Excellent A Simple Editorial About A Current American Blight Nashville Nuggets by Brett Matthew West

(The opinions expressed in this Editorial are those of the Writer.) ****************************** ****************************** Jabbering away on the keyboard, I realized how much school shootings grabbed my goat by the horns. I would say something else in reference to another portion of the lower male anatomy, but I wish to keep the language of this Editorial as clean as possible. Take for instance the most recent school shooting that occurred on May 24, 2022. That was when Salvador Ramos barricaded himself inside a Robb Elementary School classroom he had no previous connection to. There, he proceeded to gun down 2 teachers and 17 youthful students who were doing nothing more than what they were supposed to be doing at the time. A few days after he turned 18, Ramos had purchased two AR-15 style assault rifles. These were the weapons he used to commit his atrocities. His own computer messages proved his only intentions for purchasing them were to carry out what is now the second deadliest school shooting in US history. All these events occurred within the timeframe of eight short days. After the massacre ended, and his bloodshed was spilled, Ramos' mother, Adriana Reyes, had the unmitigated gall to go public and make the claim, "My son is not a monster." If this woman's murderous 18 year old offspring is not the epitome of a monster, I would like to ask her to her face just what the hell her definition of a monster is? I would also like to know if they even had Green Cards to legally be in this country? Perhaps she is in denial that she could have raised something so loathsome. Or maybe, as the old saying goes, the apple did not fall far from the tree. What other explanation can there possibly be for an act of terror of this nature? Does it not make sense that with better upbringing perhaps Salvador Ramos would not have committed this grievous transgression? "He can be aggressive...if he really gets mad," Reyes attempted to explain. Are we to understand that excuses her son's actions and grant our okay for his misdeeds? Let's remember in addition to the dead, 17 others were wounded by Ramos' "little temper tantrum", as his mother would have you believe justifies his rampage. One that began when Ramos shot his 66 year old grandmother, Celia Gonzales, in the face before he sojourned to the school's crime scene, all because she told him to get his gun out of her house. Perhaps Ramos should have been informed at some point in his worthless existence, like it or not, the world did not revolve around him Texas Governor Greg Abbott well said, "Anyone who shoots his grandmother in the face has to have evil in his heart." Among other major deficiencies. Ramos further complicated the attack on his grandmother by stealing her vehicle, a car he had no knowledge of how to drive. Ramos also held no driver's license to be behind the wheel of a motorized transport in the first place. Adriana Reyes tried to slough the entire episode involving her killer beast son off with this statement, "We all have a rage". On two seperate occasions, Adriana Reyes stated she was not aware her "prized" son was buying the assault weapons. I ask, shouldn't the parents of 18 year olds be much more involved in their lives than that? In addition, her statement would tend to make one wonder what other things any sensible parent should be aware their children are involved in. Obviously, she had no idea what hers was doing. According to several of Ramos' classmates, the high school dropout, and complete failure in life, was well known for threatening fellow students, exhibiting disturbing behaviors for more than two years preceeding his attack on Robb Elementary School, stalking, and cutting scars into his own face. What sane moron does that to themself? Ah, Adriana Reyes, where were you while all these events occurred? Oh, that's right. There are those who strongly believe parents have no place meddling in their kids' lives, nor should they monitor their behaviors. To that, I say a resounding BS! You see, I am not one of those who attempt to confuse reality with the fairytale realm of existence and turn a blind eye to what my son does. Thirty minutes before Ramos struck at Robb Elementary School, he sent several chilling communications on Twitter. Ramos wore a plate carrier, entered the school through a back door, and strolled several hallways before he entered the class where his assault occurred. Ramos had sent a 15 year old girl in Germany text messages just prior to the bloodbath. When she asked him about the packages of ammo he received the day before he killed, his curt response was, "Just wait for it." Ramos displayed a picture of his hand holding an ammo magazine, and one of him holding two AR-15 style rifles, on Instagram. He also asked another Instagram user to share these pictures with her 10,000 followers. Now for some statistics: Since Columbine occurred on April 20, 1999, and that school's attempted bombings: -there have been 554 school shooting victims in the United States(185 dead and 369 injured) -311,000 students have been exposed to gun violence -331 schools have suffered attacks -there were 34 incidents in 2021 alone (the highest number since 1999) -all of these 331 incidents happened on school campuses immediately before, during, or just after classes began Salvador Ramos' blood-soaked "rage" has left the small Texas town of Uvalde 19 families that neither time, nor anything else, could ever make whole again. I am a staunch supporter of the 2nd Amendment. However, that Constutional right does not grant you the privilege of slaughtering two teachers and 17 young students simply because you have nothing better to do that day. Yes, I realize there are some questions about how local police handled this situation that need to be addressed. However, let's not lose focus of the real problem. That being the insane lunatic Salvador Ramos and his actions. The human persuasion. Therein lies the problem. I do not believe guns kill people. People kill people. The proof in that pudding remains never has a gun picked itself up, aimed at someone, and fired itself killing the target. That gun was ALWAYS in the hand of a person. People may use a gun as their instrument of death, but left alone, that gun would not have fired itself and perchance the victim might still breath air. I do not have the solution to solving school shootings. Believe me, if I did I would bottle the answer, sell the product, and harvest multi-millions of dollars making myself rich and famous. What I do know is whatever it takes, the idiocracy of school shootings MUST stop! However, I believe it will take everyone working together, regardless of political slant, to rid this ingrained blight from the shores of our country. And, that is just the way that I see it. Recognized Author Notes Target Found, by Jangling Artworks, selected to complement my Editorial.

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