The recent school shooting in Texas once again brought out the worst in all of the NRA apologists. As we are all aware, they feel the problem with gun violence isn't the guns, but literally anything else BUT the guns.

Numerous folks have pointed out that he used a shotgun and pistol, NOT an AR-15, so therefore banning AR-15s would have had NO EFFECT on this shooting. Never mind that a "child" of 17 isn't allowed to be in possession of a shotgun or pistol, so he had them illegally (see? - criminals WILL find a way to get guns... they'll take their parents' guns). Never mind that if dear old dad happened to have an AR-15 in the house, the kid would most certainly have used it (and done much worse damage). Never mind that people who actually DO want to control gun violence have proposed numerous regulations on gun control besides banning AR-15 (semi-automatic rifle) type weapons, and one of them would be holding the gun owner criminally liable for crimes committed with his/her weapons.

The really absurd stuff, though, comes from those in the public eye. The shooter was wearing a trench coat (in TX in May - should have been a red-flag). Conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt brilliantly suggested that we could end school violence by banning trench coats in school. It's not the guns - it's the trench coats!

Texas Lt. Governor Dan Patrick suggested the problem with school shootings isn't the guns - it's that schools have too many doors. The absurdity should be obvious, but in case it isn't, think about any number of restaurants, etc. you've been to with doors with emergency alarms on them. They can't be opened from the outside (without a key), but can be pushed open from the inside, setting off a fire alarm. How would reducing these types of doors reduce shootings? Take all the time you need.

Perhaps most disturbing is the rationale provided by the father of the shooter. He claimed that his son was "bullied" and THAT was what set him off. The reality is that the shooter's first victim - Shana Fisher - was harassed by the shooter for months and she kept turning him down privately until doing so in a public way. This behavior is an extreme example of "incels" - those "involuntarily celibate" (which would include most horny teenage boys). It could also be considered an example of what happens in domestic abuse situations. Blaming the (dead) young woman for not submitting to the shooter is probably one of the most disgusting "blame the victim" examples there has ever been. It's right up there with "look what she was wearing - she was asking for it" after getting raped.

What this ultimately comes down to is entitlement. Young white men are growing up with this sense that they're entitled to get what they want, because they are males, and they are white, and when reality frustrates them, they feel entitled to own and use guns to settle things in a way they think will satisfy them. Respect and empathy may or may not be innate, but people can be trained (from a young age) to understand and nurture those postive emotions. That in and off itself may lead the way to reducing gun ownership and gun violence.

Until that happens, though, the NRA-lovers want you to brick up those doors, take off those trench coats, and submit.

Oh - and buy more guns.