The Annunciation Catholic School shooting was terrible, but it could have been much worse. While 26 people were injured, most of them children, the fact that only two died is kind of amazing, in a way. You’d think the death toll would have been much worse, but I’m thankful it wasn’t. I just wish it weren’t as high as it is.
But as Minnesota continues to debate gun control, the arguments continue to be bandied about, and I get where some people are coming from on this. They either had children injured or traumatized by the incident, so they want to do something because, as parents, it’s our duty to look out for our children. The problem is that sometimes, people become downright myopic about just what to do after an incident like that.
The author of this piece in the Minnesota Star Tribune, Dan Manchon, is a prime example. His children were in the chapel when the shooting started. He’s upset by that, as he should be.
It’s where he’s taking that upset, though, that I have an issue. Not with everything he thinks should be done, mind you, but enough.
No single policy will end gun violence. But there are many proven measures that, together, can make a real difference.
Research from the Violence Prevention Project at Hamline University underscores this: Mass shootings are often preventable. But prevention requires a layered approach.
That means identifying and supporting people in crisis before violence occurs. Policies like anonymous reporting systems; behavioral threat assessment teams; social media monitoring for credible threats, and Extreme Risk Protection Orders — often called red flag laws — are designed to do exactly that.
The problem here is that ERPOs are touted as a solution, but we’ve also seen multiple instances where people living in states with these laws on the books are still carrying out deadly attacks, or potentially deadly attacks, as in the case of the latest would-be Trump assassin. He’s from California, which has an ERPO law on the books, and literally no one saw jack.
And this isn’t the only example, either.
Meanwhile, every state already has a mechanism for holding someone for 72 hours for psychological evaluation if they appear to be a threat to themselves or others. That can be extended if it turns out they are, in fact, dangerous. This has the added benefit of also taking them off the streets entirely so they can’t use some other weapon to hurt a lot of people.
The problem here is that the myopic view is that gun-specific laws are needed in order to address the problem, rather than recognizing that we already had a tool that could have been used, but wasn’t.
And it doesn’t stop there.
It also means reducing harm when prevention fails. Limiting high-capacity magazines can slow shooters down, creating critical moments for people to escape and for law enforcement to respond. Restricting access to assault-style weapons, which are designed for rapid, high-volume fire, can further reduce the scale of damage and loss of life when these tragedies occur. Strengthening school safety planning, with proper funding and oversight, ensures that institutions are better prepared to protect lives.
These are not abstract ideas, and they are not mutually exclusive. They are practical, actionable steps, and many of them are being debated right now in the Minnesota Legislature.
Now, this whole thing about magazine capacity and so-called assault weapons is a common refrain after a shooting like this, and I absolutely see why. I don’t agree, but I get why people focus on these weapons. The media has treated them like the boogieman for so long that sooner or later, would-be mass killers figure they need a weapon like an AR-15 if they want to kill as many people as possible.
And, if there were no right to keep and bear arms and this were purely about mass shootings, there might be a point to be had. However, this isn’t about what happened in Minneapolis in a vacuum. There’s an entire world that exists outside of this particular debate, and all things need to be considered.
First and foremost, there is a right to keep and bear arms. It exists outside of the Second Amendment, too. The Second Amendment simply preserves that right.
Because that right exists, you cannot just invoke the name of safety and magically take away people’s ability to purchase guns or magazines that some people have misused. Especially since so-called assault weapons accounted for only a tiny percentage of all gun-related homicides each year.
Further, let’s also consider that the worst school shooting in modern American history was at Virginia Tech, where the killer used a couple of handguns. Those are also the preferred firearms of most criminals, too.
But again, this isn’t a situation happening in a vacuum. Both the so-called assault weapons and the handguns aren’t simply tools that get used by mass killers and would-be mass killers. They’re also used by millions of Americans for lawful purposes, including self-defense.
Our Founding Fathers preserved our right to keep and bear arms for not just that purpose, but also to defend this nation from all enemies, foreign and domestic. Yes, that includes our own government, if need be, and firearms like the AR-15 are essential for that purpose. That cannot be dismissed because of the misuse of such firearms in such a small percentage of homicides, which simply get more headlines than other violent crimes committed with less terrifying weapons.
This idea that any incident or even a series of incidents should override everything else requires us to ignore the rest of the world. I simply can’t do that, even if I were willing to look beyond our natural rights. I get the fear. I get the desire to do something to make sure it never happens again. I simply can’t agree with myopathy as a way to formulate policy, especially when talking about one of those natural rights.
Editor’s Note: The radical Left will stop at nothing to enact their radical gun control agenda and strip us of our Second Amendment rights.
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