"Didn’t the armed good guys refuse to enter the school?" - Shannon Sharpe calls out Ted Cruz for his recent comments on Texas shooting

Recriminations are flying in the wake of the tragic Uvalde shooting, with Shannon Sharpe and Senator Ted Cruz going at each other on Twitter. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas, in whose state the shooting took place, went to the National Rifle Association (NRA) convention over the last few days and stressed that the only way to prevent such shootings is to arm good guys with guns.

Shannon Sharpe did not take kindly to that and replied that there were armed good guys who refused to enter the school when an active shooter was present in the building.

Genesis of the spat between Senator Ted Cruz and Shannon Sharpe

As the tragic details of the Uvalde shooting emerged, it turned out that local law enforcement had taken some serious missteps. The local cops waited outside and let the shooter carry on in the building. They refused to let others enter either. It emerged that they allegedly put parents in handcuffs, who wanted to enter and try to save the children.

The chronology of what transpired seems to be established as follows. The local police entered the building but then took cover, fearing that they would be shot. It seems to be, at first glance, a breach of duty, but one can understand the fear of those present. It eventually took federal agents from border patrol to enter and rescue the situation by negotiating with the shooter.

Hence, in the present moment, Senator Ted Cruz's assertion, that good guys with guns would have stopped the shooting, doesn't seem to hold true. The local police had guns, but still refused to enter, fearing a loss of life. Thus, a bad guy with a gun was able to murder 19 children and two adults, despite "good guys" having the guns.

Shannon Sharpe took to pointing that out. What he left unsaid was the solutions he was proposing to alleviate such problems in the future. It has been said too often, and is still being proposed, that arming more decent people with guns would solve the problem. This includes arming teachers with guns. But as this experience shows, such solutions may not work and may not be foolproof.

Shannon Sharpe has pointed out what seems to be an obvious point emerging from this tragedy. While there are many ways to reduce the chances of gun deaths, it seems that all it is leading to is a war of words, without any concrete solution.