@cmd2014 yes I agree. In the meantime though I want to keep our children safe. However we need to do it.
I think you risk fear turning you into a police state. And you risk fear turning you into a place that demands even more guns. And normalizing them and making them even easier for people like Nicolas Cruz to access them. Fear has already turned the US into a place that isn't recognizable from the way things were even 4 years ago (after all, I'm convinced that fear mongering and people succumbing to those fears that allowed someone like Trump to be voted in). It always strikes me when I'm in the US how friendly and kind people are (everywhere), and yet, you all seem to be so afraid of each other in comparison to here. Gated communities, wall safes, security cameras, dead-bolts, and alarm systems, and yes, guns in the house and conceal carry permits 'for personal protection.’ I think the more you surround yourself with cues that you should be afraid, the more afraid you will become and the more guns will feel are necessary under the guise of ‘keeping you safe’. It’s a vicious cycle, and the only way to break it is to not let your fear win while you do something about the problem rather than compounding it. Plus, think of the psychological effect that it would have on an entire generation of children to have to file through metal detector check points with armed military guards every day, and the normalization of fear and guns and violence and of feeling unsafe that would create. Nothing says “you’re not safe” like a machine gun and body armour.