We are not safe anywhere anymore. Whether it's schools...colleges, high schools, middle schools or elementary schools...indoor concerts...outdoor concerts...malls...airports...nightclubs...churches...movie theaters...places of work...and the list goes on. We are not safe anywhere. Because how do you protect yourself from an assault weapon? Install metal detectors? What match are metal detectors to assault weapons? When you can just blast your way into a building...and through doors and windows...with an assault weapon? Or be match for ANY gun...whatever the type of gun?
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1. The N.R.A. calls the AR-15 the most popular rifle in America.
2. Five of the six deadliest mass shootings in the past six years here in the U.S. -the gunman had an AR-15 style semiautomatic rifle.
3. Under federal law, you must be 21 to buy a handgun from a firearms dealer. But 18-year-olds can buy semiautomatic rifles.
4. Florida has a 3-day waiting period for handgun purchases. But anyone without a felony record, domestic abuse conviction, or a handful of other exceptions - can walk into a gun store, wait a few minutes to clear a background check, and walk out with an AR-15 style rifle, magazines and ammunition.
5. Congress explicitly banned AR-15s and other semiautomatic rifles that fit its definition of assault weapons from 1994 to 2004. Since that law expired 14 years ago, in most states, it has been just as easy to buy an AR-15 style gun as it is in Florida. Buyers can also purchase the weapon in person or online from private sellers who are not required to perform a background check...an exemption known as the “gun show loophole.”
The FBI failed to do their job in this particular case. Mental health played a role in every single one of these cases.
We need to fix what is broken. NOW.
The FBI failed to do their job in this particular case. Mental health played a role in every single one of these cases.
We need to fix what is broken. NOW.
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I kissed my kids goodbye this morning and said "have a good day"...and wondered if those were the last words their moms and dads said to their kids as they left for school on Wednesday...which was Valentine's Day and Ash Wednesday.
My hope is that we, as a country, have reached our breaking point...and come together to finally do something...anything...to help control gun violence.
