What the hell is going on?

[TomK]

Well, I started the thread because I was hoping to understand why young people were now basically making copycat threats about gun violence at our schools. As I said, I was hoping this wasn't going to devolve into a debate about gun control. Many thanks to those who stayed on topic. Some of the earlier comments certainly made me think about it a bit more.

Rob's comment was especially interesting. I think he's right, but youngsters have always thought that way, so what's changed now? Bullying was another thing that caught my attention, but that has always happened. Maybe it's worse now? Two local schools were threatened with gun violence in one day. Why now? What's changed?

[MarkP]

"to want a gun is a sickness"

A highly significant percentage, if not a majority, of the country would disagree. Countless people in the country were raised with guns and this would be a non-starter with them. Telling people that an afternoon out in the back forty with the dog and dad's old double-barreled 12 gauge after pheasant or protecting the garden from wood chucks with a .22 makes them sick in the head is not going to get you what you want. Granted there are people out there who ARE sick in the head but wanting to legally own a gun is not the determining factor.

[Kapoho Joe]

What's changed is the cat is out of the bag. Ever since Columbine, the disaffected have a playbook to follow. Monkey see, monkey do?

[Guest]

Chillax G,

And realize you not gonna take down #2. Work with me here.

I don't want a gun either, but I want my kids protected. The best, quickest way right now is to arm up.
If you see ( + I would add "sense" ) something say something. I'm stoked everyday for seeing officer Mike being there as both a protector and mentor.


JMOz

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

How about required quarterly meetings with a mental health professional

Often, the mental state of someone committing a crime is only determined after the fact, with 20/20 hindsight.

Here's an idea. America is virtually the only country in the world where its own citizens continue to enter schools with weapons of high destructive capacity and kill their own people on a regular basis. Why don't we look to almost any other country, there are nearly 200 of them, and see what they're doing right and copy the blueprint. We don't need studies, we don't need to reinvent the wheel. We just need to follow the example of almost any other nation except our own on this one issue.

It's not just the school shooters who are mentally ill. It's American lawmakers who allow this madness and sickness to continue unabated and thrive. It's time we stop, as a Florida high school student so eloquently stated the other day, the B.S. I'm glad to see Hawaii's legislators are brave enough to do something rather than nothing about what's finally being recognized for what it is, legalized insanity.

Let's hope Hawaii's teenagers and young adults recognize "This Ain't The Mainland" is more than a bumper sticker.

[glinda]

quote:

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Originally posted by TomK

Why now? What's changed?

---

That's simple. Evil has invaded our White House.

[Guest]

NOT PUnaH muuusssssssttt noooott pooost

[randomq]

The problem is, as a culture, we undervalue children. Schools are factories churning out average workers for average jobs that may not even exist anymore. Kids aren't dumb, they realize this. We don't provide personalized education because "that would be too expensive". We don't provide thorough enough counseling or mental health resources in schools, also "too expensive"...

Meanwhile, the real economy gets worse, and parents have no time or energy to parent. We are all being squeezed by the billionaire class, and something has to give. Again, kids aren't dumb: they see their parents struggling and failing, the lack of hope, bullying, the lucky few who find fame and fortune, and they act out.

[Carey]

"Trained people with a gun to protect our children from those that would do them harm in the worst way. Sounds good to me."

ETA: THERE WAS AN ARMED SCHOOL RESOURCE OFFICER (DEPUTY SHERIFF) AT THE SCHOOL, YET VIDEO FOOTAGE SHOWED THAT AN ARMED TRAINED DEPUTY SHERIFF DID NOT GO INSIDE THE SCHOOL DURING THE SHOOTING:
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/browar...story.html

MSD High School in FL HAD a trained, armed deputy as a "School Resource Officer", along with a whole lotta security measure most schools do not have, but the shooter worked around the systems HE KNEW were in place!
I really doubt we could ever even think of having much of the security measures they had in FL in any school here in Puna...

Then there is always the problem of curious young children & holstered guns that armed trained officers have at school...
That created a school shooting (luckily victim-less) in MN.... again, how would you keep this from happening in Puna, esp with Ohana...

"Marjory Stoneman Douglas High has fences, gates and emergency procedures to keep students safe, but a determined gunman found a way around them.

He came when he knew the gates would be open and set off a fire alarm that would dismantle a safety system, officials say. And the school resource officer, who is supposed to help protect students, may not have been on school grounds at the time."

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/browar...story.html

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/...ood-school

[TomK]

KJ - "What's changed is the cat is out of the bag. Ever since Columbine, the disaffected have a playbook to follow. Monkey see, monkey do?"

I suspect you're not far off the mark, but I don't really know. The thing is, the recent Florida School shooting set things off here as well. That's the bit I don't understand. However, if you tie things in with HOTPE's latest post, which I think is extremely relevant, perhaps the cat is out of the bag for good? I hope that's not the case, but changing a culture once it's too late is hard. But now we see it in Hawaii, or at least the intent to shoot as we see on the mainland. That's what really concerns me, and I don't see an obvious way to stop it now.