‘Good-guy’ saves kids in gun-free zone. Broward cop caught asleep on duty. Both have guns. Any questions?

The left is pushing to keep firearms out of Americans’ hands, but the most recent school shooting once again proves that the issue isn’t guns–it’s who’s holding them.

Tuesday’s shooting at a Maryland high school cast doubt on gun control arguments after an armed deputy on the scene stopped the gunman in his tracks–one day after a sheriff’s deputy was found asleep on the job at the Florida school that was rocked by a 17-death massacre last month.

St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Office announced on Tuesday that Deputy First Class Blaine Gaskill fatally shot 17-year-old Austin Wyatt Rollins after the student fired at and wounded two classmates at Great Mills High School.

Sheriff Tim Cameron told the press that Rollins “produced a handgun” at 7:55 am while in the school’s hallway. He shot a 16-year old female student, who remains in critical condition.

A 14-year-old male student also shot by Rollins was reported as being in “stable” condition.

According to Fox News, Gaskill responded to the shots within one minute.

Deputy First Class Blaine Gaskill. (St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Office via AP).

“School resource officer, Deputy First Class Blaine Gaskill, was alerted and immediately responded, and engaged the shooter,” Cameron said at a press conference. “DFC Blaine Gasill fired at the shooter in what is described to me as almost simultaneously the shooter fired.”

Austin Wyatt Rollins. (Photo: Facebook).

Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan called Gaskill a “capable … tough guy” who “took the right kind of action,” Fox News reported.

Law enforcement officers stand near the entrance to Great Mills High School. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon).

Gaskill has been with the St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Office for six years, having previously worked as a correctional officer. He has received SWAT training and was stationed at Great Mills High School at the beginning of the school year.

Tuesday’s shooting wasn’t the first time Gaskill confronted an armed individual.

(AP Photo/Alex Brandon ).

Maryland newspaper The Enterprise reported in 2016 that Gaskill had a gun pointed at him by 59-year-old Pekka Robert Heinonen while responding to a complaint.

In a probable cause statement, Gaskill wrote:

A mother walks with her daughter, a student from Great Mills High School, as she picks her up after the shooting. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster).

“Pekka Robert Heinonen [was] standing on the porch, pointing a gun at me. I ordered the defendant to drop the gun, at which point … his wife walked between us. The defendant refused to comply with my demands, …. [until his wife] convinced him to drop the gun.”

At the time, Sheriff Cameron praised Gaskill’s handling of the situation.

(Photo: St. Mary’s Sheriff’s Office Facebook).

“In that split second, a decision has to be made, The Enterprise reported him as saying. “In this case, the officer used exemplary judgment.”

The quick action exhibited by Gaskill stood in stark contrast to the conduct of Broward County Sheriff’s Office in Florida.

CBS News reported that a Broward deputy was suspended after he was founded sleeping in his patrol car Monday while he was supposed to be guarding Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School–the site of a shooting that left 17 dead last month.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee).

The suspension followed news that the killer’s brother, 18-year-old Zachary Cruz, was arrested Monday when he was caught trespassing on Stoneman Douglas school grounds.

Broward County Sheriff Scott Israel and his department have faced criticism for their handling of the shooting. Several deputies stayed outside the school rather than engage the gunman, Nikolas Cruz.

Zachary Cruz. (WSVN via AP, Pool).

One of the deputies to not enter, school resource officer Scot Peterson, had recommended in September 2016 that Cruz be involuntarily committed for a mental health evaluation, but never followed through with the process.

Gaskill was widely lauded as a “hero” and an example Broward Sheriff’s Office can learn from. A “good guy” with a gun can prevent mass shootings–given that the right officer is assigned to the job.

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