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For everyone out there calling for a ban on assault weapons in the US, and truly believe that it will actually dissuade crazed students from shooting others, please allow the following story to set you straight.
The wonderful state of Maryland has a ban on semi-automatic weapons they deem to be assault weapons. To spell it out specifically, this ban includes AR-15 style rifles. There's been a lot of talk recently that banning these guns from legal purchase would stop murderous emotional teens from killing large groups of fellow students. I guess we will just ignore the Virginia Tech shooting committed with two handguns that killed 32 and strike it from the record in order to continue the false narrative.
In the same previously mentioned state, an 18-year-old man was arrested for bringing a gun and knife to school. Alwin Chen brought the weapons for "protection" apparently. He said that it was uncomfortable interactions with other students that made him need protection. In other words...... snowflake.
That's oddly not the troubling bit of the story. Police searched his house and found an AR-15, other firearms, grenades, a C-4 landmine detonator and a bulletproof vest. So through deductive reasoning, because this shell of a young man could gain access to a handgun in the house, it could be reasonably assumed that he could access any of those weapons. I mean for the love of God, he could have staged a Waco style standoff if he wanted to. Even though AR-15 rifles are banned in the state, how does this family (or the student himself, that information is yet to be seen) find the ability to own one? Well I guess a gun ban doesn't stop illegal ownership, who would have thunk it?
All it takes is this kid to bring the (obviously) easily obtainable AR-15 to school and lose his mind. If someone wants a gun, they will find a way to get it. If a student wants to commit harm, he/she will find a way to do it. The focus needs to be on the release of medical records during weapon purchases, and an updated look at mental health. This bright young man found a way to bring a gun to school, and that family found a way to own an illegal weapon. That is a recipe for disaster, in a state that thought they had it figured out.