The kid had warning signs but nothing was done . . . .

[no_hypocrisy]

We've heard this phrase again and again and again.

But it's not as easy as it sounds. An individual is quirky, strange, antisocial -- but not to the level of having to take him/her into custody before someone is hurt or killed.

I know of such a kid. Matter of fact I thought he was the one at Parkland, FL, not Nikolas Cruz. He's a teen. He has an obsession with guns, esp. automatic weapons. His grandfather has taken him to gun ranges for recreation when the kid has visited him. At the range, the kid specifically refuses a bull's eye target. He insists not only on shooting at a silhouette of a person, but one with a painted face. And the kid proceeds to aim at only the head. Riddles the head of the target with a hail of bullets. And worse, the kid laughs with delight as he destroys the head with bullets from an automatic weapon. Even adult shooters stop, pause, and look at him with "looks".

We're not talking about an average kid, a Boy Scout with a healthy interest in guns. While he has expressed an interest in joining the military upon graduation from high school, he is NOT what the military needs -- or worse, maybe he is exactly what the military wants.

My point: This kid has several troubling signs but you can't put him in jail. If you take away his guns, you wonder if he'll really go off the deep end. You're forced to wait and see what happens in the future.

[RobinA]

1. Total Agreement

I work in mental health and there isn't a person with mental health issues, and not that many without, that doesn't have something you can look at as a "warning sign" once they do something horrible. And with guns such a huge part of our culture now... you'd have to lock up a large percentage of the young male population if you jumped every time some kid was more interested in guns than seems healthy. They ALL are.