In the wake of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in Parkland, Florida, there has been a decidedly lopsided national debate about gun control and the security of America’s schools. Most of the nation overwhelming supports common sense measures like universal background checks and banning assault weapons. Even a hard-bitten military analyst on Fox News described putting AR-15s in the hands of civilians as “absolute madness.”

Nevertheless, Donald Trump and his sycophants in Congress and the media continue to serve as whores to the gun lobbyists at the National Rifle Association (NRA). They ignore the pleas of the student survivors and families of victims from Parkland to Newtown to Sutherland Springs and way too many more massacres. Even worse, they lie about their motives and tell them to shut up.

For his part, Trump has completely avoided the subject of restricting unfettered access to weapons of war. He fervently advocates putting even more guns on school campuses, a thoroughly boneheaded idea. And while doing so he shamelessly denies that he ever said any such thing. It’s a circus of hypocrisy and dishonesty that has become emblematic of the Trump era.

The Republican Party has fully embraced the inadequate proposals from the White House that mainly address the fringes of the issue. They talk disingenuously about banning bump stocks, raising age requirements, and reforming mental health care. But they offer nothing in the way of concrete legislation to accomplish even those minor components of a comprehensive solution. The one constant that is present in nearly every incident of mass murder is the assault weapon chosen by the murderers.

Surprisingly, Fox News covered a story this weekend that could provide a new direction for solving these problems. During a burglary in Des Moines, Washington, a German Shepherd leaped to the defense of the teenager who was home at the time. According to the report:

“A German Shepard is being hailed as a ‘four-legged angel’ after reportedly getting hit by three bullets while protecting his owner during a home invasion attempt this week in Washington.

“Javier Mercado, 16, said the dog, named Rex, came to his rescue after burglars broke into his home Wednesday afternoon in Des Moines.”

“‘I started hearing barking, a lot of barking, and then one of the guys screamed, ‘Get the dog! The dog bit me, the dog bit me!’ Mercado told Q13 Fox.”

Rex was shot three times, but still managed to scare off the intruders. He did what dogs are instinctively inclined to do: protect those they care for and who care for them. Which raises the notion of a far better way to protect schoolchildren than trying to turn schools into prisons and teachers into guards. Just get a few dogs to live on the school grounds and train them to recognize aggressors. The kids could get to know them and treat them as pets. But anyone who presented a threat would be met with a fearless and devoted defender.

Sure, there would be some details to work out with regard to preventing unintended injuries, but probably no more so than would occur with humans. This just seems like a more loving and humanitarian approach and should at least be included in the discussion. But those factors will likely rule that out for Trump and and his band of hateful, inhumane miscreants.

After treatment and surgery, Rex is expected to fully recover. The family has a posting for donations to cover veterinary bills on GoFundMe.

How Fox News Deceives and Controls Their Flock:
Fox Nation vs. Reality: The Fox News Cult of Ignorance.
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