Last Friday marked the third large mass shooting under the Trump presidency, and he continues to ignore the need for gun safety in America. I am a proud liberal, but I refuse to excuse the needless slaughter of innocents for any reason. If an individual has severe mental deficiencies, and is not constantly under observation and denied any possible access to weapons of mass destruction, the guilt must be shared.

Dimitrios Pagourtzis murdered eight students and two teachers during his Friday rampage. He also injured 13 more. It was reported that while he was shooting his victims, he shouted “woo hoo.” He knew what he was doing, and that fact is undeniable.

His father, Antonios Pagourtzis, claims that ‘bullying’ forced his son to act in such a violent manner.

“He pulled the trigger but he is not this person,” he said. “It is like we see in the movies when someone gets into his body and does things that are not done. It’s not possible in one day for the child to have changed so much.”

How well did the father know the son? This did not happen in one day. Most experts believe that this was a ‘copycat’ killing after the shooting at Parkland, Florida. Regardless, this was planned, and the killer enjoyed what he was doing. His father may share the blame for failing his son, but the young man must accept responsibility for his horrendous act.

Part of the blame must also be claimed by the Republican congress, our illegitimate president, and of course the gun lobby; the NRA. The United States is the only nation which has more mass shootings than days on the calendar, and more deaths from the use of guns each year than in any war since the Civil War.

I will not accept the bulls**t from Republicans and the NRA; ‘people with guns kill people.;’ fact!

Op-ed by James Turnage

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