Seeking truth through diverse,openminded expression,explaining america to the world
Sunday, October 14, 2018
The Weirdness of American Mass Shootings
UNTIL RECENTLY I had no idea, but at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school in Parkland, Florida, where a mass shooting took place which killed seventeen people, elaborate preparations had been made in advance, every conceivable precaution had been taken in the event of just such a catastrophe. The Parkland shooting event is one of those which everyone remembers; one of the more sensational, to add to a lengthening list. A few weeks prior to the nightmare, school officials had decided that considering the frequency of mass shootings in America, particularly in schools, it would be advisable to form and implement a comprehensive plan to increase school safety. Fences, gates, and cameras were installed, of course. Eight employees of the school, including teachers, administrators, and custodians, were trained in the use of firearms, and given licenses to carry. It was decided to install eight gun safes at various locations around the large school for storing the handguns, with lock combinations and finger print I.D. technology. Then, a series of drills was conducted, active shooter practice, in which the entire student body of three thousand, and all employees took part. In fact, at least one active shooter practice drill had been conducted not long before the actual shooting incident. About eighty percent of public schools in the United States have made such preparations, conducted active shooter drills, and formed specific procedures for everyone to follow, including where to go and what to do. Then, the unthinkable actually happened at Parkland, and the question was immediately asked, and still remains: did all the advance preparation help or hinder the school during the actual shooting; were lives saved or lost because of all the preparations? Astonishing, that this question even needs to be asked. Equally astonishing, that we still do not know the answer. It may be that the guns should have been kept on the persons of the people certified to use them, instead of in safes. Everyone seems to have opinions about specific procedures. On the day of the Parkland massacre, everyone was expecting an unannounced drill to take place; nobody knew when it would be, and when the real event started, there was large scale confusion as to whether it was a drill or a live shooter, and whether the confusion hampered responses. Since no mass shooting is likely to happen according to expectations, it is questionable whether preparations, no matter what they entail, can possibly help. So many mass shootings have occurred over the past few years, large organizations are forming nationwide of survivors and relatives and friends of victims, and "reunions" are being held in an effort to come to terms with these tragedies. it may be that eventually a sizable percentage of the American population will belong to such an organization. There is also a fairly large, ridiculously large number of "truthers", or crazy people, who perpetuate the notion that the mass shootings are not real, they they are staged by the government in an attempt to justify restrictions on gun ownership. Most of this craziness is the work of the infamous Alex Jones, who uses the media to make trouble and spread lunatic conspiracy theories. For Alex Jones his style has paid off in terms of fame and money, but not in terms of community service. These are dangerous people, some of whom harass and troll friends and family members of mass shooting victims, believe it or not. What all this adds up to is a vague, disconcerting sense that the whole mass murder phenomenon is symptomatic of very deeply rooted societal illnesses in the good ole U.S. of A..
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