Mass Shootings: What Can Be Done (Part 7 of 7)

For the final part of this series, we will look at options that have been tossed about for stopping mass shooting incidents:

NO:  Arming all teachers (I am never for arming people who don't like firearms and aren't committed to practicing and training regularly).

YES:  Get rid of "Gun Free" zones and allow concealed carry by any who chose to do so.

NO:  Relying on only those people who choose to carry concealed at schools to protect kids.

YES:  Having armed guards, metal detectors, etc. at all schools in the country (sad but unfortunately necessary).

NO:  Banning all guns (a stupid idea which would only lead to a thriving Black Market).

YES:  Requiring additional "gun coverage" insurance for gun owners and making them legally responsible for their firearms (unless the firearm is stolen from a locked gun cabinet in which case a police report would be filed and the firearm owner would be relieved of responsibility for the firearm).

NO:  Banning "assault rifles" (criminals don't generally pay attention to laws so this would only impact people who follow the law and who behave responsibly anyway and who don't go off and randomly shoot people).

YES:  Requiring a mental health background check of some sort (don't know how effective this would be as a person with a mental illness history could just doctor shop until they find someone to give them a clean bill of health).

YES:  Requiring the mentally ill be to on their meds (this isn't required currently for mentally ill adults because of their "rights" but since they aren't in their right mind anyway, how could they make such a decision for themselves?).

YES:  Offering much better mental health care than what is available now.  The state of mental health care is the US these days is abysmal and there is no way to contain the mentally ill since beds are in such short supply at mental health institutions.

YES:  Better parenting.  But I don't see that  happening.  Ever notice that everywhere you go in public parents have their faces connected to their smartphones and leave their kids to their own devices?  I'm rather glad that when I was a kid parents actually had to pay attention to their kids and were socially censored for their kid's crappy behaviour.

YES:  A social movement away from violence in the media.  That would be nice; I'm unsure of how effective this would be however.

MAYBE:  Ignoring mass shooting events.  In our media obsessed culture this would never happen but it's pretty clear that the attention given to mass shootings seems to inspire copycats who are seeking a similar kind of infamy.  Remember the worst school massacre in the US?  Probably not because it got very little coverage and was subsequently never repeated.