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Guns of the Parkland, Florida Spree Killer

Robert Farago - comments No comments

The image below might include the Smith & Wesson AR15 that spree killer Nikolas Cruz used to murder 17 children at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School. The police haven’t released an image of the weapon that they confiscated from the killer. One thing we know for sure: the homicidal maniac sure wasn’t shy about showing his firearms on his [now deleted] Instagram account. Here are three images circulating around the ‘net . . .

Nikolas Cruz Instagram image

Photo of author

Robert Farago

Robert Farago is the former publisher of The Truth About Guns (TTAG). He started the site to explore the ethics, morality, business, politics, culture, technology, practice, strategy, dangers and fun of guns.

0 thoughts on “Guns of the Parkland, Florida Spree Killer”

  1. Robert…Your a disgusting individual for posting the picture of one of your precious “martyrs”. I thought you people were against this? Hypocrites.

    And you can happily thank the NRA and other gun “right” groups for allowing a mentally deranged lunatic to arm up.

    I thought you people opposed this. Yet you allowed trump to pass executive orders that would allowed dangerous mentally ill people to arm up.

    https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/trump-signs-bill-revoking-obama-era-gun-checks-people-mental-n727221

    These types of incidents don’t happen on a daily basis in Europe, Canada, Japan, Let alone Australia which solved it’s problem and suffered no mass killings ever since.

    Spare me your crap about incidents that are extremely rare in these countries versus what has been going on EVERYDAY here in this country alone.

    30 mass shootings in over a month a half, That’s not something to be proud of.

    http://www.gunviolencearchive.org/reports/mass-shooting

    Won’t be surprised if another one happens in a few days, next week or month.

    Whatever your solution is; Thought’s and prayers don’t seem to be working.

    It’s impossible to kill 50+ people with a knife, baseball bat, rock or a length of pipe and it’s much easier to fight back & survive against these people.

    Your intolerant bigoted nuts can insult me all you want.

    But explain this to me Robert or anyone on here? What are you going to say to families of the recent victims?

    You people talk big about your outdated archaic freedom to kill; But you love to ignore your “right” has violated the freedoms of innocent people who are possibly dead or dying. I’m sure again you can explain to their families why your “right” trumps the lives of their children to live and go to school without fear.

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    • copy paste same thought fed to you over and over will not make it fact

      comparing apples to sheep in other nations is the silliest thing I see trolls do

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    • This stuff happens just as often in other first-world regions, too. The wack-jobs simply use other means (in addition to firearms) to kill people. Hey, I have an idea… Why don’t we ban murder? Oh, wait… While we’re at it, if you exclude the Democrat/liberal cess-pool and gun control haven of Chicago from your “mass shooting” stats, the numbers change considerably.

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    • concernedamerican, You want to tell me why those arson cases I sighted before were dismissed? because Australia has had masskillings after passing gun control.

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    • Oh great, you again.

      You want to know what I’d say to the grieving families?
      Stop screaming at the wrong target.
      Scream and attack the family that spawned this little demon.
      Scream and attack the kid himself, he’s still alive. (though he shouldn’t be.)
      Scream and attack the local legislature that refused to allow the one security guard to be armed and prepared for this sort of attack.
      These attacks don’t happen in Europe and Australia? Well, you might be half right there. Firearm attacks are greatly reduced. As a result, knife attacks, machete attacks, acid attacks, bombings, and Molotov attacks are much more common.
      When will you figure out, that guns are used defensively much more often than they are used for criminal purposes.

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  2. I see:
    Mossberg Maverick 88
    Mossberg 715T
    S&W MP15
    Ruger American
    Crosman Classic air pistol
    Unidentified spring piston air rifle
    Unidentified semiautomatic shotgun
    ????

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  3. Well, the first picture is obviously an airsoft or other toy gun, not that any of the media noticed. As for the rest of the hardware its a little hard to tell what they are caliber etc so putting a number on them is almost impossible. Nor do we know if they are all his at this point. What we do know is that the feds were given a heads up about this guy months ago and did nothing just like they did with Omar Mateen.

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  4. Perfectly entitled to his opinion. Posting this is nothing more than click-bait to generate traffic. But it works. This site as degenerated to nothing more than a hang-out for tired, old (white) cry babies who love to rant about a former (black) president. Regan & Bush did more to take away your gun rights than any other president. TTAG audience is mostly akin to the Fox news audience in the world of gun blogs.

    BTW, don’t whine about my liberal, left-inspired views or whatever else you are about to reply to regarding my politics. I am all over the place politically and likely own more firearms than a good majority of you. Yeah, I am emotionally attached to my guns, but also don’t fly off into an unarticulated rant about Benghazi (or whatever other made-up story that suits someone else’s far-right agenda) when someone has an opinion that is not the same as mine.

    Most of the comments here give help to the narrative that the far left paints about gun owners fringe politics.

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  5. My teenager already knows what to do: careful, quiet, and fast escape from the building unless the attacker is within 50 feet, at which point you set-up for melee’ battle at the doorway.

    My pre-teen child knows to escape the building as fast as possible unless the attacker is close, at which point you lock the door, pile up desks, chairs, tables, and prepare to throw anything and everything at the attacker if he/she breaks through the door.

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  6. I like it.

    I hate Suppressor height sights if you don’t have a can attached.

    For $150 a pop I would get some.

    Looking forward to the review.

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  7. I’d hazard that’s a Ruger American bolt action of indeterminate caliber and a S&W M&P 15, although it’s hard (for me) to say definitely that it’s .223 and not .22LR. Under the M&P’s sling is another hand guard, it was reported he had an AK variant, but note the rail where the front sight would be. It’s hard to say what the pistol in picture #2 is, but I would guess a Browning Buckmark or a Baretta Neo [I agree more with the person that replied Crosman air pistol]. It’s pretty difficult to ID the two shotguns and top most rifle (maybe a 10/22?) in picture #2. I’m not sure what we’re looking at in pic #1 because it’s so dark and it has a red/orange barrel tip. Definitely a couple of grand in guns, I don’t know how the optics add up.

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  8. If she works in a hospital, good on her for carrying right past that sign. I avoid places that post signs, but it’s hard to do that in the case of a hospital, of which just about every single one is posted. So, I ignore the signs, because no hand-wringing, bleeding-heart hospital administrator is going to deprive me of my right to self-defense.

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  9. I can understand some might say don’t name the shooter, don’t name his tools, respect the victims, etc.

    On the other hand, a news article just saying 17 people were died under suspicious circumstances at a school doesn’t say much. Was there a CO leak?

    Plus when you have people like Florida senator Bill Nelson saying, according to Tampa Bay times, “Yes, and this is a mental health problem and we’ve got to face the fact that this is an automatic military assault weapon. I want you to know I grew up on a ranch. I have grown up with guns. I have hunted all my life. I hunt with my son still. An AR-15 is not for hunting, it’s for killing.”

    So if our leaders are going to go out and tell the world what they think there problem is and the fix, to ban these automatic military weapons, then we need to know whether that is accurate. Since automatic weapons are banned except for NFA purchase, and pre86, etc, that m&p15 doesn’t look like it really is an automatic. It doesn’t even have a bump stock! How are we going to ban something that is already banned, and how will that help when the tool used by the perpetrator wouldn’t be covered in an automatic ban?

    Unless the good Senator is trying to be sensational and mislead people by using a tragedy to push an agenda. Perish the thought!

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  10. How about instead we get rid of the physical schools and have kids learn online through Facetime? What’s the purpose of spending millions on electricity, buses, etc. when these kids could be on computers at home just like lots of online universities do.

    Think about it: these high school kids 14-18 years old could learn on their own time at home where they’re not going to be subjected to bullying, gang violence, or shootings and they won’t fall in with the wrong crowds if they’re not exposed to them.

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  11. I wonder if the Libs/Progs, like Obama, will very soon run away from this story? The more that comes to light, the more the systemic failure of this public school is exposed (I am a retired HS principal). Since they are the authors of this systematic failure, they really cannot say too much without exposing themselves.

    The schools have been so hamstrung by pie-in-the-sky social assumptions masquerading as school law that they can no longer function.

    Examples include; (i) an unarmed security guard who is also an assistant coach, (ii) an “everybody knows” threat that was not effectively addressed, and (iii) a superintendent who either did not know, or is lying about not knowing about the threat that everyone else seemed to know about.

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  12. Allow me to point out what should be obvious: a deranged person who is determined to harm school students can achieve wild success without firearms.

    Option 1) Secure doors with cheap chain and a padlock and set 2 gallons of gasoline on fire. Total cost: $10 and will ALWAYS be available.

    Option 2) Drive car at high speed into mass of students pouring out of main doors. Total cost: $0 if you already have a car or you “borrow” someone else’s car and will ALWAYS be available.

    Option 3) Bring a gallon of bleach and a gallon of ammonia, mix them in a 5 gallon bucket, and walk away. Total cost: $8 and will ALWAYS be available.

    Option 4) Purchase some steel flat stock, heat it over a fire and quench it a few times, use a file to sharpen the edge and some duct tape to make a handle and you have a wicked sword. Total cost: $11 and will ALWAYS be available.

    Option 5) Purchase a recurve bow, a dozen arrows, and a dozen broadheads. Quietly and quickly send arrows into students pouring out of the school’s main doors at the end of the school day. Total cost: $300 and will ALWAYS be available.

    Shall I continue? The immediate solution to ALL of these attacks (as well as attacks with firearms and attacks that I have not listed) is to have armed people in and around the school that can promptly stop such a deranged person. The long term solution is to restore responsible and loving families and to remove Progressive indoctrination at our schools.

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  13. I worked for Broward Schools for a period of time. There was a huge push to get Single Point of Entry at every campus. We were making good headway on this until Runcie changed the initiative to “gender neutral “ restrooms.

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  14. The feds was to busy trying to ruin Trump in support of hillary and the russians.

    The FBI needs to be on probation. They don’t straighten the hell up in a short, specified, time they’re out of work.

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  15. The Florida GOP will not allow any significant pro gun legislation to become law. They say they are pro gun and that is sufficient for Florida voters. Accordingly, skools will remain “gun free zones” in the wake of yet another tragedy.

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  16. My question to the liberals is why would a single law make any difference if the government can’t even track a dude down who posts online using his real name that directly puts up pictures of guns and says he’s going to be a school shooter? It’s easily misplaced faith.

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  17. Oh go suck a lemon Lemon…how do these cretins keep their jobs? Black hole indeed???? Megyn never was a conservative. Crash and burn NBC…

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  18. Nope…Won’t be happening in the “Socialist Republic Of Massachusetts…” A Typical “Communist- Authoritarian Police State….” Nope…They *Media Shills, STASI Police Chiefs, and my own workplace have been championing curtailing the 2nd Amendment…Or just flat out demands to repeal it by the usual anti-Trump SJWs, and Snowflakes…Nope…As the DemoCRAPic reps exclaim, “It’s only a Privilege here, and subject to being *regulated* out of existence….

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  19. Hmmm…time to buy my FIRST AR. Had 2 on layaway but had concerns about Illinoisistan banning/neutering ’em. Honestly doubt if I’d fire it much but you never know in a SHTF situation????????????

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  20. We provide Public Officials with armed, effective security, but put our children in Campuses that are like the proverbial fish barrel, then are all shocked and dismayed when some f-tard shoots them. It is time to harden school campuses and provide effective, armed security better than that provided to the do-nothing politicians and bureaucrats that have allowed this intolerable situation to develop in the first place. Gun regulation will never help because it is not what’s in the killer’s hand, but what is in his/her heart and mind that matters. We cannot know what he/she will do for certain, but we can provide effective security for our children that will stop these violent assaults more times than not.

    Personally, I think acts of mass violence against other people are means independent, as suicide has been shown to be. A determined assailant can devise means other than firearms to attack children in schools that are not properly secured, and will do so. Evidence of this can be seen in the UK, Australia and European Union States.

    No one calling for it has yet outlined what, specifically, they mean by “common sense gun regulation”, other than proposing “banning assault weapons” [which will result in masss non-compliance and feed thousands of the banned rifles into the Black Market where a determined assailant could obtain them anyway].

    I am not convinced relying on armed teachers and staff (even if extensively “trained”) is the ultimate solution. They would be in a reactive situation and that entails advantage to the attacker as well as other issues. In many locales, I am sure, we would find people who would gladly accept that training and carry concealed, but not all locales. Frankly, I know several teachers who are good people, but none of whom I would want in a classroom with a loaded gun and my children trying to face down an active shooter. Armed teachers and staff is a valid stop gap while better, long term preparations are in progress. The hardened security system, well equiped, properly structured and staffed by trained, dedicated, armed personnel put the campus into a pro-active situation and allows educators to focus on what they are trained, equiped and structured to do in a secure environment.

    We need to do what we know will work and what we can do successfully NOW. There is no excuse. Sadly, we might not succeed before another bunch of children is killed. Once the schools are secured, we can address related problems like the “mental health” and “social media” concerns.

    The only remaining question is how many more school children will we allow to die before we do what any reasonable, caring person/society would have done years ago.

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  21. If – the AR-15 were banned, it seems likely that the next weapon would be more lethal, not less. These people aren’t doing this to demonstrate firearms proficiency. I can see this escallating if these targets are not altered. The gun free zone is a low risk with a maximum payoff – reinforced by high publicity and deflected guilt.

    At the end of the week, everyone is to blamed, and the killer is a victim!

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  22. Millions per year ????

    Also, I have been saying it for years. The anti gun left has the same mentality towards us, as the Nazi party towards Jews, they want us exterminated in a mass genocide. Difference, is, though, it’s not going to work out that way for them.

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  23. It’s way easier and cheaper to ban guns than actually put in the foot work to check, help, or committ these people. The education system is to blame. Zero tolerance for any sort of attempt at violence of any sort, and just let these pubescent boys “talk” about their feelings. Let them fight it out, break stuff, burn that anger-induced energy. The feminization of men in this country, and worldwide for that matter is creating so many issues, and then instead of figuring out what to do, we drug these people up on massive amounts of pharmaceuticals. Then, one day they decide to stop taking them and they snap.

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