Guns make very small men feel very big.

The whole world must know by now that on St. Valentines day a nineteen years old youth called Nicholas Cruz carried out his very own cowardly massacre at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida.  After about 7 minutes of shooting, 17 people lay dead, and 14 others were wounded, some of them critically.

Nicholas Cruz was expelled from that Florida High School for ‘disciplinary reasons’ after ‘getting into trouble’.  It is now said that this cowardly youth is mentally ill, has a history of killing animals, showed off his kills and firearms on social media, and that his mother called the police to their home 39 times to try and ‘talk some sense into him’.

It is also said that the other students were very afraid of Nicholas Cruz and his propensity for violence when he did attend the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, in Parkland, Florida.

So, how was it that Nicholas Cruz was, ‘perfectly legally’, able to buy an AR-15 assault rifle and magazines at Sunrise Tactical Supply, of  7600 Wiles Rd. Coral Springs?  The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives say that; ‘No laws were violated in the procurement of this weapon’.

Really?  And now 17 people are dead and at least 14 injured, some of them critically.  Because Nicholas Cruz was allowed to legally buy an AR-15 and magazines.

The Colt AR-15 assault rifle is a military weapon of war, and a variant of the US military’s M16 rifle.  Along with the Russian AK-47 (Kalashnikov), the AR-15 is the weapon of choice for terrorists and mass murderers who carry out insane random shootings.  Stephen Paddock used a variant of the AR-15 to kill 58 people in Las Vegas on October 1st 2017.

The AR-15 is a lightweight semi-automatic rifle, either 16, 20, 0r 24 inches in length.  It fires either the US .223 Remington, or 5.56 x 45 mm NATO cartridge, with a probable rate of fire of 90 rounds a minute, and an effective range of 600 yards.   It is said to be a very user-friendly ergonomic weapon.

The gun laws in Florida are very lax.  Florida is a ‘shall issue’ state and will routinely allow ‘concealed carry’ licences for handguns.  You don’t need a permit to buy or carry a rifle or shotgun in Florida, nor do you have to register your weapons.  You can buy as many guns as you like, all at the same time, including assault weapons with large-capacity magazines, and .50 caliber rifles.  All you have to be is 18 years of age, (or a minor must have the permission of their parent or legal guardian), and you can equip yourself to start a reasonably sized war in the State of Florida.

Nicholas Cruz wasn’t old enough to buy a beer, but he was more than old enough to buy a deadly weapon and carry out his own St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

And Florida is not alone, the most lenient gun laws in the USA are to be found in; Arizona, Alaska, Wyoming, Vermont, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Utah, and South Carolina.

From England, the gun laws and gun culture in the USA look utterly insane.  The US Constitution’s Second Amendment looks like a throwback to 1765, 1776, and 1783.  The British Redcoats are not going to march down Pennsylvania Avenue anytime soon.  The only time an American President likely to hear the massed bands of the Brigade of Guards play ‘The British Grenadiers’ would be on a State Visit to London.

Keep your Second Amendment and keep your mass shootings.

You are in our thoughts and you have the deepest sympathies of all England

~

jack collier

jackcollier7@talktalk.net