Yes, my friends, here we are, again, sadly mourning the loss of innocent young lives, while searching for answers about what we can do to prevent this happening again.

Exactly what has changed since the last time we were mourning and asking these questions?

The simple answer is nothing.

What exactly do you think will change in the future before we are mourning again and asking the same questions again?

The simple answer again, is probably nothing.

That is so odd to me and so unacceptable as well.

What, or who, is more important to protect than our own innocent children?

Again, who is more important to protect than our own innocent children?!

And again I ask, WHO IS MORE IMPORTANT TO PROTECT THAN OUR OWN INNOCENT SONS, DAUGHTERS, GRANDSONS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS, NIECES AND NEPHEWS?!!!

Politicians?

We pay quite a bill to offer personal security to our elected officials.

ARE THEY MORE IMPORTANT TO PROTECT THAN OUR OWN INNOCENT SONS, DAUGHTERS, GRANDSONS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS, NIECES AND NEPHEWS?!!!

Governmental Bureaucrats?

We pay quite a bill to provide secure locations for these bureaucrats to perform their duties.

ARE THEY MORE IMPORTANT TO PROTECT THAN OUR OWN INNOCENT SONS, DAUGHTERS, GRANDSONS AND GRANDDAUGHTERS, NIECES AND NEPHEWS?!!!

The government is obviously pretty good at protecting themselves.

The victims of these shootings and their families get a lot of lip service from these politicians, and everyone else, quite frankly, but that’s about all.

Four years ago I wrote blogs addressing this issue. Nothing has changed since then, and I believe my suggestions for solutions still holds true today.

On February 16, 2018, I wrote my blog titled: “What can we REALLY do about these school shootings?” This blog reads as follows:

First of all, let’s acknowledge that there is no easy answer.

Next, let’s understand that there really is nothing we can do to guarantee there won’t be another school shooting.

It’s hard for us to accept that we are kind of helpless here, but to a certain extent we are. That is just reality.

Passing another law will not solve this problem. Unless I’m mistaken, murder is already against the law.  So now what?

All we can do is take positive steps in many areas, that when combined, may swing the odds of more shootings in our favor.

One – We have to get serious about school campus security. ALL SCHOOLS need an outside perimeter fence before you even get near the school that has one main gate or entrance. This gate should have armed security personnel that only admit individuals that should be there.  Metal detectors would also need to be installed.  Money for these improvements could be incorporated into the new infrastructure spending bill.

Two – Background checks when purchasing a weapon or ammunition need to be more extensive and more comprehensive. Social media should be checked and the community where the purchaser lives should be canvassed for input as to whether anyone has objections to this individual owning a weapon.  The Second Amendment gives the people “the right to keep and bear arms.”  It doesn’t say we have to be stupid about it or make it too easy.

Three – Access to mental health resources has to be greatly enhanced. When people are experiencing issues or are aware of others with issues, assistance needs to be available right then, not a month or two, or three, down the road when a psychiatrist’s or a psychologist’s schedule has an opening.  Mental health, in general, has to be just as much of a consideration as physical health.

Four – The President should establish a component agency that would fall under The Department of Homeland Security and deal solely with the issues that affect school security.

If we can do these four things, for starters, we will be on the way to making some real positive changes that could make a difference. Will these things be cheap? No. Will they be worth it?  Yes.  Ask the families of the latest shooting victims.

If we don’t begin to take real, effective, steps towards dealing with this problem we will be doomed to watching and experiencing the reoccurrence of these horrible shootings again and again. It may be your family that is directly affected next time.  I pray that isn’t the case.

Praying for God’s help and God’s comfort for the victims, their families, and all of those involved is good, but they say that, “God helps those who help themselves.”

Let’s help ourselves and praise God for giving us the wisdom to do so.

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Then, on February 26, 2018, I wrote my blog titled: “Again, what we should do if we REALLY want to solve the school shootings problem and make our schools ‘safe zones.’” This blog reads as follows:

We could prevent almost 100% of “school shootings” if each school had protective fencing with one main gate or entrance, on the perimeter of the actual campus or school, which was monitored by security personnel along with metal detectors.

It’s as simple as that.

All we need to do is pass a “safe school” spending bill to get the ball rolling, and within a year or so we will have addressed the immediate issue.

At the same time, we can work on changing how we do background checks when purchasing a weapon or ammunition. Our checks need to be more extensive and more comprehensive.  Social media should be checked and the community where the purchaser lives should be canvassed for input as to whether anyone has objections to this individual owning a weapon.

Access to mental health resources has to be greatly enhanced as well. When people are experiencing issues or are aware of others with issues, assistance needs to be available right then, not a month or two, or three, down the road when a psychiatrist’s or a psychologist’s schedule has an opening.  Mental health, in general, has to be just as much of a consideration as physical health.  In too many cases the insurance companies are dictating the type of help we can get and when.  This has to change.

Then finally, the President should establish a component agency that would fall under The Department of Homeland Security and deal solely with the issues that affect school security.

I see that arming and training our teachers is being advanced by quite a few people. This may seem like a good idea to deter an intruder, but what about when the shooter is a student at the school (which is the case is most situations)?  Do we want that image of teachers gunning down students in school?  Do we want our schools to become “the shootout at the O.K. Corral, or do we want to avoid that situation from occurring in the first place?

Enhancing our background checking system is something that must be done, but also something that can’t be counted on as our last line of defense either. In the case of the Parkland, Florida shooter, there were more red flags raised on this kid than you’d see at a Chinese military parade!  I mean, it doesn’t get any better than this case as far as warning signs, and he still was not stopped.

There are many other ideas that have merit as well, and there’s no reason we can’t attack this problem from a hundred different angles at the same time. But, again…

We could prevent almost 100% of “school shootings” if each school had protective fencing with one main gate or entrance, on the perimeter of the actual campus or school, which was monitored by security personnel along with metal detectors.

It’s as simple as that.

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Like I mentioned in my prior blogs, is solving this problem going to be cheap?

No.

Is solving this problem worth the money?

Yes.

We just sent Ukraine over $40 billion to help solve their problems.

Is Ukraine more important than or children?

Apparently so.

Our government routinely, and annually, sends billions of dollars in aid to other countries.

Are all of these other countries more important than our children?

Again, apparently so.

All of the politicians would say “no,” but their actions say “yes.”

Can we please get back to putting America first?

Can we please put our children first, where they belong?

Can we please stop talking and crying about this problem and start doing something that would offer an effective solution…, like what I have suggested in my blogs for years?!

The time has definitely come to seriously address the issue of saving more of our children’s live in the future.

You know, I noticed that The Congress and The Senate politicians sure threw up a fence fast enough around the Capitol and stationed thousands of troops there when they felt the least bit threatened.

Just sayin’.

I really pray I don’t have to write another blog like this again.

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Let’s make it go viral.

Let’s make a difference for all of our children.

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Thank you, MrEricksonRules.