Brave students just prevented a horrifying massacre from unfolding

America narrowly avoided its 12th school shooting since the beginning of the year — less than 4 short weeks ago — when police arrested a 14-year-old boy at his home filled with multiple weapons near Pittsburgh yesterday.

A classmate had heard the student make a threat against four fellow students at Uniontown High School on the school bus and told their parents who reported the threat to police.

The police went to the student’s home to interview him and his parents where they discovered that he had planned to target the four classmates the very next day.

Fayette County District Attorney Richard Bower recounted the substance of the interview:

“The individual also expressed dislike for these four students and his uncle. He indicated it would be extremely easy to sneak a gun into the school in his backpack. He also indicated that he could use a sniper rifle from a distance or a shotgun for mass casualties. He didn’t like them, he just didn’t like them.”

After obtaining a search warrant, the police discovered an arsenal in the boy’s bedroom that consisted of one semi-automatic rifle, one shotgun, two lever-action rifles, one revolver, one crossbow and bulk ammunition for all weapons. Troopers also found throwing knives and two machetes. Details on how the boy obtained all of these weapons were not available.

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The student was then arrested and is currently being held in a juvenile detention center with his parents cooperating in the investigation. He now faces charges of making terrorist threats, possession of a firearm by a minor, and criminal attempt to commit catastrophe.

With 2018 shaping up as the most violent on record when it comes to school shootings, the chances of any reduction in school violence are slim, given the pervasive influence of the National Rifle Association on the Republican Party who are now eagerly spending the millions of dollars donated to them by the organization that has prevented any meaningful gun control legislation from even being brought up for debate in a Congress they control.

It’s perfectly clear at this point that the only way to prevent more school shootings is to reduce access to weapons, and the only way to achieve that goal is to vote Republicans out of office in the 2018 midterm elections. It’s up to the voters to elect people willing to enact the policies that the majority of Americans want to see in place, not the self-interested policies that benefit weapons manufacturers to the detriment of the rest of the populace.

Vinnie Longobardo

is the Managing Editor of Washington Press and a 35-year veteran of the TV, mobile, & internet industries, specializing in start-ups and the international media business. His passions are politics, music, and art.