An almost unthinkable tragedy unfolded on the campus of Michigan State University last night. Shots rang out on campus as a 43-year old man (Bearing Arms is not naming the alleged perpetrator), believed to have no affiliation with the university, walked onto campus and as of the publishing of this article, killed 3 students and wounded 5. We make no apology for our prayers for these victims and their families. For them, a nightmare has just begun. As they awaken from that nightmare, they will want to know what happened and why.
The investigation is underway, the killer left a note near his lifeless body, a victim of his own cowardice, he took his life moments after the massacre.
UPDATE: There have been reports of a note found on the suspect at the time of locating him. We can confirm that there was in fact a note and it is currently being investigated by law enforcement. pic.twitter.com/S0f4oUV1pi
— MSU Police and Public Safety (@msupolice) February 14, 2023
As if an off-camera director of this nightmare yelled “action!”, gun control activists and Democrat politicians have already come out for calls to stop these campus attacks. Last night, before much was known about the attack, the assailant or the victims, perennial grifter Shannon Watts was already doing a fundraising dance on the memories of the victims. Her tweet tirade included this call for more gun control and an appeal to text her organization to join with them and joining them means acquiescing to their never-ending fundraising pleas.
Democratic Congresswoman Elissa Slotkin was justifiably angry. In a press conference with members of law enforcement and Michigan Governor Whitmer she said, “I am filled with rage.” She continued, “you either care about protecting kids, or you don’t…Please don’t tell me you care about the safety of children if you are not willing to have a conversation about keeping them safe in a place that should be a sanctuary.”
Rep. Slotkin: “You either care about protecting kids, or you don’t… Please don’t tell me you care about the safety of children if you are not willing to have a conversation about keeping them safe in a place that should be a sanctuary.” pic.twitter.com/132zwpSzf1
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) February 14, 2023
Unfortunately, it’s Democrats who refuse to engage in conversation, preferring it would seem to pass unconstitutional gun control measures, in defiance of recent rulings by the U.S. Supreme Court, and despite mounting evidence that the gun control measures they back, would have little to no impact on these attacks or in reducing overall gun violence. Why won’t they have an impact? Because they target law-abiding Americans, not the criminals responsible for most gun crimes.
Representative Slotkin’s words belie her intentions. She refers to the campus of Michigan State and other schools as sanctuaries and they rightly should be. They should be places where students can learn and teachers can pass on their knowledge and wisdom to a younger generation. But we don’t live in that world, and I challenge Representative to name one gun control law that would fundamentally change the world we occupy. Name two. Name three. She can’t, so she won’t. In fact, that’s the point. Representative Slotkin is not interested in a conversation about solutions because she’s motivated only by a desire to say she “did something” so she can return to power after the next election.
But this begs the question. How should we protect our sanctuaries? Well, for starters we wouldn’t hang “Gun Free Zone” sign on the outside and call it a day, hoping the “bad guys” will obey a piece of plastic. We wouldn’t leave it to chance that a few armed security personnel could intervene before harm is done. No, if we truly believed they are sanctuaries we would protect them with real security and take measures to deter and prevent their violation. If we became aware of someone with intentions to attack a sanctuary, we’d engage with authorities to prevent it. Right? Given the opportunity to stop an imminent threat, we’d be prepared to stop an attack ourselves.
But more often than not, this doesn’t happen. And it appears that the Michigan State attack is another in a long line of preventable tragedies. This attacker showed the warning signs that so many of these cowards do. But why was nothing done?
The Detroit News is reporting this attacker had a long history of criminal activity and should have been prohibited from acquiring a firearm. But it appears weak on crime prosecutors allowed him to plead down the charges. “[The shooter] was sentenced in November 2019 to 12 months probation. In October 2020, six additional months were added to his probation, according to court records. The addition was meant to allow him to complete the terms of the probation order, the records said. His probation period concluded in May 2021. [The shooter] was barred from having a weapon “of any type” during the term of his probation, according to a Nov. 26, 2019 court order.” Would yesterday have unfolded differently had he been convicted of the original charges? The likely answer is yes because he would have been a convicted felon and barred from purchasing a firearm. We’ll have to wait for more details from the investigation to confirm the origin of the firearm in question.
He also like to shoot at targets in his back yard despite living in the city and being reported to police on multiple occasions. From the Detroit Times,
Paul Rodney Tucker, who lives around the corner from [the attacker], said he’d run into [him] more than once at the party store and described him as “wild” and a “hell-raiser.”
“I knew he lived at that house because there was constant trouble there,” he said.
Tucker also heard gunshot target practice from the home last summer and believed police had been called there before.
“I told my dad it was a semi-automatic pistol,” Tucker said of gunshots heard last summer. “Bam, bam, bam, bam, bam. It wasn’t firecrackers.”
Megan and Tyler Bender, who live on the same street as [the shooter], said he moved in with his father about a year ago. They said [the attacker’s] father, is a scrapper well-known in the neighborhood.
“He’s never done any harm to anyone,” Megan Bender said. “He’s just an old man, minds his business.”
But police had been called to the residence before because of the sound of gunshots, Bender said.
Bender said [the shooter] would fire out of the back door of the home, she believed for target practice.
Until gun-control activists and Democrat politicians are willing to get tough on violent criminals that use firearms I’ll be waiting, along with millions of law-abiding Americans, for that conversation that Representative Slotkin promises. And I’ll be praying this nightmare will stop.