Florida High School Shooting and Gun Control

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Gaybutton
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Florida High School Shooting and Gun Control

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I think this merits its own topic now, rather than continuing it on the "Consequences of Trump's Win" topic. Please continue further posting about it on this topic.
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Part of a CNN article says Nikolas Cruz had purchased at least 10 firearms. Firearms are not cheap. I would assume part of the investigation will seek an answer to the question I now have: Where did he get the money to buy them?
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Death penalty an option

On Monday, a law enforcement source briefed on the investigation told CNN that Cruz had obtained at least 10 firearms, all of them rifles. Investigators are trying to track the purchases, which Cruz appears to have made in the past year or so, the source said.

CNN obtained a 2016 report from the Florida Department of Children and Families that said Cruz engaged in self-destructive behavior after a breakup with a girlfriend.

DCF spoke with the teen's now-deceased mother, Lynda Cruz, who told them he suffered from depression, ADHD and autism. After the breakup, she said, he began cutting his arms and posting it to Snapchat. Previously, Cruz had put a Nazi symbol on his backpack, and "had hate signs on a book bag, stating, 'I hate n*****s,'" according to the report.

"(Lynda Cruz) stated (Nikolas) started cutting only after (Nikolas) and the girl broke up. She stated that there has never been any issues with other races or issues with racism in the family or (Nikolas)," the report states. "She stated that she even asked (Nikolas) why would he draw something like that and (he) claimed not knowing what it was."

The DCF report ultimately found that the "final level of risk is low" because Cruz was residing with his mother, receiving in-home mental health services and attending school.

State Attorney Michael J. Satz said Saturday this "certainly is the type of case the death penalty was designed for," but now is the time "to let the families grieve and bury their children and loved ones."

Cruz is being held without bond in Broward County. Appearing in a red jumpsuit with his wrists shackled to his waist, he appeared in court Monday for a hearing on the sealing of certain documents in the case. Cruz didn't speak publicly, answering only his public defender's questions, and looked down for most of the hearing.

Another court had sealed documents pertaining to the defense team's "access to their own client's person," Judge Elizabeth Scherer said, adding that she saw no reason prosecutors would oppose the move. Future such motions will be handled by her court, she said.

Cruz, who is facing charges of premeditated murder, is willing to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty, according to the public defender's office representing him.

As the South Florida community grapples with the aftermath, a 15-year-old teenager was arrested Friday for posting a threat on Instagram to kill people at several Broward County schools.

The Lauderhill teenager appeared to be remorseful and claimed his post was a joke to scare his cousin, according to the Broward Sheriff's office. He now faces one count of sending a written threat to kill, which is a felony.

Since the massacre in Parkland, there have been at least a dozen reports of other incidents involving a threat to a school or a weapon on campus throughout the country. In some of these events, the schools have closed or gone into lockdown.

Full article: https://us.cnn.com/2018/02/19/us/florid ... index.html

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Re: Florida High School Shooting and Gun Control

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Students stage a "Lie-In" in front of the White House to protest gun control (or lack of same) policies. The purpose of the students lying down is to demonstrate the dead bodies of students murdered in their schools.

Of course, counter-demonstrators also showed up. "From my cold dead hands!"



Several more videos of the "Lie-In" are posted on YouTube
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Re: Florida High School Shooting and Gun Control

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George Carlin always had a way of saying it, often saying it best:

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Re: Florida High School Shooting and Gun Control

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Trump's "Listening Session"

Some of what I hear from that session is the solution is more guns. Arm teachers and administrators. That way, when some crazed shooter enters a school, people will be there to shoot him down. And it will stop these school shooters because they'll know this time the school has people to fight back.

WRONG!!!

How many kids will get shot before an armed staff member even realizes what is happening and can respond? What if the shooter is a better shot than the staff member? What if the staff member accidentally shoots a student? What if the staff member, when actually facing this situation, just can't bring himself to shoot someone - even if it is a murdering psycho gunning down students? What if staff members, along with all the responsibilities they already have, just don't want to be forced to learn how to kill?

Far too many things can go wrong.

And what about the college campuses, movie theaters, concerts, and offices? Mass shootings have happened at those kinds of places too. Who do you arm that's going to protect those?

I believe the road to solving the problem begins with banning assault rifle sales so the shooters can't get their hands on those kinds of weapons in the first place. Close the gun show loophole.

Some say the NRA is too powerful a lobby to overcome. I think that's wrong and it can be overcome and there is precedent for it. Not all that long ago one of the most powerful lobbies in the USA was the tobacco lobby. Many thought there was no way that lobby could ever be overcome. Meanwhile it eventually was overcome and the USA now has a great many tobacco restrictions. If the tobacco lobby can be overcome, the NRA can be overcome.



And Vice President Pence - in case nobody told you, your tie is too long . . .
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Re: Florida High School Shooting and Gun Control

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Re: Florida High School Shooting and Gun Control

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The full Town Hall is now available.

fountainhall

Re: Florida High School Shooting and Gun Control

Post by fountainhall »

That Town Hall was very impressive, although the lady from the NRA got off the hook too easily. Well done Marco Rubio! He actually attended and not only was prepared to stand up to often withering criticism, it seems he is now prepared to modify at least some of his previous positions.
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Re: Florida High School Shooting and Gun Control

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fountainhall wrote:Well done Marco Rubio!
I have very little respect for Rubio, but giving credit where credit is due, he did come up with something that made good sense to me with regard to Trump's absurd idea about arming teachers. Rubio is opposed to that idea and among his reasons is something that had not occurred to me. When a SWAT team has to storm a school, they don't know who the shooter is and may not even know where the shooter is. If armed teachers are trying to stop the shooter, it could easily be a source of even greater confusion and result in the wrong person ending up killed by the SWAT team.

One teacher said that when a SWAT team storms her classroom and says, "Does anyone here have a gun?" she doesn't want to have to say, "Yes. I do."

Arming teachers, I believe, is a perfect recipe for even more disaster.
firecat69

Re: Florida High School Shooting and Gun Control

Post by firecat69 »

I agree Rubio showed the right stuff by showing up unlike the disgusting Governor who is Trump's pet.

But Rubio is a great side stepper and I don't believe a thing he says until he votes on it.

His ridiculous assertions that the NRA gives him money because they like his ideas is ridiculous. They give him money and expect his vote the way they want and if not the money will be immediately shut off. He is still the same little weasel that ran for President and I'll wait to see if any of his votes go against the NRA.
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Re: Florida High School Shooting and Gun Control

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firecat69 wrote:I'll wait to see if any of his votes go against the NRA.
I will be shocked if any do.

You're right about him being a side-stepper. He was asked specifically if he will discontinue accepting money from the NRA. He side-stepped that like a true politician and never gave a direct answer to a simple yes or no question. Rubio will take as much money as the NRA will give him and probably will receive the coveted A+ rating from NRA.

These politicians might get an A+ rating from the NRA, but I hope these greedy politicians nationwide get an F- rating from the public when the next election rolls around. The refusal from the Florida state representatives to even address the assault rifle issue is an absolute disgrace and I hope every one of them gets voted out of office. They'll probably be just fine, though. Most of Florida is nothing like Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. Most of Florida is as redneck as it gets.

I truly believe some of these politicians would quickly change their tune if it is ever their children who become the victims of some nut with a gun.

Neither Rubio or the NRA lady came up with a satisfactory response to questions about why assault rifles are even available. Rubio tried to justify it by saying there are many kinds of guns out there that do the same thing. Well Marco, has it occurred to you that just it might be a good idea to ban all of them? And the NRA lady actually tried to justify it by saying that in the late 1700s, when the Second Amendment came into being, guns other than only muskets were available. If that's the best NRA can do to try to justify assault weapons, they better resurrect Charlton Heston. And the question about her definition of a 'well regulated militia' - does she truly believe that the 1700s idea of a well regulated militia still applies the same way in 2018? Maybe she thinks she is the reincarnation of Annie Oakley.

Rubio is no fool, though. He had to have known damned well the kind of reception he would receive at a gathering like that, but he was politically astute enough to realize that he would be far better off politically to show up and try to stand his ground rather than cower away like Trump and Florida's governor did.
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