It's the crazies, stupid!

It’s almost like a broken record. Man shoots up school, or Waffle House, or fill-in-the-blank, and we immediately launch into a debate about guns. Obviously if the police were carrying guns when they finally apprehended this monster then guns aren’t the problem. Crazy is the problem.

Once again there were alarm bells going off all around this guy who shot up the Waffle House. Arrested for trespassing after he went to the White House and insisted on taking a meeting the president. There are reports that he threatened people with his gun. Finally, the sheriff’s deputies pay him a visit at his father’s crane company and take away his guns and his gun permit. They leave the guns in the custody of his father with strict instructions not to give them back to his son. What does this idiot do? He gives the guns back to his son, even after he, himself, had alerted the police that his son thought he was being stalked by Taylor Swift and was suicidal.

They say you can’t fix stupid and that may be true, but you can sure put stupid in jail. I’m not a lawyer, but I can’t imagine how this father is not charged with accessory to murder. He’s like the guy behind the wheel in the getaway car at the bank robbery. Something goes wrong and somebody’s killed and this driver is going to be charged with murder.

Nashville’s acting mayor was immediately on Twitter after the Waffle House killings calling for a ban on ‘military weapons.’ It may very well be that his ‘military weapon’ jammed on him, giving James Shaw, Jr. the split-second opportunity to wrest the gun away from him. Had he used the pistol that was in his possession instead, such an opportunity may never have presented itself.

And what a juxtaposition between James Shaw and Camera Hogg down in Florida. Shaw truly is a survivor of a mass shooting. Hogg was not even on the scene when the bullets were flying. Camera Hogg has exploited the tragedy to get his face on every network multiple times. Shaw has shunned the spotlight and says he doesn’t want this event to define his life. Camera Hogg has turned the Parkland tragedy into a traveling one-man show about him. James Shaw, on the other hand, has started a fundraiser for the victims because he believes that’s where the focus should be.

The focus on solutions should be on the mentally ill. I’ve written in this space about how much things changed after the 1975 Supreme Court ruling. However, we’re missing the main point of that ruling. They said you can’t lock up the mentally ill against their will unless they’re a danger to themselves or others. I would think taking away someone’s guns indicates they’re a danger to themselves or others. Why was this guy not committed?

Think about that. If he’d been committed as he should’ve been then four people would be alive and this guy could be getting the treatment he needs. Too late for all of that now.

I would urge every single person reading this column to get off the sidelines and start reporting dangerous people. I’m not talking about Trump supporters or Hillary supporters or NRA members, as some fear will happen. I’m talking about people who are obviously unbalanced and are doing or saying things that would make them a danger to themselves or others.

I’m not talking about locking up everybody who thinks Taylor Swift is stalking them. But they sure don’t need to own guns.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.

The lessons of Parkland

Interesting, isn’t it, how the Parkland shooting remains in the headlines weeks after it happened and the Vegas shooting, which killed over 3 times as many people, faded away in days. What’s different about this shooting?

The obvious is there were children involved. The other X factor is the kids, specifically David Hogg, who have taken the spotlight to advocate for gun control. Pardon my cynicism but I think it’s unseemly for Hogg and others to exploit the deaths of their classmates to further their obvious political agenda against guns. And shame on CNN for ceaselessly manipulating their audience with these kids for their own political gain.

As demonstrated in this space before, with a small fraction of one percent of the guns being used for evil, obviously the guns are not the problem. Crazy is the problem, and I applaud President Trump for having the courage to broach that subject when he suggested that we need more mental hospitals and more of these disturbed people in them. But solving that problem is a steep climb given the Supreme Court ruling and the large advocacy on the left for keeping these disturbed people on the street. Someone even told me there are brochures for the mentally ill to instruct them on how to find edible food in dumpsters. Don’t you think people dumpster diving would be better served in a mental institution that can tend to their daily needs and help them get well?

Given that we’re unlikely to win that battle anytime soon it is incumbent upon us to do what we can to save children’s lives. I’ve long advocated for a Designated Defender program in schools. Now we have a president with the guts to put that idea front and center. Meanwhile ‘Camera’ Hogg and his cohorts continue to blame Republicans. He actually said that Governor Rick Scott, the Republican governor of Florida, was responsible for the cowardly deputy who refused to enter the school and confront the shooter. No mention of Sheriff Israel because the good sheriff shares his views on gun grabbing.

These kids have now pressured companies like Delta and United along with practically every car rental company to sever ties with the NRA. What in the world does the NRA have to do with the shooting in Florida. It’s akin to blaming AAA for drunken driving deaths.

It’s time for good people to fight back. Google the list of companies that have cowardly bowed to the demands of the leftist gun grabbers and let them know how you feel.

Look, I have all the sympathy in the world for anyone who’s lived through the horror of a mass shooting, but that doesn’t make you an instant expert on guns or how to solve gun violence. The truth is the people on the ground in Parkland, Florida are largely to blame for this shooting. The sheriff’s department visited the killer’s home multiple times. The school didn’t want to report his criminal behavior at school for fear of blemishing their record. Nearly every student interviewed who knew this guy said they thought he was dangerous and would end up killing people. Did they say anything before he went on his rampage?

There are plenty of lessons to be learned from Parkland. We have to evaluate mentally ill people before they become dangerous. That is the primary lesson we should learn. We should also learn not to be complacent. See something, say something. Law enforcement needs to start connecting the dots. And the FBI needs to get off Russia and the NCAA and start protecting our kids.

Phil Valentine is the host of the award-winning, nationally syndicated talk radio show, The Phil Valentine Show.