We are facing a crisis of rights.  The recent Florida school shooting has started a dangerous wave of misdirected outrage about gun rights – and the misdirection is on purpose by those looking to control the dialog.

To set the stage, consider two other recent instances where similar outrage gave the leverage to take immediate steps and accomplish things that would not have been possible if cooler (and less cowardly) heads had prevailed.

First, the Charleston Church shooting in June of 2015.  A young, mentally ill white boy killed nine black worshipers in a horrific crime.  As bad as that was, the left found out he was also an avowed white supremacist who had Confederate flags in his home and posted on various websites, including hateful language.  Leftists were able to separate the obvious mental illness of the shooter and focus the debate only on the Confederacy issue.

What happened next?  Within a week, several state governments removed these flags from their premises without citizen input, and historic statues commemorating past American history were either removed or, in some cases, ripped down by mobs while the authorities watched.

We can certainly have a dialog about the Civil War and whether monuments of the losing generals should have a place on the public square, but note: the left bypassed the entire process through mob violence.  Every politician who was asked about it immediately folded like a cheap suit.  The left won the battle – not in the square of public opinion, but by force, violence, and threats.

Next, we have the #MeToo movement, exposing those who have truly or allegedlyharassed or sexually preyed upon others.  Any time that happens, it is wrong, and a perpetrator should be sanctioned or punished, so don't misunderstand my point.  But the outcry has taken on the look of the Salem Witch Trials; just an allegation, without proof, is enough to end a person's career.  This bit both sides, as we saw a Democrat, Al Franken, go down along with both conservative and liberal business leaders and Hollywood moguls.  The whole thing perhaps cost Republicans a Senate election in Alabama.  In the last case, the allegation, even one that was 40 years old and never previously reported, was enough to accomplish the destruction.

Now, with the Florida shooting, the left refuses to discuss: 1) the failures of the FBI to investigate two or more direct calls specifically about this kid and his threats; 2) the failure of the Broward Sheriff's Office leadership and the four deputies who hid outside the school during the shooting instead of entering and confronting, and; 3) the six-year old "agreement" between the school board and the sheriff's office to stop or reduce the arresting of criminal students and reporting on school crime so their statistics would look better.  Otherwise, the killer's 39 visits by police, most of them for violence, would have placed him on the "no-gun" list in NICS.  And finally, there is 4) the fact that all schools are "gun-free zones" (that is, free, unopposed fire zones) and must be hardened, just as hardened airports after 9-11.

The left refuses to talk about those factors and focuses solely on gun control because leftists finally have a tiger by the tail.  Due to the outrage leftists are stirring up, and using kids as their front, the cowardly are now running away from any affiliation with the NRA by former partners (airlines, credit cards, etc.), and even RINO politicians agreeing to revisit gun control.  This will result in the whirlwind the left seeks.  Leftists will accomplish more in the next month than they ever dreamed of doing in the next five years, and they are doing it on the backs of the slain students.  Their solution has nothing to do with preventing the next shooting – it is all about the gun rights of law-abiding citizens.

Please be on guard.  We can weather this storm, and it may blow over.  In the meantime, let's all work on something that will work: harden schools just like airports, because mentally ill shooters are not the only danger.  Terrorists have targeted schools in other countries with disastrous outcomes.

None of the gun control measures of the left – including the dream of full confiscation – would prevent a terrorist attack on an elementary school and the deaths of hundreds, not just  17 in Florida.  Hardening the facility, just like airports, would.  But we first must stop this headlong rush into panic the left is engendering, or we will lose the game before it starts.