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February 2018 • Issue No. 7
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"Why Would Anyone Do Something So Terrible?"
BY TIM SCHMIDT - USCCA FOUNDER
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It's happened again. Tragedy. Heartbreak. Once again, precious human lives have been victimized and cut short by evil circumstances beyond their control.
Preliminary reports indicate that former student Nikolas Cruz, 19, opened fire at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday, killing 17 people and wounding 14 more.
We don't (and probably never will) know all the details of what happened inside those walls, but that doesn't stop us from asking why anyone would do something so terrible.
In fact, in the aftermath of a tragedy such as this, that desire to know why is what sometimes pushes people to thoughtlessly say things that perhaps they wouldn't normally say.
You see, when we don't have all the answers, the easiest thing in the world to do is to point fingers:
"This kid obviously had unfettered access to guns and that's what prompted this whole thing."
"There is no reason that any person should be able to own a gun like that."
And perhaps the most common of all:
"We need to just get rid of all guns so this sort of thing can't happen again."
But there's a big problem with those statements: They all shift the blame to something other than the individual responsible for carrying out such atrocities.
People like you and I already know and acknowledge that these tragic events are intentional acts committed by men and women who don't care at all for precious human life. We hold the perpetrators of these acts accountable, focusing on the things that drove them to such evil instead of the tools they used to carry out their crimes.
Because we have already been enlightened by the truth, I believe that we, responsibly armed Americans, have a duty — especially in the face of events such as these — to respond to inaccurate and cruel statements about guns, concealed carry, the 2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Amendment or anything else about which we're knowledgeable and which can direct this important conversation in a truthful way.
We must never allow our emotions to override logic. We must never be cruel. We must respond, as best we can, with the facts.
And we must not — we cannot! — live our lives in fear.
We must transform our fear — our disgust and anger and sadness — into action. Into preparedness.
We must also demand an answer to another really important question:
When will we be allowed to defend our most precious resources?
Students and teachers — in elementary schools all the way up to colleges — have been taught to "lock down." To hide in closets and behind desks. To wait as seconds turn to minutes (and what must seem like forever) for help to arrive.
Concealed Carry Magazine Executive Editor Kevin Michalowski wrote something about Aaron Feis, the brave football coach at Parkland High School who stepped in front of students when the bullets started flying, that really hit home:
"All he could do was use his body as a shield. Image what he could have done if he was allowed to shoot back at the killer."
Let's get rid of gun-free zones. Let's start arming and training our willing teachers.
It's time we stopped allowing our legislators to decide how much human lives — especially our children's — are worth. The answer is simple. They're worth everything.
Take Care and Stay Safe, 
Tim Schmidt
Publisher - Concealed Carry Report
USCCA Founder
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