A freshman male student* walked into the cafeteria of Marysville-Pilchuck High School in Maryville, Washington on Friday.

At approximately 10:45 AM he pulled a .40 S&W Beretta pistol that he illegally acquired and possessed from a bookbag. He then opened fire on specific individuals in a targeted attack.

When the shooting stopped, a female student had been murdered. Four other students were shot, three critically. The student with the stolen handgun fired a final, fatal shot into his own head, ending the violence only seconds after it began. The threat was over by the time the armed school resource officer arrived.

Many are attempting to make sense of this senseless act.

Why would a reportedly popular student, a member of the football team just elected prince in the school’s homecoming court, commit such a heinous act?

His family claims that he had recently been bullied and had been suspended for fighting to defense himself.

Should we blame this tragedy, then, on the absurd “zero tolerance” policies progressive school administrators have adopted, which callously treat the bullied the same as the bullies?

Others claim that the violence was the result of a high school romance that had recently gone sour, with one of killer’s cousins (and victims) reportedly winning the heart of a girl that the killer had also desired.

Should we excuse this, then, as domestic violence merely expressed in a school setting?

I don’t pretend to have answers, and would humbly suggest that anyone attempting to claim that they have answers to this tragedy is attempting to sell you something. All we know for certain—and all that we may ever know—is that this young man gave in to his inner demons and turned temporary anguish into permanent loss.

Sadly, within moments of the tragedy there were vultures attempting to turn this community’s loss into craven political gain.

It is what ghouls do.

They exploit tragedy and loss in order to strip away rights while emotional currents run high and people desperately want to “do something,” however impotent and symbolic.

That puts those of us who are praying for the souls of the departed, for the lives of the injured, and for the broken hearts of all the families involved in the position of also having to counter the seething, wretched propaganda of these vile and exploitative villains.

Every significant gun control group in the United States and in Washington state began attempting to “spin” this tragedy within minutes to hours after the incident. Locally, in Washington State, these people used the events to scream for the passage of Initiative 594 (I-594), a deceptively powerful gun control bill.

I-594 is overwhelming opposed by Washington State law enforcement, who have stated categorically that it is unenforceable, and would criminalize law-abiding citizens while do nothing to reduce crime or criminal behavior. They recognize that I-594 intentionally penalizes hunters and target shooters, friends and families.

I-594 would have done nothing to prevent yesterday’s tragedy at Marysville-Pilchuck High School. It would not have saved a single life. It simply wasn’t relevant in any way.

I-594 would not have been effective any more than the existing laws that this young man broke against against firearms theft, possession of a handgun by a minor, possession of a handgun on school grounds, or the far more serious laws against murder, attempted murder, and suicide.

Jealously guard against those who would exploit this tragedy to seize more of your precious liberty.

These ghouls have only their own selfish interests at heart.

* Bearing Arms does not publish the names of school murderers or mass murderers as a matter of policy.