In the Saturday, 7/10/22, edition, the editorial page had “our opinion” which raked Governor Abbott over the coals for not doing more about gun control, and essentially blaming him for the Uvalde massacre. This is further evidence of the Odessa American’s drift toward liberalism.
I would just like to know exactly what Abbott was supposed to have done? The shooter passed a background check, and legally purchased his rifle. At that time, there was nothing in his official records which would have caused him to fail his background check. So, how is that the Governor’s fault?
As we found out later, after the fact, he should have failed the background check due to mental health concerns, but nothing was ever entered into his records. That was a breakdown in the mental health reporting system, and could hardly be blamed on Governor Abbott.
As more and more information has been, and is being, released, it is becoming painfully apparent that the main problem was law enforcement failing to do their job. They stood back and failed to charge the classroom, and as the current video from inside the school shows, some of them actually ran and hid when some shots were fired!
One officer reportedly had a clear shot at the gunman, asked for permission to shoot him, but never got an answer, so he didn’t shoot. In that situation, why would he even need permission?
Once again, none of this is Governor Abbott’s fault, nor is it the gun’s fault, which is the liberal left’s fall-back position. That is their knee-jerk reaction after any shooting: blame the gun, then blame every honest gun owner, and try to disarm everybody who didn’t do the shooting! I can’t believe the Odessa American would buy into this, but, as I said earlier, the O.A. is slowly moving toward the left. I have subscribed to the Odessa American since 1967, so I have had plenty of time to watch their slow transformation into just another liberal rag.
After the paper’s latest move of going digital, and only offering a printed version twice a week, I cancelled my subscription.
But, to return to my point about the shooting, the problem is people, not guns! AR-15s have been around since 1964, and yet there were almost zero mass shootings until recent years. What has changed is that kids are no longer taught ethics, morality, nor respect for others, in school. And, parents no longer discipline their little brats, but instead cover for them anytime they do something wrong.
The U.S. has been on the wrong track ever since prayer was removed from schools, and teachers started indoctrinating their students, instead of teaching them!
Sandy Milner
