You would be forgiven if you thought there was an epidemic of mass school shootings in America. There is not. There is, however, an epidemic of coverage of these events, specifically the most recent tragedy in Parkland, Florida. CNN, NBC, and MSNBC in particular seem to have given this horrifying event unwarranted coverage, and unwittingly given the shooter undue notoriety.
America’s schools overall are safer today than they were in the early 1990s, with four times as many children killed in schools then as compared to today, according to a new academic study by researchers at Northeastern University. The study points to the relative rarity of school shootings. View the study here: http://news.northeastern.edu/2018/02/schools-are-still-one-of-the-safest-places-for-children-researcher-says/ .
“There is not an epidemic of school shootings,” said James Alan Fox, Professor of Criminology, Law and Public Policy at Northeastern. Fox noted more children die each year from bicycle accidents and pool drownings. Naturally, no one is talking about banning bikes or pools. The excessive coverage and debate taking place is akin to when an airliner crashes. People then question the safety of air travel and demand new laws be passed.
If an individual landed in America from another planet this month, one could easily conclude it’s dangerous to attend school here from watching the television news coverage on some networks. Of course no one is suggesting we ignore the Parkland massacre. However, for perspective, the study did point out there are nearly 55 million school children in America, and over the past 25 years, about 10 students on average each year were killed by gunfire at school.
The only epidemic we have is an epidemic of incompetence on the part of the FBI, local law enforcement and local social services to routinely miss all the obvious warning signs that lead up to these events. The FBI was notified in early January, month before the shooting, of the threat the Parkland shooter posed to the community, but the information was NOT acted on. The FBI also messed up with the Boston bombers, the Florida night club shooting and the San Bernardino terrorist attack. In Parkland, the police had logged 45 call to the shooter’s home over 7 years related to threats of violence or actual violence. Yet in our world of political correctness, he somehow managed to avoid ever being arrested or even detained for a mental health evaluation. So no criminal record. I won’t even get into the officer who stood outside the school, while the shooter was actively killing defenseless kids. The local social services were also called in during this time to evaluate the shooter’s mindset. He was deemed no threat to himself or others. So 45 calls to the police over 7 years didn’t seem to warrant further action of any kind. So what we have is 17 dead in Parkland NOT because of a gun, which is all the mainstream media is choosing to focus all their attention on, but because of governmental incompetence at the local, state and federal levels.
This latest shooting in Parkland is all too indicative of a pattern of governmental incompetence that culminates in either a shooting, bombing or terrorist attack. No “feel good” gun restriction legislation is going to address the core problem of multiple layers of governmental incompetence. A nut job or terrorist that wants to inflict mass casualties will just find another way to achieve their goal. The terrorist in NYC last Halloween used a truck as his weapon of choice. Are we going to restrict truck ownership next? My point is we already have members of the public doing their duty and reporting individuals that may pose a threat to our communities. So people are already vigilant. However, as in all the cases I specified, some level of government dropped the ball and the results were horrific. We have to expect competency from the government officials tasked with keeping the public safe and hold those accountable when they fail to do so. Otherwise the slogan “See something, say something” is simply a useless PR slogan to mollify the public. So far I hear no one calling for the FBI agent that took the call in January to be fired. Nor do I hear anyone talking about either suspending or firing that agent’s immediate supervisor. Nothing. Just the usual “nothing to see here…move along, move along” and the media and Democrats just repeating their standard gun control rhetoric.
Anyway, that concludes my perspective on the subject. Focus on the real issue that seems to lead to most of these type of events, rather than just reflexively gravitating to the narrative the mainstream media endlessly repeats after each of these events.
I don’t know why NRA is under attack, either. The NRA promotes safe and responsible gun handling. I don’t think NRA members are doing the shooting. People don’t realize, the war of 1812 was won by citizens in The Battle of Baltimore [1814] (…not the Battle of New Orleans, which took place after the war had ended). The Federal troops abandoned DC, and left it to burn, retreating to Baltimore, where homeowners, property owners, and farmers, skirmished with the British, while the Federal troops held up the rear, behind makeshift bulwarks. While Marylanders suffered heavier casualties than the British, the fierce resistance led England’s Parliament to abandon the war, and turn instead to India to lick their wounds from battling Napoleon. Let’s hope that today’s citizens won’t be put in a similar situation. And if the US citizenry is armed (like in Switzerland), thank God there’s an organization like the NRA to train people how to use their weapons properly.
Hi Hank,
The media and the politicians are attacking the NRA, because they do not want to address the real issue. Read my post.