If you are to believe State Sen. Kelli Stargill (R-Lakeland/too far inland to have a nuanced perspective lest she get torpedoed in a primary), though, the only way to prevent said mayhem can basically be deployed via prayer-hands emoji.
"It's not the weapon. It's the evil from within," she said of people who legally purchase weapons in order to make mass slaughter mindbogglingly easy.
She made her remarks Saturday during a rare weekend meeting at which the Florida legislature was supposed to pass laws aimed at preventing more mass shootings. State leaders called the meeting in the wake of sustained calls to action by students who literally witnessed the mass shooting that killed 17 of their classmates at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Most of the students who spoke out said they would like lawmakers to do something about guns. So naturally, Republican lawmakers showed up at the Capitol just rearin' to go…pass legislation about not-guns.
Stargel said thoughts and prayers — basically neurotransmitters flashing to and fro with little concrete proof they'll ever manifest into anything concrete — may be maligned, but they sure as heck do wonders!
"When we say 'thoughts and prayers, it's frowned upon," Stargel said. "And I take real offense at that, because thoughts and prayers are really the only thing that's going to stop the evil from within the individual who is taking up arms to do this kind of a massacre."
If, by "thoughts and prayers" she means "putting state resources toward making sure not one at-risk young person slips through the cracks," cool.
If, instead, she's referring to the common refrain of Facebook grandmas, then nah.
Stargel is running for reelection. It's unclear whether she will have a primary challenger, but she will appears on track to face Democrat Bob Doyel (who has raised less than a sixth of what she has thus far) in the general.
This article appears in Mar 1-8, 2018.