This Gun Opponent Agrees With the NRA

Listen, I think as an organization, the NRA is about as repugnant as PETA or HSUS.  And I’m about as anti-concealed carry as you can get.  But I have to say I agree with it on its proposition to put armed police in every school in America.

Why?  Because for as much as you might wish, guns are never going away.  Period.  Would I love to live in a society where guns didn’t exist, except in the hands of the army?  Absolutely.  This isn’t the frontier anymore.  We should have evolved as a society.

But the fact is, for as much as we’d like to be able to drop our kids off at school and not have to worry about them not coming home, that will never, ever be the case anymore.

So why not protect them?

Guns aren’t going away.  You might as well give them a fighting chance with someone there who can defend them from a lunatic.  It doesn’t matter if that lunatic has an illegally obtained Uzi or a spork from KFC—at least the kids would have a chance.

Does Columbine or Sandy Hook happen with an armed officer at the door?  Maybe.  But, maybe it’s not as bad.  Maybe the attempt at a defense buys more time for people inside to alert authorities.  Maybe the mere presence of a defender will deter some of these cowards, who pick on defenseless children.

But guns aren’t going away.  I said previously that I believe in one’s right to defend one’s home or property with a firearm.  I believe in one’s right to hunt for sport or sustenance.  I believe in one’s right to go to a gun range and plug away at a target.  But those aren’t really the kinds of guns we’re worried about.  We’re worried about the assault rifles, the automatics and the semi-automatics.  We’re worried about the ones that were made for one purpose, and one purpose only—to slaughter human beings en masse.

But—I hate to break it to you—those aren’t going away, either.  Why?  Because of the gang bangers.  Because of the NRA and its “you can have my guns when you pry them from my cold, dead hands” attitude.  Because of the people who, within 24 hours of Sandy Hook, were posting on Facebook that “maybe we should outlaw spoons because they make people fat” or “let’s ban cars because they kill more people than guns.” 

That’s idiotic.  And if you believe those things, you’re an idiot.  You seem to forget the fact that neither spoons nor cars were made to kill vast numbers of people.  An automatic assault rifle was.  Big difference. 

Those people are stuck in a John Wayne world, and there’s nothing we’re going to do to change their Neanderthal attitudes.  We just have to accept it.  If you disagree with that, you’re not living on Planet Reality.

Yes, let’s enforce the laws that are out there.  Yes, let’s put more money into mental health treatment.  No question those issues are part of the equation to make sure Sandy Hook never happens again.

But, what will be more expensive and time-consuming?  Building more facilities and training more experts to treat mental illness?  Training and deploying hundreds of thousands more new police officers and ATF agents? 

Or putting one cop in each school?

Who’s going to pay for these new facilities, experts, training and personnel?  Any hands going up?  The states, especially my state, Illinois, sure as hell can’t pay for it. 

Public school gets a public, on-duty officer, in uniform and badge.  Private school hires an off-duty public officer, also allowed to wear his or her uniform and badge.

But most of all, they’ll have that deterrent, that repellent.  That gun.  It might not keep my kids completely safe, but it will keep them safER. 

And right now, that’s all I can ask for.

***ADDENDUM***

It's been brought to my attention that there were two armed guards at Columbine.  Yes, they both shot at him and missed. Klebold and Harris got in the school and did their damage anyway. But--the first guard got the authorities on the way immediately and both guards forced Harris to spend time and ammo in the parking lot. Maybe if they weren't there, Harris and Klebold get into the school completely unmolested. Then, no telling what happens, and what the final body count is.