"I'm going to be a professional school shooter," said the alleged Florida shooter in a comment on a YouTube video.
Whenever a comment like this is left on social media, it should be reported to the police whether it's a joke or not.
More than a dozen school shootings have taken the lives of innocent civilians in the short time since 2018 began. The alleged Florida shooter legally purchased an AR-15 and kept it locked up in a safe, just like the law states. No matter how many gun restrictions are put in place by the government, there is no way to prevent a person with evil plans in mind from getting their hands on one.
Heroin, methamphetamine and cocaine are all illegal, but if someone wants them they will find a way to get it. Prohibition was tested out back in the early 1900s, but the results didn't pan out as expected. It failed because alcohol is too powerful to be banned due to its long history in our country. The same can be said about guns.
It's been proven time and time again that policy change will not prevent tragedies like the one in Florida. The only way to even attempt to control this trend is with the improvement of mental health care. It's absolutely impossible to predict and control the actions of every single person in the country, but there are usually signs that someone needs attention.
One fault that the Parkland community had leading up to the school shooting was not acting upon the numerous warning signs they were given.
First of all, police reported to the alleged shooter's house more than 35 times in response to emergency calls from the community. The alleged shooter and his younger brother were known to be erratic and violent.
The alleged shooter experienced a great amount of loss and grief after losing both of his parents. No person should go through life without a support system like he did. The first mistake was not giving this young adult mental and emotional therapy.
The young man also committed self harm by cutting his arms. The second someone found out about his self destructive behavior, he should have been taken to a hospital.
In addition to all of these signs, the alleged shooter mentioned he wanted to purchase a firearm within the past few months. No attention was given to his desire and he continued to legally buy himself an AR-15.
The teachers at the Parkland high school were told the alleged shooter was not allowed on school grounds with a backpack after being expelled from school. This warning alone should have been enough to get the alleged shoter checked into a mental health facility.
Despite all the warning signs, the mental health therapist on scene declared there was no sign of mental illness. From the YouTube comment to the self harm, there were more than enough signs that this individual was mentally unstable. The lack of guidance after the death of his parents may be what led to his actions, but that does not excuse his community for neglecting him. Someone in his life should have taken action when they noticed something was wrong with him.
Mental health care is the kind of prevention we need in our country to save lives, not more gun laws. Policy change will not stop someone from bringing a gun into a school and opening fire. Guns will be in our society forever, and the only thing we can do is make sure that the person behind the trigger is stable enough to handle it.
