Let's blame the NRA

"First they came for the AR-15s. But I didn't own an AR-15 so I said nothing.  

"Then they came for the Remington Model 597, but I didn't own a Remington Model 597 so I said nothing. 

"Then they came for my Bushmaster XM-15 but there was no NRA to speak for me." --Vinny Boombots

A student at the University of Central Florida, Christian Nicholas Velasquez, 21, was temporarily prohibited from owning any firearm or ammunition. He was being investigated for praising the Parkland shooter and called him a hero. 

The ban was to last for a year.

On Monday, Florida  circuit judge Robert LeBlanc ruled that Velasquez will be allowed to buy guns if he so chooses, declining Orlando police's attempt to extend the ban to a full year.

Velasquez was being investigated by campus police after receiving a tip from the community about a Reddit user, "TheRealUCFChris." This was the account of Velasquez and he allegedly called the Parkland shooter and the Las Vegas gunman heroes.

UCF police officer Jeff Panter asked Velasquez several hypothetical questions. For example, he asked whether the school would be his target, the Sun-Sentinel reported. The answer he gave was that he would more likely target a middle-school or high school where he had been bullied, but it would take a tragic event to provoke him.

I wonder how Velasquez defines a tragic event.

Anyway, he was taken to a mental health facility and was deemed by a doctor not be to be a threat. However, an Orlando detective, an FBI agent and Panter received a handgun from Velasquez's father and they were permitted to search his room.

His lawyer Kendra Parris, argued that her client was being punished for free speech and that extending his ban would have prevented him from attaining future employment, saying also that Velasquez had not indicated he was actually going to commit a shooting, citing his lack of criminality and lack of weapon.

Rest assured, Velasquez lives nowhere near Parris nor LeBlanc.

So the judge has now make it possible for him to get his hands on one or more. 

Parris said that Velasquez told police he couldn't imagine committing a mass shooting, adding that he "wanted to look like a bada*s on Reddit.

However, the city's lawyer, Alexander Karden, said the mental health evaluations Velasquez completed showed three of the five steps of progression toward committing some form of violence, according to the Sun-Sentinel. 

Karden said of Velasquez, "He's following the trajectory. This statute is not designed for someone who's already gone over the top. It's designed to stop them before they get there."

And just to put icing on the feces cake, Parris said the family will pursue civil action against the Orlando Police Department.

Now the statistical probability is that Velasquez will never commit such an abhorrent act of violence with a firearm. But we saw how the warning signs in Parkland were ignored and how the Broward County Police Department and mental health facility did nothing when it knew of the danger the shooter posed to the school. All the warning signs were there.

And you can bet if Velasquez picks up a gun and starts shooting people, it's going to be the NRA who gets blamed for it because it fits the political agenda of gun control fascists.


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