Ban The Backpack!

Of course, what happened at the high school in Parkland, Florida was horrific.

It was a systemic failure in culture (fatherless boys, violent movies and video games), common sense (an 18-year-old can waltz in and buy a powerful weapon), Federal law enforcement  ("So, you want to make us aware of this kid. Let me get a pen. Wait a second, this one doesn't work. Bob, you got a pen that works?") and  local law enforcement ("I'm not going in there...You go in there...").

The aftermath has been one gigantic cluster mess.

A few of the surviving students have hooked up with The Democratic Party and decided to blame Marco Rubio (mainly because there is an R after his name) and The National Rifle Association (NRA)  They have been successful in vilifying The NRA that around 15 companies have cut ties or distanced themselves from the group.  One company, Delta Airlines, dropped the NRA discount for their members. A grand total of 13 people used the discount last year.

So, the answer to gun violence is taking away airline discounts.  Great job, kids!

There is an answer and it is not blowing in the wind.

Make the schools harder to get into.

The students should be only able to enter the school from one direction and go through a metal detector, much like an airport. Every day.

The students will be issued a key card, like what their parents have to get into their office. If a kid "loses" their card, they will be detained by security and they will have to call their parents. They will not be able to enter the school and will not be given an excused absence until they obtain their replacement card.

Backpacks will be banned and the students will be issued a locker to store their books.  If you have raised a high schooler within the past twenty years, you know they have used backpacks to carry every single stupid book around. Trust me, these things weigh a ton and half the time the boy students never look in the backpack once the book is placed in there.

There will be armed personnel on campus. It doesn't have to be teachers. However, if a teacher can use a gun and is  NOT A TOTAL NUT JOB, then he can be part of the force.  However, there are some logistical things that would have to be worked out. I don't think it is a good idea for Coach Joe Bagofdonuts to be packing heat during a Geography class.

These things can be done and quickly. There are problems with some other answers.

One, you are not going to "get rid of guns". It simply isn't going to happen.  If you want to get rid of guns, repeal The Second Amendment. Good luck with trying to repeal an amendment that is so high on the amendment chain.

Here was an example of a meme that was flying around.

True, as far it goes. The problem is the next step: taking away other people's sticks so we have a stick-free society because sticks are used to hit people.

Two, background checks, while necessary are iffy at best.  The church shooter in Texas "passed" a background check due to a bureaucratic error.  Additionally, there is this little thing called HIPAA which protects an individual's (mental) health information and cannot be shared without the patient's written consent.

Three, and this has almost a zero chance, but we do need more responsibility from the news media. One thing to keep in mind about events like this: most of the early reports are wrong

 Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold killed 13 kids on April 20, 1999, which began this era of school shootings. They were portrayed as "outcasts" (which has been debunked) and members of a school clique called "The Trenchcoat Mafia" (which they were not). They were also "bullied" as if being bullied in high school is a good explanation for why someone would kill thirteen people.

Jared Lee Loughner shot Congresswoman Gabby Giffords and early reports said he was influenced by Sarah Palin. It wasn't close to the truth. James Holmes killed 12 people in an Aurora, Colorado movie theatre. Brian Ross of ABC announced there was a James Holmes in the area and he was a member of the TEA PARTY.  Wrong guy.

The other thing to remember is people will use the events to push a political agenda.

History tells us that a young man who had just immigrated back from Russia and was an avowed Communist shot the President of The United States thirteen months after The Cuban Missile Crisis.  On YouTube, you can watch the news reports from the time and you will hear a lot about "hate" and civil rights. Which, as history tells us, had nothing to do with The Kennedy Assassination.

CNN has made stars out of the protesting students. "Hey Kids, let's have a protest!"  Two weeks after the massacre Buzzfeed (that's right-Buzzfeed) reported "Rep. Debbie Wassermann Schultz aiding in the lobbying in Tallahassee, a teacher’s union organizing the buses that got the kids there, Michael Bloomberg’s groups and the Women’s March working on the upcoming March For Our Lives, MoveOn.org doing social media promotion and (potentially) march logistics, and training for student activists provided by federally funded Planned Parenthood." (David Hines, The Federalist)

Additionally, the President of the American Federation of Teachers told Buzzfeed they were behind the national school walkout which our fourth estate assured us was the idea of one plucky teenager.

Sheesh.

It is just common sense. Make schools a difficult target. That way kids don't die.