Survey Says Americans Blame the Government, Not Guns for Recent Mass Shooting

As more stories emerge about the lack of action taken by officials during the recent Parkland shooting, the more Americans are less confident in government agencies and its officials will do what is needed to protect them.

According to a recent Rasmussen survey, 54 percent of Americans believe the government is to blame for the mass shooting. While, only 33 percent blame guns and 11 percent are unsure what attributed to the shooting.  

When the participants of this survey with “children of elementary or secondary school age” were asked, 61 percent blamed the government for the shooting. Only 23 percent of this group blamed guns.

We aren’t surprised by these numbers considering the multiple failures from officials that have come to light following the shooting.

An example of misconduct is how Scot Peterson, the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School’s armed resource officer did not enter the building during the shooting.   

“I’m in shock and I’m outraged to no end that he could have made a difference in all this. It’s really disturbing that we had a law enforcement individual there specifically for this reason, and he did not engage. He did not do his job. It’s one of the most unbelievable things I’ve ever heard,” said Robert Runcie, Country Superintendent.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel said that Peterson was soon suspended and he then decided to resign.

“What I saw was a deputy arrive … take up a position and he never went in,” said Israel about the video footage showing that Peterson remained outside. He also said that he should have “went in. Addressed the killer. Killed the killer.” 

The teenaged shooter Nikolas Cruz killed 17 students and wounded 16 on Valentine’s Day and now faces 17 counts of premeditated murder.

The terrifying thing is that the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBCSO) had received calls about Cruz in November of 2017. Even the host family he lived with called to report his violent behavior and call authorities after he said he was going to buy “tons of ammo.” Unfortunately,  no action or no arrest was made.

Even the FBI received a tip about Cruz in January of this year about how he had expressed the desire to kill people, his gun ownership, along with complaints about his disturbing social media posts. In these tips, people specifically voiced concerns that he would commit a school shooting. The FBI also did not take any action to investigate these tips.

But then there was the misconduct on the day of the shooting. Besides Peterson, there were three other Broward County Sheriff’s deputies that did not enter the school. 

After the shooting, another passionate gun debate ignited.

Advocates for stricter gun-control laws argue that this proves there needs to be more laws in place to restrict individuals like this from buying guns.

But, would another law have stopped the shooter? 

Cruz acquired a rifle legally by passing a background check. He then broke the law by bringing the gun into the school in a gun-free zone and then by committing multiple murders and crimes.

Author’s note: After seeing how many times government officials could have stopped the shooter before he committed the attack, it’s no wonder Americans aren’t confident in our government agencies. What’s the point of reporting a tip if they don’t even get investigated? Why call the police if they aren’t going to come to a crime scene and engage?

Editor’s note: We usually tout the heroism of the police in a situation like Parkland, but having what seems to be cowardice exposed is a blow to the police, to government and to the American confidence that our children are sacred.