Trump shooting lesson should be keeping guns out of the hands of disturbed people under 21

I know it’s a fool’s errand but I keep waiting for U.S. Sen. Rick Scott to point out the dangers of putting high-powered sniper rifles in the hands of disturbed young adults.

After all, that used to be his jam, and a thing he did as governor that deserved praise.

Following the 2018 massacre of 17 people at Marjory Stoneman High School in Parkland at the hands of a troubled 19-year-old with a legally purchased military-style AR-15 rifle, Scott had a brief moment of clarity.

He signed into law a bill that prohibited sales of firearms to those under 21 years old, and made it easier to get violent threat restraining orders, saying he was just trying to make people safer in Florida from mentally unstable young adults who had easy access to firepower.

“We know for certain that we cannot simply rely on the current federal background check system,” Scott said at the time. “The killer should not have been able to purchase or even possess a weapon. And we know that the federal government can't even be counted on to investigate or act on serious and credible threats.”

That was six years ago. Since then, Scott seems to have lost his voice.

Two years ago, Scott opposed a federal gun law that would have done what his Florida law did — raise the age to purchase firearms to 21. The turn-around was dramatic.

"Taking rights away from law-abiding Americans is not the answer and nothing more than an attack on the 2nd Amendment," Scott said, reverting to his pre-Parkland, NRA-compliant, head-in-the-sand stance.

In the moments after Saturday’s attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump by a lone disturbed 20-year-old with a high-powered rifle, Scott joined the chorus of lawmakers wondering how this could happen.

“The security of our Republic is being questioned and we as a nation need answers,” Scott posted on X.

I was hoping that Scott might have a brief epiphany by realizing that he had a pretty good answer six years ago after the Parkland shooting.

Sure, there seemed to be a massive failure of the U.S. Secret Service and dozens of local and state lawmen at the Pennsylvania rally to allow one guy access to a rooftop within clear sight of the stage and Trump.

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But what about the original sin: Allowing Thomas Matthew Crooks, who by accounts was a heavily bullied teenage loner who was drawn to firearms, the means to fulfill his twisted assassin fantasy?

It’s the easy access to guns. Have the guts to say it.

Instead, the elected representatives who should be enacting sensible policy to regulate their sales — something most voters want — are wearing AR-15 lapel pins and posing their family Christmas card photos with spouses and their young children all holding firearms in front of the tree.

C’mon, Rick Scott. Find the words you did after Parkland.

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I’ll help. Two days before the attempt on Trump’s life, there was a mass shooting in England that was big news.

The shooter, a 26-year-old man, killed a 61-year-old mother and her two adult daughters. Due to strict gun control laws in the United Kingdom, the shooter used a crossbow instead of a firearm.

Think about how much safer we’d all be if would-be killers had to use crossbows, instead of firearms.

The rifle shot that grazed Trump’s ear was fired at about 150 yards away — about three times longer than a crossbow’s range. It wouldn't have mattered that the Secret Service forgot to surveil that distant rooftop.

Scott thanked God for protecting Trump.

C'mon, Rick. That’s just trying to get somebody else to do your job.

Frank Cerabino is a news columnist with The Palm Beach Post, part of the Gannett Newspapers chain.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Trump shot by young, disturbed man with legal access to gun