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The press conferences are almost always the same now. They feel like a familiar old hat.

Every imaginable law enforcement agency, elected official and educator takes a turn at the microphone in front of a sea of TV news cameras. They provide little real information about the tragedy that has just occurred. Instead, there is a steady stream of “thank you’s” to each agency involved, commending them for doing a great job. Condolences. A round of “thoughts and prayers” that has a hollow, homily ring. And off they go.

On the scene at the Winder, Georgia, high school where yet another mentally disturbed teenage boy unleashed a murderous barrage of bullets was a small army of authorities.

GBI. GSP. FBI. ATF. BCSO. All of them, and more, were there, but no member of their force prevented yet another school shooting. A sheriff’s deputy inside the school when the shooting began was credited with confronting the shooter and forcing him to surrender. But he did not prevent the 14-year-old boy, who was a student, from entering the school and opening fire.

What we can learn from this and the other shootings is no amount of police force can prevent them. Authorities can only react; they cannot prevent.

So what’s the answer?

It’s not gun control. It’s not thoughts and prayers. It’s not metal detectors. It’s not active shooter drills. Or any of the other feeble attempts being made by well-meaning people.

One of the answers is consequences for failing to store and secure guns. The answer is long prison sentences for adults who fail to do this because we know most people will only take appropriate action if they know there will be serious and harsh consequences if they don’t.

Too many gun owners do not act responsibly. The mere suggestion that they store their guns in a manner that makes it impossible for someone to get their hands on them and kill people is met with great fury and resistance. And, of course, the Second Amendment. The right to bear arms, which some people take to mean they have a right to allow anyone to have access to their weapons.

More police isn’t the answer. Some of our schools already have more police on campus than nurses or trained mental health professionals.

No one seems to have the guts to pass a state law that makes failure to secure guns a high crime. Some will say, “Oh, but we do have a law that requires that we secure our guns so that juveniles can’t get to them.” Yes, we do. Is it enforced? Rarely, and even when it is, what are the consequences? It’s a misdemeanor. I won’t even waste your time detailing all the cases in the state that prove the law isn’t worth a plug nickel. It was purposely created toothless by our legislators, and those folks will give you a pile of excuses as high as Hogback Mountain.

In the not-too-distant past, a well-known Polk County man ranted on social media about how someone had stolen high-powered weapons from his shop. Not once did he mention that his guns weren’t secured or that they might have wound up in the hands of a criminal.

Who’s to say your unsecured guns won’t wind up in the hands of a mentally ill 14-year-old who believes the only way he can feel better is to go to school and kill teachers and other students?

Winder, Georgia, is a nice little town of about 20,000 people. I’m sure no one ever thought it could happen there.

Larry McDermott is a local retired farmer/journalist. Reach him at hardscrabblehollow@gmail.com