Guns and Crazy People

Yes, I have some thoughts about the events in Newtown, Connecticut. Mostly sadness, grief, and sympathy for the people there.

This is colored by my ever-present disdain for the media in our country, and the world. The Fake Morgan Freeman quote nailed it. I am also again reminded of the Kevin Kline movie January Man, where the question is asked when he catches the crazy serial killer, "who is he, who is he?" He replies, approximately, "he's nobody, he's just some crazy guy!" We are like that, we expect the bad guy to be "somebody" but he (or she) ususally isn't somebody, they're just the crazy guy.

Also coloring my perspective, in the two weeks preceding this, two armed robberies were foiled in Cincinnati by concealed carrying citizens, one on the street, one defending a minimart. We now know that the Oregon shooter was likely dissuaded from continuing his rampage by a man with concealed carry and then went on to hide in a stairwell and kill himself.

Here are my inflamatory remarks for the day:

1. The problem is clearly a mental health problem not a gun problem.

2. We have a violent society. Yes, some of the gun numbers floating around are accurate, but we bludgeon each quite a bit, too. Why? One guy I know thinks it's the influence of secular humanism. Hmmm. This site shows that there are many more violent countries, however.

3. If the school had a Resource Officer (armed) it's likely that the carnage would have been severely reduced. I know a couple, she's an Elementary Principal, he's a Policeman. Her entire district has 1 SRO. He is upset about that. Districts need to pony up and find a way to fund safety personnel, not just a written "safety plan." In fact, when I taught, my plan was a little different: make it publicly known that there are 3 or so anonymous staff that have concealed carry in every building, and on any given day, you will have no idea who is wearing a weapon.

These last 2 are pretty outrageous.

4. The perpetrators of gun violence in this country are almost exclusively left-leaning and believe the same politics, yes, even vote the same way as the people that are now screaming (again) for more gun control. NRA members never do this. Hunters never do this. I guarantee you that if you go ask every recent perp that used a gun of any kind in the crime they committed, they voted for Dems in every election. Guaranteed.

5. Hey, Dems, what's the big deal, isn't this just a really late-term abortion? I hate saying that, because I don't really mean it. I have 3 kids, you know? But if you voted for a guy that consistently, unequivocally supported partial birth abortion, your overwhelming weeping over child murders in Newtown doesn't move me.