Another mass shooting at a school, and yet nothing changes

SHARE Another mass shooting at a school, and yet nothing changes
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Nicole Auzston and son Branden, 17, a junior who was at the school when the shooting took place, react outside the Alamo Gym on Friday. | David J. Phillip/AP

A grisly gun story.

This time, Texas-style.

Texas.

The gun state, the safety net for the 2nd Amendment right to keep arms.

A 17-year-old student was arrested Friday and two people were questioned following a school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas.

It left 10 dead and 10 injured; the shotgun and revolver used in the carnage belonged to the shooter’s father.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott talked about standing together, praying together, holding together and calling for a roundtable of experts to figure out how to make sure this couldn’t happen in Texas again . . . keeping “the protection of the Second Amendment in mind.”

Of course.

A law enforcement official noted plans were being studied on changing Texan school infrastructure to provide protection for the entrances and exits of 8,000 schools in their system because there weren’t enough people to guard them.

Of course.

Parents were also urged to lock up their guns because the two weapons confiscated by the alleged shooter were legally owned by the student’s father.

Of course.

There was talk of evil. And prayer. And how Texas can get through this.

Sure bet.

OPINION

But there was no mention of what schoolchildren nationwide were fighting for who marched to Washington, D.C., after the student massacre in Florida.

It’s so simple.

Either make it the most difficult thing in the world to possess a gun.

Or . . . just get rid of the guns.

It’s a royal wrap!

Cheerio Prince Harry Windsor and his American wife Meghan (nee) Markle.

Here’s a few “Postcards from London.”

• Scoop du royale! Sneed hears whispers England’s newlyweds may set up a part-time residence in the U.S. in case a dose of homesickness sets in after the show and glow are gone. Bet it’s in California near mom and the actor set.

• The Di file: A statement by Markle’s half-brother, Thomas Markle Jr., that she wanted to step into the shoes of Prince Harry’s late mother, Princess Diana — are certainly true. Sneed hears the new duchess will throw herself full tilt into Diana’s charitable legacy. Markle is described as a “toucher” like her late mother-in-law, whom Harry worships.

• What’s a royal to do? Prince Harry may be the first British royal not to meet his future father-in-law before his wedding; an indication of what the bride’s relationship was like with her dad before she met the prince? Yes? The meet-and-greet was supposed to happen upon his arrival at the wedding; nixed after a pay-for-play photo scandal in which Mr. Markle did not sparkle.

• Yuk! The grossest wedding souvenirs: Prince Harry and Meghan Markle sex toys. (Don’t remember seeing those covering past Windsor royal weddings since 1986.)

• Pluck! The 15 minutes of fame award to a distant Markle relative uninvited to the wedding — but showing up in London anyway — should probably go to Markle’s half-brother’s ex-wife, Tracy Dooley. She apparently hasn’t spoken to the actress for 20 years — according to the Brit press.

• Royal surprise: The wedding attendance of Sarah Ferguson, ex-wife of Prince Andrew, who is not invited to important royal family events and was not invited to the wedding in 2011 to Prince William and Kate Middleton.

Toni the tiger . . .

Irish pluck: Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, who is leading a charge reforming the county’s juvenile justice system, headed to Ireland Friday to talk about it.

She’s been invited by UNESCO’s Child and Family Center to deliver an Honorary International address on her work at the National University of Ireland/Galway.

• “Cook County had the first juvenile court in the U.S., begun by Jane Addams in 1901 and it is high time we got back to viewing juvenile justice as a rehabilitative process, and not simply as punishment for bad behavior,” she told Sneed.

• “We also have a long sister relationship with County Cork, so I’m really looking forward to my first trip to Ireland, and my first trip abroad in my capacity as Cook County Board president,” she told Sneed.

• “I’m so grateful UNESCO has recognized our work,” said Preckwinkle, who cites her work along with Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx in “dramatically reducing the temporary juvenile detention center population and supporting a law raising the age of juvenile court jurisdiction to include 17-year-olds — a reform advocated to promote rehabilitation as well as public safety and fairness.”

Sneedlings . . .

Watch for CPS CEO Janice Jackson to celebrate her birthday by tossing out the first pitch at the White Sox game Tuesday. . . . Uber Olympian Michael Phelps hits St. Charles on Monday to host the Golf.Give.Gala celebrity golf outing — as well as former Cubbies Kerry Wood and David Ross, comedian Tom Dreesen, television personality Zuri Hall, and former Blackhawk Bryan Bickell. . . . Saturday’s birthdays: Peter Bakwin, ageless and priceless, Sam Smith, 26; and Andrea Pirlo, 39. . . . Sunday’s birthdays: Busta Rhymes, 46; Ted Allen, 53; and Rachel Platten, 37.

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