The tragic murder of seventeen students at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida on February 14, 2018 has once again ignited debate across America as to the interpretation of the Second Amendment of the Constitution, and what to do as a society to prevent another shooting of innocent children as they attend school.

The arguments are being made from every angle imaginable, and with just as many opinions and examples as to why any one particular solution is the correct one. From the students who survived the attack, emotional pleas to lawmakers and others in authority charged to keep them safe are made, and rightfully so. Activists on either side of the “gun issue” are using this calamity to score points politically and/or increase the volume of their voiced cause. No matter the provocation of any individual or group which has weighed in, all have stated but one goal as their only motivation. That purpose is to end school shootings in America and save lives.

Debate about this is necessary and those affected and interested should be allowed to express their grief, anger and opinion about what they believe are the causes, faults and what the solutions should be.

Will this shooting at Stoneman Douglas become another series of breathless media coverage, political speeches and protest marches only to fade away as we wait for the next breaking news story made for cable tv? Over the years and after other similar incidents beginning with the massacre at Columbine, the question still remains - what can and should be done to inhibit the damage, death and destruction caused by individuals with evil intent to harm innocent children at school?

The solution is simple if the actual goal is to protect America’s children at school. First President Donald Trump along with Secretary Of Education Betsy DeVos should announce that: ‘effective immediately, all public schools and schools which receive public funding will implement the exact same safety measures, standards and procedures that are currently employed by the schools attended by children of U.S. lawmakers and executives in the Washington DC area.’ One such school which could be used as a model is Sidwell Friends School. After all, it was safe enough for Chelsea Clinton, Sasha Obama and Malia Obama.

Funding could come from The Department of Education’s program appropriately named “Elementary and Secondary Education School Safety National Activities” with an annual budget of $74.9 million dollars (FY2018)see page 10. Some may hint this amount is not enough, but Washington politicians seem to find ways to redirect funds within a program or department’s budget when an “urgent necessity” arises. This according to all who are speaking seems to be one those necessities.

Weeks and months of politicians staging hearings, focus groups, floor speeches and filibusters need not take place because the operating budget is already in place, and the Secretary need only direct those funds to implement the safety measures needed. Consent to this plan should be unanimous as everyone agrees children at school need to be protected and we the adults, parents and lawmakers need to do our job and protect them.

So now we wait (hopefully not too long), for our lawmakers to carry out their obligation as public servants and  implement the School Safety and Second Amendment Protection Act of 2018 (SSSA), so that America’s children believe we actually do care about them. We do care, Right?

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