Uvalde School shooting and the Cowardly Uvalde PD

Safe to say that not a single person in the country was shocked at this latest school shooting. At this point, it is to be expected. Even well parented teenagers are notoriously unstable. They are going through a lot of changes, face a lot of issues - although social rejection, mostly by girls seems the most common theme. These teens also lack the capability to think long term or rationalize their actions. Combine this with easy access to guns and a vulnerable target (schoolmates) to vent at, you have a disaster waiting to happen. 

The politicians to the right want to use this tragedy to push for more guns at the hands of teachers - something anyone with a speck of intelligence easily sees as pandering to the gun lobby. The left sends its thoughts and prayers while not pushing for any meaningful change or even showing enough will to pursue one. Presidents like Obama and Biden have presided over many such mass shootings and have done little beyond "urging" for reforms. 

Some common sense reforms that can be done are: 

• Increase the minimum age for buying guns - yes, this doesn't stop someone from taking their parent's firearms, but it would've prevented Uvalde - and even a small win is worth something. 
• More waiting time before delivery of the firearm - stops impulsive actions and give enough time for the buyer to contemplate or even reverse his actions.
• Better background checks - interviews with family, approval from local police dept, character statement from neighbors etc.
• Ban on assault weapons - if you need an assault rifle for home protection, you are either a really bad shot or living in peak ISIS infested Mosul.

The only people against such reforms are hare brained gun nuts who shout platitudes like constitution, second amendment whenever these subjects are brought up. 

It's hard to reason someone out of an idea they didn't reason themselves into. So the only way to push some of these reforms is by playing the same political number games that the NRA lobby plays too well. This will take time, but it's not impossible. 

There was one thing about this shooting which stood out though - it was the cowardly response of the Uvalde Police Dept. Especially their incapable chief : Peter Arredondo.

Looks the part of a comic book villain but played the part of a bumbling joker when tragedy stuck their local high school.

Cops who are full of vigor and energy when it comes to firing at bystanders, unarmed pregnant women, black men selling weed or kids with autism - collectively lost their cojones when it came to confronting an 18 year old with an assault rifle shooting at unarmed elementary school kids. 

They are under no obligation to save lives of the children for sure - it's a moral question anyway. But then for a city that spent 40% of its budget to beefing up this department and outfitting them with state of the art weaponry and tactical gear for them to just stand collectively outside scratching their butts seems a bit comical. 

These cops at the very least should resign from their jobs because they have shown that they don't have the courage to serve or to protect.

Police reform is a touchy topic in this country. Defunding the police was an extreme slogan that easily lent itself to ridicule, after all, a police presence, even if as cowardly as Uvalde cops can do something minimal to deter crime. However some of these departments definitely need better oversight. From someone independent and powerful enough to influence changes. And these changes need to go simply beyond a token paid suspension or a transfer to another department where these unscrupulous cops continue to destroy the credibility of the force.