The Good Guys/The Bad Guys
The National Rifle Association has spoken. Responding to President Barack Obama's assertions: "I am also betting that the majority, the vast majority, of responsible, law-abiding gun owners would be some of the first to say that we should be able to keep an irresponsible, law-breaking few from buying a weapon of war". Simple enough, according to its vice-president, the solution is there: put guns in every school in the nation.
They are, in fact, in some of the schools of the nation. In Harrold, Texas teachers are armed. "We don't have money for a security guard, but this is a better solution. A shooter could take out a guard or officer with a visible, holstered weapon, but our teachers have master's degrees, are older and have had extensive training. And their guns are hidden. We can protect our children."
Back to frontier days. When everyone carried a gun and knew how to use it. And had no compunction about using it. That would include both the good guys and the bad guys. The bad guys used theirs indiscriminately. The good guys used theirs with a modicum of discretion. At least that's what we are led to believe and it's what generations of wild west novels have imparted.
There are some in America who are not impressed. Aside from the mayor of New York City, there is Can Gross, president of the Brady Campaign, who insists that focusing on arming teachers distracts from the "real things" that could help to prevent another school shooting "and at worse it furthers a dangerous conversation that only talks about guns as protection without a discussion about the serious risks they present."
The United States simply is not paying attention. Assault rifles have one purpose; to kill people. They are too readily available, the fixation that they should be readily available is integral to the lives and the values of far too many people. War weapons are not a game, but men take possession of these high-powered repeat-fire weapons and enjoy dressing up in fatigues and playing war; their adulthood has been arrested in adolescence.
The American Civil Liberties Association doubtless has much to answer for. Restraints should not be placed on peoples' liberties to do as they will. If people wish to exercise their second amendment rights, they should proceed to do so. If people with serious mental health conditions have no wish to be controlled, to take prescribed medication, to be placed in a safe environment, they should be free to proceed as they wish.
The two make for a dreadful combination. This is not what NRA executive vice-president Wayne LaPierre discussed. Calm in the face of derisory calls blaming his organization for having blood on its hands, he called on Congress to fund armed guards in every school. A plan has been drawn by the NRA, a National School Shield Emergency Response Program, to help schools protect against further violence.
The intent is to separate the wheat from the chaff. "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun", he explained firmly. And anyone who cannot understand that logic is pitiful. That would include, of necessity all those gun-control proponents who hoisted signs and shouted "NRA, stop killing our children", along with "NRA has blood on its hands". They don't think so.
They are, in fact, quite sanguine, more than a little complacent that those hysterical calls to action will soon subside.
They know their audience.
Labels: Armaments, Communication, Culture, Defence, Human Fallibility, Political Realities, United States
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, December 22, 2012
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