?

Finally

    Is the rampant and speculative news coverage of the attack informing or is just emotional fodder to forward an agenda?  Are the best decisions on a course of action really made on an emotional level?

    With the news originations continually comparing this and that shooting, repeating the same tragedy for hours on end, giving this and that witness’s verbal replay, bringing in experts to analyze every step, does it feel like its being treated like a sporting event?

Just waiting on the next High Score Gamer…

    Report the facts and step back!  Give the families, the community space and time to come to grips with the sadness they face.

 

    Like I said, I don’t have any answers, only questions.  I wonder if the “Officials” who have already come out with their solutions to prevent this tragedy from happening again have the answers to my questions.  Have they even pondered these thoughts?  Is this just another photo op for their cause… The One That “Went Their Way”…

Here are a few stories that don’t fit the Administration “Gun Control Agenda” so they haven’t and won’t get much coverage in the mainstream media.

   What can one armed “GOOD GUY” or in this case “GOOD GIRL” do… Stop another theater shooting! Follow this link to read the story of Sgt. Lisa Castellano, she put down a gunman that entered a theater in San Antonio TX.

http://www.woai.com/news/local/story/Officers-that-stopped-theater-gunman-get-standing/JRZbElUe-EyTQpvL7F8WIQ.cspx

Or the story of Nick Meli a citizen that confronted a gunman bent on murder in an Oregon shopping mall.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=6&f=2777&t=11071749

Maybe the story of Jeanne Assam who stopped Matthew Murrays’ rampage at the New Life Church in Colorado.

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/dec/11/nation/na-shoot11

And closer to the tragedy of Sandy Hook Elementary School, the story of Vice Principal Joel Myrick of Pearl MS.  He stopped Luke Woodham’s murder spree by confronting him with the .45 Colt he kept secure in his vehicle “Just in case”.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2969715/posts

     Each time these rampaging killers were met with equal force the killing stopped.  Could the tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary School have been avoided? I say yes but only if administrators would have taken a realistic look at the world around them (vs. the make believe world they pretend we live in).  See No Evil, Speak No Evil, Hear No Evil, Ignore Evil… Does NOT Make Evil Go Away!  If anything it invites evil to come through the door.  Given the choice between a Gun Free Zone sign, a gun ban that only lets criminals carry guns or having an armed security guard on the grounds…  I think I’d like to have the armed security guard around or at least the potential of a good citizen that’s armed if things go south.

      I admit this is a somewhat cold and deliberate look at the tragedy, I do feel sadness for the little ones that were taken.  I’m also touched by the heroics of the adults that did what they could to protect them.  I even have a bit of sympathy for the family of the assailant.  But most of all, I’m crushed by the thought knowing this WILL happen again if the fairytale solutions being offered up are enacted.  Criminals will always have guns, you can only regulate whether law-abiding citizens can fight back or not.      

The TOMCAT