In February of 2018, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland Florida was attacked by a mentally disturbed former student. The end result was 17 dead and 17 wounded. Unusually, Law Enforcement was on scene, even while the shooting occurred, but for reasons yet unknown, they did not enter the school to confront the killer.
The killer was eventually captured by other officers after escaping from the school and the grounds, which is also unusual. Not that the killer was caught, but that he didn’t commit suicide which is common among these kinds of killing events, as in the example of the killer at the Borderline Bar in California a few weeks ago.
The students and parents of Parkland became cause celeb of the gun control movement. There were town halls where pro-2A advocates were called murderers and other horrid names. Investigations were promised, and action would be taken, cried the gun control proponents. Well the investigation is completed, and surprise surprise, guess what the recommendation of the investigating body (composed of school board members, law enforcement, and Parkland parents) was? If you said gun control, you would be wrong. From The Blaze and the Sun Sentinel -
Among the recommendations, the panel suggested that some teachers should be allowed to carry guns as long as they went through safety training and thorough background checks.
"In the ideal world, we shouldn't need anyone on campus with a gun, but that's not the world we live in today," said Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd, a member of the commission.
"One's not enough. Two's not enough," he added. "We need multiple people in order to protect the children."
The commission voted 13 to 1 for the recommendation, the lone dissenting vote coming from Max Schachter, whose son was killed in the massacre.
Guns. Guns in the hands of responsible Citizen Defenders. That was their solution.
There will be many in the pro-2A movement that will gloat over this information. That after all of the rancor, insults, and insinuations, they were right, all along. As a strong advocate of the Second Amendment of the Constitution, let me say something to my side clearly: “Don’t do it.”
Through their own process, as long, hard, and frustrating as it was to all of us who take the mantle of Citizen Defender seriously, the parents, law enforcement, and school administration of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida came to the right conclusion. And rather than receive our cynicism or our “I told you so,” we should be welcoming them into the fold of the Citizen Defender ranks. We should offer them every opportunity to learn about using firearms for defense, and how we, as experienced Citizen Defenders, can help train and prepare them for any threat that may ever rise again against the children of our communities.
To all teachers, parents, administrators, and local law enforcement: DMT is your partner in preparing Citizen Defenders of all stripes to be the first and last line of defense against the actions of twisted or evil minds. You will find no condemnation of your past with us. Nor a condemnation of your political beliefs. We stand for one thing and one thing only, that every man or woman that is a citizen of these great United States, has the God given right to defend themselves, their loved ones, and their homes. DMT is there to give you the skills to do it safely, effectively, and legally.
DMTer’s, spread the word to those that wish to join the ranks of the Citizen Defender. That DMT is ready to help, any way we can.