mental health issues, "see something, say something," etc. These are valid issues.There isn't anybody who doesn't think this is a terrible tragedy, and totally preventable.

With the Republicans banning public health agencies like the CDC from researching gun violence, there is less study of the mental health or social factors that contribute and may have little to do with gun control.

decades, regardless of who is in charge, I doubt that the change in administration has a lot to do with it.

Democrats have been trying to pass sane gun laws for decades. The KGOP lie, cheat and steal to prevent this from happening with help from the corporate giants and the Russian funded NRA.

It fucking matters who is in charge. Saying it doesn't is just pushing more propaganda.

the Democrats had an overwhelming majority. We had a filibuster-proof majority in the Senate. That would have been the time to pass real gun control. Didn't happen. If being in charge didn't matter on that issue then, this is clearly not a priority.

Even after Sandy Hook when gun control came up for vote, they couldn't get all the Dems to vote for it. Remember Gabby Giffords statement when she walked off Capitol Hill after the vote? "If we can't get them to vote for gun control, then we need to replace them with people that will vote for it." She was talking about Democrats.

Even in the 2016 election, Hillary stayed away from the topic. Early on she made a comment supporting an Australian style gun ban, but never mentioned it again, and also never really mentioned any gun control after that.

Unlike many on DU, our parties congress critters and politicians know that gun control cost votes. It's politically better to kick the can down the road and then blame repubs for not doing anything about gun control.

Just realized what group I am in. Not sure how I got here, but definitely never coming back.

Some folks just aren't in to that.

At least for CDC. The Dickey amendment:

https://www.pri.org/stories/2015-07-02/quietly-congress-extends-ban-cdc-research-gun-violence

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2017/10/04/gun-violence-research-has-been-shut-down-for-20-years/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dickey_Amendment_(1996)

It is very much a Republican amendment. It would be true to say that Democrats have failed at getting it removed, in the name of compromise or choosing their battles.

...says, [...the Dickey Amendment is a provision first inserted as a rider into the 1996 federal government omnibus spending bill which mandated that "none of the funds made available for injury prevention and control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) may be used to advocate or promote gun control."]

Research is okay, advocacy is not.

From Wikipedia article on the Dickey amendment:

"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen."

And of course bitching about people “politicizing” the “event”.

They’re ghouls.

Here the shooter made public threats, which were reported to the FBI but they FAILED to investigate. They even said they couldn't find the guy despite using his real name. Had they done their job, he could have been blocked from legally buying a gun.

The school had already expelled him and banned him from the school as well as asking the school board for a threat assessment, which they FAILED to do. It is slowing coming out that students are not being arrested to keep the school crime rate down. Here he could have been arrested but wasn't. Had he been arrested (and convicted) he would have been blocked from legally buying a gun.

The Broward Sheriff's office had been called out to this kid's house 39 times. They FILED to arrest him even once or Baker act him. Two deputies are presently suspended over it. Had they done their job, he could have been blocked from legally buying a gun.

Everyone who ever met this kid thought he was nuts. His ex girlfriend gave an interview and said he was bring knives to school and selling them and he talked about killing people.

And to top it all off, the School Resource Office who was at the school and charged to protect those kids froze up and failed to do anything. FAILED to do ANYTHING. It has since come out that 3 more deputies from the Broward Sheriff's office also failed to do anything and that the Coral Springs police went in while the Broward Sheriff's deputies waited outside. That is the same Sheriff's office who was called 39 times. The shooting lasted 7 minutes, over 4 of which the cops FAILED to go in. Had they have done their job, the carnage would have been substantially worse.

So what is the other side saying? They are blaming the system that failed and not the gun. They want the system fixed, not new laws restricting the rights of the law abiding.

more than any other issue that they can be reporting on as well. I can imagine a discussion they would have about arming teachers too.

I happen to live in Broward and voted for that Sheriff last time he was up for election.

I can tell you that among the people I know locally, nobody, absolutely nobody is going to vote to re-elect that guy after his role in reducing juvenile crime statistics by school not reporting crimes and after the way his deputies performed. The Coral Springs police department were the first ones in the building while 4 Sheriff's deputies remained outside despite being there first.

CNN Interview

The Sheriff did an interview with CNN, and in it he claimed he has given "amazing leadership" to his agency.

Later on in the interview he was asked "Do you think that if the Broward Sheriff's Office had done things differently, this shooting might not have happened?" to which he replied "Listen, ifs and buts were candy and nuts, O.J. Simpson would still be in the record books."

What sort of answer is that?

I don't think that turning teachers into armed guards is the answer though I do think that they need to repeal the gun free zone legislation that ensures only criminals are armed while at the same time disarming law abiding citizens.