Yesterday, December 13, there was another school shooting in America. This one was in Centennial, Colorado. As always, the actual incident has become fuel for people to push their beliefs in the ongoing gun rights vs. gun control debate.
Usually, I don’t like throwing my opinions into these issues. I prefer to base arguments on rational thought rather than emotion since emotion can cloud judgment. I’m going to deviate from my personal policies this time to address an issue I have with the dialog.
When it comes to school shootings, the shooter always has connections to the schools. Mental health issues are a likely factor, and I have long suspected that the decision to target schools has to due with the schools being somehow connected to their mental health issues.
A lot of gun rights proponents have pointed to the prohibition of firearms on school property as the reasoning behind the targeting of schools. I have read a lot of comments about how being gun-free made the school an easy target.
The reason that I’m bringing this up is because the gun-free zone is completely irrelevant to this particular incident. The shooter named his target. That was his target, not a gun-free zone. Anyone bringing up gun-free zones is clearly exploiting a tragedy to push their personal opinions.
I should be fair to gun rights proponents. Politicizing goes both ways. The shooter had Molotov cocktails. People who suddenly snap don’t take the time to create an incendiary devices. The incident was planned. Accessibility to firearms might have been a factor in how the attack played out, but it had absolutely nothing to do with the decision to attack. With strict gun control laws, the shooter would have likely found a different approach to his attempt to end lives. In other words, strict gun control would not have prevented this attack.
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