Florida congressional votes on gun legislation prior to massacre

Nikolas Cruz walked into the Marjory Stoneman Douglas school in Parkland, Florida on Wednesday, February 14, and massacred 17 students and teachers with an AR-15 assault rifle. For the record, Sen. Marco Rubio, a Republican, who has received $3.3 million from the National Rifle Assn. has voted across the board to loosen gun restrictions on mental health, the Feinstein Terror gap, background checks, gun shows and online background checks, and concealed carry reciprocity. Sen. Bill Nelson, a Florida Democrat, who regularly gets an "F" from the NRA, voted to add restrictions in all cases.

The Florida Representatives were no different. Out of 27 House members, 14 voted in the same manner as Rubio, all Republicans. The other 13 Democrats voted with Nelson. If you analyze the voting, tighter background checks and more stringent mental health laws could have prevented this tragedy. So, we can pay our thanks to the NRA for its assist in the killing of these students and teachers. And by the way, it is a very quiet and unresponsive NRA following this bloodbath that has nothing to say about the killings but will continue promoting more guns on the street.

If ever there was an organization that has gotten completely out of control, it is the Nation Rifle Assn. led by Wayne LaPierre. When you're dealing with a greedy Congress that will do anything for the contributions necessary to get reelected, you are simply dealing with a bunch of idiots. The latter is prevalent in everything this gang of deadbeats does, or rather, doesn't do. I am not as sure election reform is the answer; the NRA would just find another way to scare hell out of these nincompoops. We can only hope now that the Parkland young people will achieve their goals.

Best reason yet to ban all guns

James and Kimberly Snead

It seemed to be common knowledge that Nikolas Cruz was troubled to the point that he both needed mental therapy and at the very least ongoing close observation. He had been in trouble repeatedly at school and was known to torment animals and he regularly posted online about his quirky behavior. He came to the Snead household, where he lived when committing his atrocities, with a semi-arsenal of weapons including the AR-15 and two other rifles that James Snead said would be considered assault rifles, as well as knives, BB guns and pellet guns.

But this didn't impress Snead because...

"James, 48, a decorated Army veteran and military intelligence analyst who served in the Middle East, said he didn’t mind that Cruz had guns because he had plenty of weapons himself."

Supposedly Snead made Cruz lock up his weapons and took the key, not knowing the boy had kept a key for himself. Duh?

But apparently both he and his wife Kimberly were completely oblivious to Cruz's problems, as evidenced by this statement...

“Everything everybody seems to know, we didn’t know,” James Snead said. “It’s as simple as that.”

No, it isn't that simple since you, the Sneads, accepted the responsibility of this young man, knew he was obsessed with guns, and should have known more about his day-to-day activities. Not that it's a for-sure, but if this family had paid just a little more attention to what Nikolas Cruz was saying and doing, 17 people might still be alive today.

If I am correct in the above, and I believe I am, it illustrates a complete lack of responsibility by a gun owner and we have seen this kind of example before. Most notably with Adam Lanza, who killed 26 children and teachers at Sandy Hook in 2012 with his mother's AR-15. Nancy Lanza also ignored warnings about her son's mental problems and left the assault rifle unsecured. This is happening too often and banning all guns may be the only solution.

Can these young people force gun control laws?

Emma Gonzalez

Emma Gonzalez, a senior at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School does. That's the school in Parkland, Fla, where Nikolas Cruz fatally gunned down 17 students and teachers with an AR-15 he bought in Florida at age 18. The young people including Gonzalez and organizer junior Cameron Kasky announced they have banded together to compel lawmakers to pass gun control laws that will make their schools safer. They have planned "...a nationwide march on March 24th, dubbed the 'March For Our Lives.'"  If I were politicians, or anybody, I wouldn't get in their way.

Esquire reported in Ft. Lauderdale Emma Gonzalez exclaimed to a cheering crowd, “...'shame on you' directed towards all politicians who take NRA money." They are serious and have made several exclamations that they hope to make this the "last" school massacre. You can see the full transcript of Gonzalez's Ft. Lauderdale speech on CNN. The older groups failed to get anything done, no doubt because many of them own guns and are members of the NRA. The younger group, 30s to 40s, have some advocates for gun control but apparently not willing to fully get behind the program.

But when it happens in your school, and you are a community like Parkland, Fla, you do something, and that's what is happening. Maybe it takes a group of late teens like these students who are not yet a part of the American gun culture that has literally ruined this country since the resurrection of the 2nd Amendment, and they simply don't give a damn about guns. I don't either, never have, and hope like hell they succeed.

Why did this gun massacre happen in Florida?

Michael Tomasky of The Daily Best says it is because of its, "..."certifiably insane gun laws." All of them, of course, compliments of the National Rifle Assn. with its premiere gun lobbyist, Marion Hammer. Right now, Florida has 11 gun-related bills on the 2018 calendar. The ones that are pro-gun rights will pass. State Senator Greg Steube, R-Sarasota has filed five bills to make it easier to buy a gun. Can you believe that? Right now all you have to provide in Florida to purchase a weapon is a warm body. What could possibly make it easier.

These people are certifiably crazy, the epitome of gun nuts, and the ones behind the gun massacre in Parkland where 17 people were killed by an AR-15 assault rifle. They are totally responsible, along with lax restrictions on the mentally ill buying a gun, thanks to Donald Trump. Here's a quote from The Daily Beast...

"The gun laws of Florida are sick. Carry in vehicle? Yes. Must notify officer? No. Carry in state parks allowed? Of course. “No weapons” signs enforced? Nyet. Nearly 1.8 million Floridians have concealed carry permits, and 36 other states honor those permits."

This is the biggest problem in the U.S. today and if not dealt with soon, we could see schools close because the children's parents are afraid to let them attend. It's a threat worse than terrorism.

Thank NRA's Marion Hammer for Parkland, Fla gun massacre

NRA's Marion Hammer

As late as January of this year, Marion Hammer, the National Rifle Assn.'s elite Florida lobbyist, was railing at the Miami Herald/Tampa Bay Times, "...

"...warning the sheriffs of Florida that they had no right to testify about pending firearm legislation. Not when their words conflicted with the positions of the National Rifle Association."

Can you believe this? And in the nation's bloodiest mass-shooting state where "...29-year-old Omar Mateen murdered 49 and wounded another 53 in a gun rampage at an Orlando nightclub." Followed by the encore last Wednesday at Parkland, Fla, where Nikolas Cruz gunned down 17 students and teachers with an AR-15 assault rifle he bought at age 18. All of this compliments of Marion Hammer making sure that Florida's gun laws allow anyone with a warm body to buy a gun. The woman has also spread her lunacy around the country promoting the NRA's gun rights.


Yet not one word from Hammer or the NRA's Wayne LaPierre on the Florida deaths. How long do we allow the NRA's killing machine this kind of power?

Complete gun control has become a MUST!

Nikolas Cruz with Atty

The Parkland, Florida gun massacre did it. An 18-year-old buys an AR-15 assault rifle after numerous warnings there were mental problems, he was violent and wanted to kill people, even two attempts to warn the FBI about Nikolas Cruz fell on dumb ears. Cruz kills 17 students and teachers in a quiet Florida town and not one member of Congress stands up to say...'We've had enough.' It has to end somewhere and the time is now!

And I just saw some dufus post on Facebook that we shouldn't blame guns nor the NRA, it's just a mental health problem. So, we also have the general public to thank for our gun violence. So, where do we turn? Someone please tell me before half the country is massacred.

I know you, the American public, don't give a damn about guns killing the innocent, but 5 people were killed and one wounded by guns early this morning at a western Pennsylvania car wash.