stem school shooting brady campaign politicization
Bouquets of flowers sit on the sign outside the STEM School Highlands Ranch late Wednesday, May 8, 2019, in Highlands Ranch, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

In case you missed it, students of the STEM School Highlands Ranch walked out of a vigil for a murdered student the other night when it (not so spontaneously) turned into a gun control rally led by politicians and a local Shannon Watts acolyte.

Unfortunately for the gun control advocates, the facts behind the shooting make their argument for additional restrictions on the right to keep and bear arms more difficult. One of the two shooters stole the handguns they used from a parent, who had purchased them legally and stored them in a locked gun cabinet.

There’s no word yet from any member of the Civilian Disarmament Industrial Complex as to what additional gun laws they’d like to enact that would have prevented this crime.

The Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms has issued the following press release. File this under sentiments with which we fully agree…but we’re not holding our breath.

BRADY SHOULD APOLOGIZE TO GUN OWNERS FOR VIGIL EXPLOITATION,’ SAYS CCRKBA

BELLEVUE, WA – While the Brady Campaign has expressed sorrow that some anti-gun politicians tried to turn a vigil for victims of the STEM School Highlands Ranch shooting into a gun control event, Brady should apologize to all American gun owners for allowing the attempted exploitation to happen, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said today.

The event was reportedly organized by a Brady youth group called “Team Enough.” But Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, who is among 23 Democrats now running for president, and Democrat Congressman Jason Crow reportedly tried to make this into a gun control campaign platform, and it backfired, according to published reports.

“The students and parents who attended the vigil didn’t deserve that,” said CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb, “and neither do tens of millions of law-abiding gun owners whose rights are under constant attack. No honest gun owner is responsible for the STEM high school incident, and their rights should not be scapegoated by headline-hunting politicians trying to capitalize on tragedy.

“The Brady Campaign was well aware that an anti-gun politician would turn such a somber event into a gun control rally,” he added. “Instead, students and their parents were rightly offended and they responded appropriately by walking out.

“Wednesday’s vigil was supposed to honor the heroic sacrifice of 18-year-old Kendrick Castillo,” Gottlieb observed, “and to support other students who were injured, and give students a chance to speak from their hearts. Instead, it turned into a backdrop for gun control grandstanding. That was both appalling and insulting, not just to those in attendance, but every Second Amendment citizen whose rights are routinely blamed after such a horrific incident.

“The Brady Campaign and the politicians who tried to exploit this tragedy should be ashamed,” he concluded. “Every one of them owes the community, and the country, an apology.”

 

With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.

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34 COMMENTS

  1. “One of the two shooters stole the handguns they used from a parent, who had purchased them legally and stored them in a locked gun cabinet.”

    Do they know yet what the make and model number are of the “locked gun cabinet” they were stolen from?

    It would be so very *delicious* if the cabinet they were stolen from was on the California “Approved” list of gun storage cabinets…

    • Due to a design flaw, and the stupidity and unwillingness of the manufacturers to correct the problem, some certain gun safes can be opened quite easily without any force whatsoever.

      I know, because I have 2 such safes, and scumbag thieves have been in both of them. They both have digital locking systems.

      • The digital locks on safes gives the owner a false sense of security and a way for the safe manufacturers to reduce the selling price as opposed to the same safe with a combination mechanical lock. I have been told that the method to overcome the digital lock is passed from among prisoners in jails and is common knowledge.

        • I have mechanical locks and wouldn’t have anything else. As an aside, I’ve worked a burglary or two.

        • I, too, have old-style mechanical locks on my Ft Knox safes. I just can’t bring myself to trust batteries. And the little keypads look so damn cheap.

      • I’d suspect that “larry shriver” is an Alex drone. See what “she” can do to solve your “problem”

        • Hey, smart ass; it’s demonstrated on the internet how someone can open a safe., and it doesn’t have to be a digital, either. Unfortunately, I did not become aware of the ease it can be done until AFTER I had bought them. Not everyone is as intelligent as you.

        • Where in the hell do you have to live to have thieves in your gun safes twice? I haven’t had an attempted theft in the past 50 years, and you’ve been hit *twice*?

      • That sucks having to go through that, man. This might be a good time to bring up Deviant Olem, which is a guy that runs a penetration testing company (remember the movie Sneakers? ). He talks a lot about locks and their weakness as well as guns and what constitutes secure storage, how to tell if a safe or cabinet is any good and sometimes things you can do to improve what you might already own.

        Lots of his DefCon abs other security/hacker convention talks are available on YouTube, searching for his name “Deviant Olem” generally gets good results.

        So anyone out there not sure what the deal with cheap gun safes is, he’s a good source of information.

        • Hey, Marcus; thanks for the info…I’ll check it out.

          Now , to answer other people’s questions………I live in Davenport, Iowa. Knowledgeable people are aware of just what a fucking joke our Police department is……..The first time I reported a gun stolen, the dumb-ass cop said ” are you sure you didn’t misplace it ?” I guess he’s like some of these other anti-gun assholes who thing a gun is able to maneuver and operate on it’s own.

          My home is a brick veneer side by side ranch duplex, with me living on one side, and using the other side as storage. There are passage doors between the two units; one a regular door, and the other a pocket door. It has Pella casement windows. I LOCKED all of them, and removed the handles which would unlock them. How the hell they are getting in, I cannot figure out, because of the steps I have taken. The doors have an angle bolted to a plate coming out between the jamb and the door, and the angle prevents the door from being opened. Sometimes I think it’s people from Star Trek causing my problems, because it seems like they can materialize out of the air, and disappear just as easily.

          This is just the tip of the iceberg, because they have also stolen clothing, food, tools, money, and just anything else they wanted. Last week, they stole a notebook containing all my computer passwords ( 4th time.) They have damaged all of my vehicles setting outside in driveway. They stole my 3rd set of keys last August, and I had to walk for 2 months before I could get a locksmith here to cut and program new keys for my vehicles…cost me $725 to have it done.

          I can’t catch them on video, and they have stolen several camera systems, as well as tapes which possibly would have proven their guilt. Without proof, I can’t get the law to do anything. I’ve tried to get people to ” house sit ” when I was gone, but never had any luck.

          The gun safes are on the side that is used for storage, because it’s larger than the one I occupy. Both of them are Safari models, made by Cannon ( I believe ), 16 and 24 gun respectively. However, as I stated previously, there was a demonstration on the Net by this locksmith of just how easy it was to open a safe with the right equipment. And it was a DIAL safe, so I wouldn’t get too complacent if your safe has a dial.

          Being almost 80 yoa, I have decided that I am going to shoot any asshole I catch inside my home, and let the State of Iowa pay for my future lodging. After all, what kinda life does one have when some scumbag can steal or damage everything you have ?

    • News report said that the kid “smashed in the door” of the safe. I presume he used a sledge hammer or similar blunt object.

  2. What bullshit they (anti gunners) do it every time there is a shooting. And like this they are usually wrong. And it will continue

  3. Focus on the anti gun groups,,, every time a shot is fired they turn it into a soapbox moment,,,
    The punks that did this will get plenty of sympathy and help from the snowflakes that think the guns went off by themselves,,,

    • Here is a Video from the event it appears that Bloomberg’s “Mom’s Demand Action” organized the event and invited the politicians to speak. It seems Mom’s Demand Action is ready to dispatch a team and organize their agenda when ever there is an opportunity to further there agenda..

        • Well, to be fair, it’s not really a secret. The only secret is that the “mom’s” are paid representatives of one man, with no real convictions of their own. And not necessarily moms, or even female.

  7. They will simply state if guns were not sold to civilians this would never have happened.
    Then a cops gun is stolen. That’s happened already.

    Can’t win with these people so don’t even try to play their game.

  8. Once again a failure to comprehend than only Humans Cause Violence.

    The anti-gunner stupidity aside, this one was another case where the shooters were known about beforehand. By other students apparently. There are programs that have worked extremely well where used to get kids and teens to report such behaviors.

    Have to wonder if any of that sort of approach was used in this school?

  9. Never going to convince them that disarming the population isn’t more important than some dead and wounded kids and their traumatized classmates.
    Alcohol kills way more kids but no problems with that either. Opportunists.

  10. Glad to see that the students would not allow themselves to become pawns in the gun control debate. The anti gun crowd will never apologize for any actions, they are better and smarter than gun owners, we should just listen to them as they know what’s best for us all. They promote the high profile publicity associated with these events, however this one backfired on them. This story will disappear fast, there was no ‘assault weapon used, the guns were stolen, one of the shooters was a trans gender. None of these items fit the narrative pushed for gun control

    • back when Huffington Post still allowed comment, the proRKBA folks out debated the gun grabbers just about universally–it is telling when non lawyers are able to out debate lawyers quite a few people outdebated Helmke during the lead to Heller

  11. I loved the chant of the STEM students about mental health. we must get the average person to understand that most gun control acolytes are one-worlders and anti-sovereignty.

  12. If the leftist radicals were remotely concerned about lives of teens they would focus on teen alcohol abuse, texting and driving, cyber bullying, teen suicide, etc. The list is endless. My son lost two friends in high school due to suicide. Unfortunately, this is not part of their agenda.

  13. “The Brady Campaign Owes Gun Owners (and STEM Students) an Apology”

    They’ve owed apologies for yrs, and they’ll NEVER capitulate…

  14. A little late to be commenting on this thread, and only tangentially related to the topic but what the media excludes from these stories is often as important as what they include. As a parent of three students in two schools in this school district and the network of friends and parents that frequent my home, this is what unfolded last Thursday and Friday at Douglas County High School. This is what I have pieced together from various student accounts . . .

    Apparently the two shooters have a group of very like minded friends that attend DCHS, one of which had plans to “end it all” that day by killing as many students as possible before taking her own life during the senior farewell assembly at the end of that day. DCHS did not close the school or cancel the event. Rather most of the students fled the school of their own volition. Later that day some remaining students blocked the door to the gym to prevent any other students or staff from conducting the assembly. As you can imagine there was a FLOOD of pissed off parents at the school that day picking up kids who did not have their own cars to flee in. No official notice was sent to parents by the school or district.

    Friday several students were charged with varying conspiracy charges. Turns out this group of friends all knew about the planned shooting and some helped plan it. Supposedly they had a detailed plan to attack DCHS as the primary target including which hallways to wait in between which classes to maximize the number of students in the hallway. They changed their target because they didn’t want their friends caught in the crossfire and hated “the STEM kids” more.

    Anyway, that is what both the national and local media is ignoring. Some of what I detailed above are verifiable events and some of it is the byproduct of students sharing what they “know” on social media so speculate with the required grain of salt. Just thought it worth sharing that the ripples of this event continue to spread away from the narrative and as they do the media ignores/hides more and more of it.

  15. There are various tools and deices that can open any safe made as well as open up a armored tank.

    Locks are for honest people or to protect against lazy stupid criminals or kids.

    U have to educate kids early on guns unless u have broken child who needs to be locked up 24/7 in juvi.

    My adopted brother was such a broken animal…. punishment or sermons had no effect on him! He would just destroy the house and my toys then run away!

    IF given chores he would refuse to do them…and punishment to his room was like heaven where he had cold AC And the best color TV and a refrigerator full of candy…. as the honest folk sweltered hungry working the fields in 120deg heat.

    My parents would say ….we can do anything with him…..he won’t listen and we don’t want to beat on him.so i got to do all the chores like a slave.

    Parents shelter these bad kids.. that we unfortunately find out about after they shoot up a school like the Parkland kid who had the cops and FBI called 40 times and they did nothing. Along with the school and kids knew he was a nut and had made threats and they all together did nothing…same thing in Sandy Hook.

    We can point at the causes but, we are failing to identify them b4 its too late.

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