Terrorists hijack four planes using box cutters and crash them into various targets around the U.S. No one tries to outlaw box cutters or require their registration and licensing, and no one blames the boxcutter. Instead, The Department of Homeland Security is created to watch over our airports and airline travelers. No one is surprised when terror attacks using airplanes are largely eliminated.
A crazy person uses a firearm to attack a school, knowing full well that it is a soft target where children will be unable to defend themselves. There is an immediate demand that law-abiding citizens be stripped of their constitutional rights, and that all firearms be banned. No one bothers to take any action to protect the schools so as to remove their “soft target” status. Everyone is surprised when another attack occurs.
It is unfortunate that criminals have found a target that they can exploit. As a result, much like the impact of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, our lives will be forever changed going forward. Because these people now know that school attacks are possible, they will continue until they are made impossible or extremely difficult. That will not happen by removing a single mechanism for attack; we must instead make all attacks impossible or difficult.
That being said, I have a few suggestions that I am sure will appease no one. Still, they are prudent actions at this time.
1) Protect the schools. Bouncers protect bar patrons against one another; Armed security guards protect banks against robbery; The Department of Homeland Security protects fliers and airlines from hijackers and terrorists. Is it so far-fetched to ask that someone protect the schools? School attacks will continue not due to the availability of firearms, but instead because nothing has changed. Schools will remain soft targets so long as they are without protection.
2) Restrict the purchase of semi-automatic firearms to those 21 year of age or older, as is now the law for handguns. People 18 years of age may be allowed to purchase single-shot, bolt-action, or pump-action long arms of a minimum length suitable for learning to hunt or shoot, but not semi-automatic firearms of any type. People 18 years or older may be allowed to use semi-automatic rifles belonging to others, but only under the direct supervision of the owner (who must be 21 or older), and they must not have access to such arms independently. An exception can be made for members of the military who are properly trained and disciplined in their use.
I make this recommendation with reservation as many people are responsible and mature adults at 18 years of age, but many are not. The fact that they are still in high school at age 18, however, raises serious concerns. In my opinion, school-aged children should not have free access to semi-automatic firearms.
3) Stop reporting the killer’s name in the media. This will eliminate some of the benefits (notoriety) that the killer receives for their action.
These are not perfect solutions, but they are a reasonable set of changes that preserve our 2nd amendment rights in line with existing law and common practice.