Discussions, vigils thrive in Broward County

OPINION:

Broward County, Florida, is a nice progressive place with a Democratic School Board and a Democratic sheriff. The county was living the South Florida dream until Valentine’s Day, when a homicidal maniac broke into one of its high schools and slaughtered 17 of its students and faculty, one of whom was an unarmed security guard and assistant football coach.

No one in the school except the shooter was armed. One of the sheriff’s hapless retired deputies who was supposed to be the school’s armed resource officer cowered outside. When other Broward County law enforcement officials arrived, they appeared to be conducting a panel discussion as the shooter left the building intermingled with the fleeing students.

In the aftermath, the county’s parents and other concerned citizens held a number of panel discussions — Broward apparently loves panel discussions — and vigils. They then decided to storm the state capital with students in tow and demand that something be done.

Alarmed by the outcry, the state’s politicians did what politicians do when faced with citizen outcries; They passed a compromise piece of legislation that pleased no one. The National Rifle Association is angry because the new law had some provisions that limited access to guns by some individuals, and liberals are incensed that it did not prohibit the sale of assault rifles.

With the possible exception of a prohibition on people under 21 from buying assault weapons without parental permission, only one of the provisions of the bill would possibly have mitigated the massacre. Otherwise, the bill prevents the mentally defective from buying guns.

Apparently, just about everyone who knew Nikolas Cruz — the shooter — believed he was a certifiable and possibly dangerous loon; but no one, including the FBI, did anything about it. If there had been a “do not sell” list Mr. Cruz would not have been on it. The law provides for more mental counseling for troubled individuals.

Mr. Cruz had been in counseling and it didn’t work. The law also provides from more school resources officers; these will presumably come from the crack Broward County Sheriff’s Office which should be a truly frightening thought to anyone who has seen the sheriff perform on TV.

Only one provision of the law might have actually mitigated the second St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. That is a measure that would allow selected school personnel to be armed, trained and certified to carry concealed weapons as “guardians” to intervene quickly in the precious first few minutes of an attempted shooting.

The fly in the ointment of this provision is that each county’s school board must approve the measure and the sheriff’s department must do the training. Not surprisingly, the Broward School Board, Teachers’ Union and the sheriff — no doubt after more panel discussions — vowed not to implement the measure.

The result of all this is that the students of Broward County will remain just as vulnerable to another slaughter as they were on Valentine’s Day. However, everyone in the county will feel good about themselves. The parents and students made their outrage heard, there will be more jobs for retired sheriff’s deputies, and everyone will feel safer — until the shooting starts.

The only good news in all of this is that some school districts may have the common sense to ignore the precedent of the slow learners of Broward County and implement the School Guardian program competently and quickly. President Trump has advocated arming teachers since 2015 and in his recent school safety initiative.

If he is smart, he will keep a state-by-state map of school districts that have armed teachers to some degree and those that have not, with a red dot in districts that have had successful shootings. I would be willing to bet that such a map would be a powerful argument with which to go to Congress with the argument that school guardian programs be made mandatory for every district getting federal school aid. Progressives such as those in Broward County love federal dollars, and even they might relent.

In a recent Washington Post op-ed, David Ropeik of Harvard argues that the threat of school shootings is overrated and on the decline. The reality is that since 2013, there have been 300 school shootings, or an average of one a week. There is a sub-culture of mentally disturbed students and former students who worship at the altar of shooters at places like Columbine and Sandy Hook and want to emulate them. The slow learners of Broward County are once again keeping their kids at risk.

• Gary Anderson is a retired Marine Corps colonel who has written extensively on school shootings.