The Apalachee High School shooting isn't making the headlines still, but no one has forgotten about it, either. It's still a major factor in the gun debate, both in Georgia and at the national level.

Yet a lot of states neighboring Georgia were more than a little rattled by the massacre and literally no one wants this happening near them.

Believe me, I get it.

A South Carolina gun rights advocate has something he thinks might make a difference: Gun safety education.

“Of course, not everyone that has a mental health problem will become a mass shooter, but everyone that is a mass shooter clearly has a mental health problem,” said Dan Roberts, executive board member and outreach director with South Carolina Carry.

Officials said two students and two teachers at Apalachee High School were killed on Sept. 4 after a teenager opened fire. Nine others, including eight students, were hurt. 

Roberts said one thing he could agree on with Moms Demand Action is these situations didn’t happen in the 80s and 90s, or at least not as often. 

“We didn’t ever think, ‘Oh, I lost to my buddy Johnny in a fist fight, I’m going to go home and get my shotgun and I’m going to ambush him at school tomorrow,'” Roberts said. “Something has changed, and it is not the access to guns.” 

Roberts said safe storage laws might not be enforceable without violating the 4th amendment searching homes. He said he’d like to see gun safety education teaching kids that guns aren’t scary. 

Roberts doesn't want anyone to lose their guns and he notes that teaching people to huddle in a corner isn't exactly a winning strategy, either. On that, I'm in total agreement.

I'm also someone who has long advocated for gun safety education in our schools. I think it's absolutely critical that kids be not just exposed to guns but also learn what not to do with them.

I just don't think it has anything to do with the shooting at Apalachee High School.

This wasn't an accident. There's no indication this was someone who didn't think guns could kill or anything of the sort, either. This was a kid who decided to eliminate as many of his peers as he could, apparently because they were "transphobic" or something. Gun safety education isn't going to change that line of thinking, especially if your focus is on making guns less scary.

I think that's a laudable goal and one I totally back, but framing is important. It shouldn't be, but it is. This is presented as if it's a solution to school shootings, and it's not. Not when they're intentional acts like Apalachee High.

Now, with that said, I have no reason to believe Roberts actually thinks that other than how it's presented in this report. We don't know if that's the context he intended or if that's just the reporter's framing.

So I don't want anyone to think I'm beating up on him. I'm not.

And I still think gun safety classes are a good idea. This is especially true in our inner city schools where kids are less likely to be exposed to guns growing up. I think it'll prevent an untold number of deaths and injuries, all while doing nothing to inhibit people's rights.

But I don't think it'll help with mass murder, unfortunately.