This endless issue of violence

"The Florida AG has already said she wants to seek the death penalty. Big deal. That will not bring back 17 souls, many of which were students."

This past year we needed to get a glitch fixed in my wife's Tricare insurance. While we were jumping through the wickets to get this thing fixed, my wife was asked for her Social Security card. She had lost it many years ago, and now it really does not matter as she is retired and drawing Social Security. But to the Navy, it did matter. She needed to go down to the Social Security office and apply for a replacement card.

I had been down there before helping a friend, so I knew the drill. The security to get in the office, was similar to the TSA in getting on a flight. Everything was checked. You had to go through a metal detector. Three armed security guards were present. At a Social Security office. I wondered what they were afraid of. No money is kept there. Just government bureaucrats trying to help some folks out.

As we all know by now, yesterday we had yet another one of these horrific school shootings. At some troubled school in a sketchy neighborhood? Nope. Marco Rubio was on the news this morning and said the area this high school is located in is one of the safest in Florida. In fact, many move there for just that reason. So how do we prevent something like this from happening again? No offense gun grabbers - it is not more gun control.

• Metal Detectors in the school - It pains me to say this, as I really, really detest these things. But this kid yesterday walked into the school, wearing a gas mask, and carrying some kind of AR rifle. Really?
• Community Service Officers in schools - My wife's school had one for a while. An armed sheriff's deputy on station. At an elementary school. After a while, the program at her school went away. Why? Costs. Having a cop on station yesterday would have undoubtedly saved lives.
• Having armed staff - Yes, having some on the staff who are licensed and trained. It does not have to be advertised which staff carry weapons. It all goes back to that saying, "The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun." Yesterday, these high school kids were like ducks in a shooting gallery. 
• See something, say something - This kid was known to many to be a loose canon. He had been expelled from that school. He posted threats against others on social media. Some kids thought the shooter was so unhinged, before yesterday they joked about him becoming a mass murderer. The kid had recently dropped out of therapy. His adoptive parents had recently died. One shrink who was on the news today, said this kid was a "perfect storm" to commit violence. And he did.
• Pull your kids out of school - Seriously. Some people are considering it. Putting their kids in a private school, or even home schooling them. Why? Most parents feel their number one duty to their kids is to keep them safe. Our schools today, are not safe. If this could happen at this school, it can happen anywhere.

This is for the gun grabbers. Or we can disarm the legal, law abiding, trained citizenry. Which by the way, would only punish the innocent. Want to do a back ground check on me? Been there - done it. Twice. Once in MN and once in FL. Plus, after having a very high level clearance for over two decades, I have been stripped naked. My life, my past, is an open book.

The Florida AG has already said she wants to seek the death penalty. Big deal. That will not bring back 17 souls, many of which were students. We need common sense solutions, and we need them now. I am scared to death to have my grandson start elementary school in a few years. Too young? Remember Sandy Hook? I shouldn't be afraid. Shouldn't have to be. But I am.

If we can't fix what is wrong in our society, where people don't feel safe in a church, a school, a shopping area, a sports venue, or wherever - get ready. Our country will start looking like a very large version of Tombstone, AZ in the 1800's. And that is not the direction this country needs to go in.