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.
***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.
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