Same Old Failures After Latest Jacksonville Videogame Murders

Guest article by Charlie Cook-

Another senseless murder scene happened at what was, until that moment, an enjoyable event for many.

CORRECTS YEAR TO 2018 – Law enforcement patrols the St. Johns River by boat just outside the Jacksonville Landing where an active shooter was reported Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018 in Jacksonville, Fla. after a gunman opened fire Sunday during an online video game tournament that was being livestreamed from a Florida mall, killing multiple people and sending many others to hospitals. (AP Photo/Laura Heald)

Last weekend in Jacksonville, Florida, a 24 year old man lost a video game competition.  He thought the proper response was to shoot his competitors. Twelve victims were wounded, and two died. Then the murderer committed suicide.

The news media told us we need more gun control. But do we?  We’ve seen gun control fail thousands of time, so why are they proposing more of the same after this latest outrage?

The murderer was from Maryland.  Maryland is a “may” issue state. That means they won’t issue carry permits to ordinary citizens. (The Maryland State Police call it the Wear/Carry Handgun Permit.) In Maryland, you even have to have a Handgun Qualification License before you can purchase, rent, or receive a handgun. The murderer passed those tests. You also have to take a training course to be able to apply for the permit. It takes 3 months to get the permit.   You have to submit fingerprints and pass a background check. Honest citizens are disarmed by Maryland gun laws. Like most criminals, the murderer never bothered to apply.

Should this murderer have had a handgun in the first place?

The murderer’s parents had a nasty divorce when he was younger and that divorce had a strong emotional impact on him. The murderer went to therapists and counselors for help. During his teen years, he underwent treatment for psychological and emotional issues, according to his parent’s divorce records.  The murderer was also given antipsychotic medicine used to treat schizophrenia. He was placed on two antidepressants which have significant and unpredictable side effects on children. Reports say he would go days without bathing and he was ‘extremely hostile’ towards his mother.

All the gun control measures that were proposed after the murderer in Parkland, Florida did not stop this latest attack.  All the background checks didn’t work. The federal 4473 form didn’t work. The fingerprints didn’t work. The gun free zone didn’t work. The National Instant Background Check system didn’t work.  

Would the EPRO (Extreme Risk Protection Orders), the so called “red flag” laws, have stopped this? That is exactly what they were designed to do, and they failed!  They should have flagged this murderer as a dangerous person, but they didn’t. His parents both worked for the government. Perhaps there were some family dynamic that prevented them from reporting their son as a danger to himself and others.

How about FOPA, the Firearm Owners Protection Act? That didn’t work either. Florida does not have reciprocity with the strict laws to obtain a Maryland Wear/Carry permit. That means the murderer ignored the Florida concealed carry laws as well as the laws of Maryland.

The Jacksonville Landing is a gun free zone.  It was already illegal for anyone to carry a firearm into the gaming area, either with or without a permit. That didn’t stop the murderer.  Not this murderer in Jacksonville nor the murder in Orlando at the Pulse nightclub. Not at the Parkland school. Not at the Fort Lauderdale airport.  In these gun free zones, the murderer was unopposed every time because his victims were disarmed.

Why would the murderer bring a gun to this event in Florida? Could this possibly be premeditated murder?

He broke the law by transporting his gun into Florida. If he had the training that we encourage armed citizens to take, the murderer would know that he shouldn’t break the law by 1)carrying the gun to and within Florida 2) carrying into a gun free zone, and  3) use a firearm in a non-self defense situation.

Honest citizens follow those laws. Murderers don’t. To me, it seems that his history of mental illness and his use of antipsychotic medication should have disqualified him to own a firearm.  CNN reported that the police were called to his home 26 times from 1993 to 2009 for issues from mental illness’ to domestic violence. That is quite a trail of evidence.

I understand that sometimes paperwork slips through the cracks even with all the resources available to the police and government. Another example is the murders in Sutherland Spring, TX, in 2017.  But to fall through the cracks 26 times seems a bit excessive even for Maryland police.

We will continue to hear from the anti-gun folks that people don’t need “weapons of war”.  We’re told that people should undergo background checks and even more extensive background checks.  They’ll tell us that the brain isn’t fully developed until 26 and he was just a child. They say you shouldn’t need a firearm at a videogame competition.

And you shouldn’t…unless someone who has broken other laws starts shooting at you and your life is in danger. Then, you need a defensive tool as a matter of life and death.

They will continue to avoid the real issues of mass murder scenes: people who are using psychotic medications and/or have a history of mental illness. They will continue to glorify the murderer posthumously.  (Note that I didn’t use his name.)

The next mass murderer will think his attack is a way out. But it’s really a cop out.

The game the rights restrictors play is easy to understand. They want laws that make it illegal for honest people to own a gun.. unless you’re police.. or military.. or a politician.. or a criminal. But definitely not for you or me.

8.29.2018
Written by Charlie Cook
Host of Riding Shotgun With Charlie
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