Florida killings underline need for quick solution

The killing of 17 people with an AR-15 semiautomatic weapon at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Florida is the latest illustration of the divisive issue of gun control in the US. More importantly, this is the 18th shooting in an American school so far this year, only one and a half months into 2018.

Will the end of the year feature a whopping new statistic about how many students were killed in US schools in 2018? This severe and deadly problem is unique to the country. President Donald Trump tweeted a call for public vigilance, writing: “So many signs that the Florida shooter was mentally disturbed. Neighbors and classmates knew he was a big problem. Must always report such instances to authorities, again and again!”

Soul-searching is an important part of the grieving process, but the Florida killings expose a sharp divide. Immediately after the shooting, Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy stood on the Senate floor to criticize congressional inaction on gun control. Congress has long been mired in this issue, even in the face of multiple deadly shootings year after year, because of partisan politics and lobby interests.

Gun advocates in Congress and the National Rifle Association will be under increasing pressure to take action. But the Trump administration is unlikely to address the issue on the federal level as the Republicans need to appeal to their base, which is armed to the teeth. Gun advocates will continue to argue that America’s shooting epidemic is unrelated to weapons’ availability, and that it is “somebody else’s responsibility” to halt such shootings.

Calls to limit the availability of automatic weapons and ammunition are no solution. While a push to ban automatic weapons faces an uphill fight regardless of the sickening phenomenon of school shootings, the need to protect students demands an immediate review of operational procedures while debate rages over what to do with automatic weapons. Banning their sale and increasing background checks would still illustrate a systemic failure to halt the crisis.

With midterm elections later this year, gun control will become a bigger issue that may bring dividends to Democrats, who see the Trump administration as being part of the larger problem of allowing automatic weapons sales. But the administration and its supporters will not budge on gun control, so there will be a fight over the next steps required to protect schools and their students.

There are cultural hurdles. Some Americans are deeply fond of their firearms, which is why there are more guns in the US than people, even though only a third of households own guns. The shooting epidemic needs a new approach. Allowing school officials greater latitude to monitor students’ social media with sophisticated mining programs may help identify potential shooters.

The US technology industry, which is involved in social media analysis, needs to develop partnerships with states and schools to help mitigate potential threats. But with 350 million guns in circulation, and various forms of national division under Trump, time is of the essence.

• Dr. Theodore Karasik is a senior adviser to Gulf State Analytics in Washington, D.C. He is a former RAND Corporation Senior Political Scientist who lived in the UAE for 10 years, focusing on security issues. Twitter: @tkarasik