December 22, 2012
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good guys, bad guys and guns...
Yesterday, the NRA broke its silence about the tragedy at Newtown, CT. Well, sort of.
Wayne LaPierre, head of the NRA (National Rifle Association) proclaimed from his bully pulpit that it was not the fault of guns, but of music videos, video games, etc. that leads society to pick up arms and massacre one another.
Mr. LaPierre also called for schools to all have armed guards in them because "The only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun.". I'm sure that gun manufacturers and gun shops all around the nation cheered him mightily. More guns, yep, yep, yep, more guns - that is what we need. (To me, that sounds like an addict saying, More drugs, more drugs, that's what we need! That is how we can all feel better~
If you read this blog, you know my thoughts about guns in schools, particularly teachers and guns.
So let's talk about those other guards, shall we?
Schools are so tightly crunched for money now, where would they get the money to pay for guards? What else would have to be sacrificed to pay for the guards?
And let's face it, even if the money can be found, the pay offered would not be much more than minimum wage. So who would that attract?
Former policemen. This bunch would go out of their mind around teenagers pretty quickly, I would imagine. Teenagers have a dim view of rent a cops, even if they used to be professional cops.
Retired guys. That's who we use as "security" at school events now and I can tell you that ambition and paying attention to things are not their strong points. I had to point out to them at graduation that they needed to post a guard at the room where the students left their valuables for the ceremony after I chased out some sketchy individuals who were hanging around it.
Rent a cops. Think mall cop only with less brains. Give them a tin badge and suddenly they are the sherriff in town, throwing their weight around and strutting. Comical and not very useful.
Unemployed former military. See the enemy, dispatch the enemy. Hopefully they would not suffer from PSTD. Hopefully, they could keep their hands and eyes off of the girls (since many of them would be in their 20s.....).
"Volunteers". Shudder. Why would anyone in their right mind want to volunteer to guard a school? Get past the idea of "saving the children" and get closer to "easy meat to hunt". The news is reporting about the former Marine who is volunteering to stand in front of his kids elementary school as a symbol of safety. There aren't a lot of those to go around. Now think of the just short of bat crazy types your town has who are around with all kinds of time on their hands. Children are told about "stranger danger" but the real danger often comes from people they are familiar with and providing potential predators with easy access to children is wrong.
Mr. LaPierre firmly believes that schools must be defended. On this, he is correct. He blames gun free zones for creating "hunting zones" for the crazy bent on destruction. He just doesn't see that putting guns in schools is risking more than it will save.
Because, sometimes, it's really hard to tell the good guys with guns from the bad guys with guns.
Comments (6)
Your comments echo my sentiments as they so often do.
On the most fundamental point, I have a difficult time wrapping my mind around the idea that the solution to violent crimes with guns is to put more guns in more people's hands. By extension, the logic of protecting children from gun violence by putting more guns in more schools (in whoever's hand) is equally mind-boggling to me.
I'm with you wholeheartedly, but I will say his point that the only way to stop a madman on a killing rampage is with deadly force is correct. (That's not his phrasing it's mine.)
Once someone has started killing, the only way the police have to stop them is to shoot back.
That doesn't mean I want armed guards in schools, for the many points you already pointed out.
Hell I think people who own guns should have to undergo regular psychiatric evaluations as a prevenative measure. It may not prevent the person from going bonkers and killing people with other weapons (the baseball bat is actually the most commonly used weapon in murders) But it would lower the body count.
@autmnmoon - @BookMark61 - I realize that folks are responding out of fear, and fear for our children is a mighty compelling force, but....adding more danger to negate a possible (but highly improbable) danger just defies logic. It may be a placebo to make people feel better, but how will they feel when it backfires?
No, I think that arming guards in public schools is another avenue for TSA type goons to be around our kids even more than the plane trip to grandma's. Give them a gun too?
As far as not being able to tell the good guys from the bad guys with guns, I suggest looking inside the front cover of the NRA publication, Rifleman. Each month there is a list of crimes stopped by legal gun owners. That information is forbidden on the mainstream news, so it can't be reported there in most cases. My family has owned guns for many years, and although my father used to hunt, us four kids don't. Still, a respect for guns was taught to us, and wasn't only restricted to our responsibility with guns, but automobiles. When I began to drive, my father told me that I was moving a ton of steel down the road, and that it was my job to make sure I used the car responsibly, keeping in mind that it is a deadly weapon if used wrong.
@saturnnights - In this area, we had a 65+ year old man defend his wife, self and home against an angry drunk man who would not stop beating on his bedroom windows at 1 am. After warning the man several times, the man felt that he had no recourse but to shoot. The young man was killed and there was an outcry. PA has a "castle doctrine" law and the elderly man will not be prosecuted. I'm in favor of defense of your own space. I worry, though, about folks like the Zimmerman guy "patrolling" his neighborhood and shooting the young man. Castle doctrine does not cover that. How many times might these types of shootings occurr near schools? Teenage boys, in particular, like to push the envelope. What if the school guard misinterprets one of their goofy actions?
BTW, I am a gun owner and user. My school (for a time) has police patrolling the halls. I can't really say that I felt safer, in fact, I worried more about the police being overpowered by angry students and the gun getting loose.
@brokenbindings2 - I believe an increased police presence does nothing to decrease fear of possible crime.
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