I have some good friends who fervently believe that gun control is a great idea. A few years back, one glibly said he'd never heard of a "drive by knifing". He thought that was a killer line until I reminded him of 800,000 dead in Rwanda by machete. I asked him how many did he think would've died if the Rwandan population was armed? He asked me why I assumed they weren't.
Apparently he thought it likely that 800,000 would stand idly by, letting machete wielding mobs do their thing without ever thinking to lock and load. I'm not saying that's the level of opinion liberals have for Africans, I'm just saying that
does seem to be the level of critical thought most gun control advocates are capable of.
It's happened again.
If insanity can really be defined by doing the same thing over and over while expecting a different result, then the gun control crowd is stark raving bonkers.
Yesterday, the public schools in Minneapolis were all on lock down because of a Facebook posting that apparently threatened a shooting spree in an unspecified school. Today I heard on the news that the threat was posted in Australia. Our schools are still on lock down today, just to make the kids feel safe.
Providentially, Josie happened to be home sick yesterday. She went back today because she really hates missing class and there doesn't seem to be any actual danger. Besides the every day danger of high school, anyway.
I can't help but wonder, however, if the kids feel safer because of armed policemen at every public school.
I also can't help but wonder if there has been a single school, or mall shooting which ended before the shooter himself was shot.
So why would anyone believe that keeping guns out of the hands of law abiding citizens is the safer path?
No, I'm not suggesting that minors be allowed to bring weapons to school. And I agree that most school teachers are not to be trusted with firearms in the class room. They would have to be super human to never experience the slightest urge to rid the world of some smart assed teenaged thug on occasion.
What I am saying is why does it make sense to force people like my friends Mary L. or Terri O. or Joe H. all of whom know their way around an arsenal, to leave the guns they are liscensed to carry, in their cars parked 1000 feet away when they visit a school? I suppose you could answer "What if they go nuts and start shooting?"
Well, how is that different from the situation we're all in right now? I mean, unless Mary L. posts a warning online, how are you going to stop her ? Mary L. actually thinks that our country would be better off and much safer from this sort of thing if we taught our kids gun use and safety as part of every school's curriculum.
This would not be unprecedented.
How many school or mall shootings do you really think there would be if everyone took it for granted that Americans over the age of 15 were as comfortable and competent with guns as they are with cars? Since nearly 34,000 people died in traffic accidents last year, I guess we can expect a car ban in the future?
Guns can be dangerous. Cars can be dangerous. So can bathtubs, matches, food, pets and sharp pencils. There is no perfect law that will protect us from every danger in the world. The best we can do is to follow the Ten Commandments and try to learn from experience yet the Commandments are increasingly banned from public property and we seem incapable of learning from our own experiences, much less anyone else's.
In the meantime, please say a prayer for Nigeria.
