(I could not allow this incident to occur and not provide my less than two cents worth of comments regarding the matter.)

Would a cup of morning java at the Roze Pony catch your interest? Perhaps you would prefer to feast on tacos from the world famous Bluebird Cafe? Several Hit recordings have been penned over the years at that locale, but heed this word of caution should you encounter a Country music writer hard at work crafting a new song there, uninterrupted silence is the golden rule. I have found myself in the middle of both of these scenarios many times over the years.

Maybe even a fine experience at the Pineapple Room of the Cheekwood Botanical Garden and Museum of Art, with its noted 650-piece silver collection from the 18th to the 20th Centuries, the third-largest Worcester porcelain gathering in the country, and vast array of works from several well known artists would be more up your alley?

These are a small sampling of the entertainment options nearby the Covenant Presbytarian School in the Burton Hills neighborhood of Music City, the unfortunate scene of the latest school shooting in the United States.

Cycles of condolences. Calls to action. Open-ended questions. These equal more rhetoric. After the school shooting on Monday, March 27, 2023 in my hometown, as well as the confirmed 74 dead or injured by such auspicious happenings in American schools this year, I ask you when is enough going to be more than enough? In my book, there's been way too many already.

The perp in this tragedy was a 28-year-old named Audrey Hale, a female with known mental issues, who identified herself using male pronouns such as "he" and "him".

"Its" motive for the bloodshed has not been determined with clear certainty. What has become established is Hale was once a student at the school and left behind her predetermined:

-manifesto
-a map of the school
-details about how she would gain entry
-how she would carry out the massacre

No evidence has been found Hale targeted specific victims for her melee. The six who died apparently found themselves in the wrong place at the most inopportune time.

Nashville Police Spokesperson Don Aaron stated, "This school---this church building---was a target of the shooter. But we have no information at present to indicate that the shooter was targeting any one of the six individuals who were murdered."

What a pity Hale did not simply slaughter herself and leave the victims alone to go back home where they belonged when the school day ended. Explain that event to the young siblings of the three nine- year-old students who perished in Hale's onslaught. I will wait until you are finished with that herculean task. Oh, by the way. One of them is now an only child. Talk about altered family dynamics.

The Nashville Police Department, and the FBI, are working together to attempt to determine if this shooting was a hate crime. Since there are no living suspects, or accomplices to charge with this school shooting, the crime would primarily be designated a hate crime by authorities for data-reporting purposes only.

Statistically, about 14% of hate crimes are linked to religion nationwide. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 130 tracked mass shootings in the United States in 2023. Did you hear that staggering number? 130 tracked mass shootings in the United States in 2023.

What can be documented is Hale legally purchased seven guns, from five local gun shops, before her hail of bullets rang out at the school. Three of these firearms, including two assault-style weapons, were utilized in her attack.

Although Hale was under a doctor's care for an "emotional disorder," law enforcement was unaware of, her parents now make the claim they thought she had, previous to the attack of course, sold the only gun she kept at home. I have my opinions about that blatant "misconception".

Here in Tennessee, police can confiscate someone's weapons only if:

-a court decides that person is mentally incompetent
-they have been ruled judicially committed to a mental institute
-they have been placed under a conservatorship

Tennessee laws only prohibit the sale of guns to individuals found by a court to pose a danger to themselves or someone else. Being under a doctor's care alone did not prohibit the sale of weapons to Hale. Police could have attempted to retrieve her weapons had they received a report that Hale was suicidal or threatened to kill another person.

Suppose it should be noted while Nashville mourned this attack a federal judge lowered the age in which Tennessee residents can carry handguns in public from 21 to 18. Go figure! Are some lessons never learned?

Just one question on this topic. Why didn't that judge ask Hale's victims what they thought about his decision? He will never be able to query:

-Katherine Koonce, age 60, School Administrator
-Cynthia Peak, age 61, Substitute Teacher
-Mike Hill, age 61, School Custodian
-William Kinney, age 9, Student
-Evelyn Dieckhaus, age 9, Student
-Hallie Scruggs, age 9, Student

They're all dead.

You didn't ask...but.