I don’t see what the problem is. And I’m a liberal who supports gun control. I’m all for a assault riffle and handgun free America. But it’s not going to happen.
Maybe as a cop I’m not afraid of guns (in the right hands). Maybe as a teacher I want one. But really, I don’t.
But I do have students in my class with guns. I got no problem with that. And I wouldn’t want guns in all school. But I don’t see the problem here.
In Texas School, Teachers Carry Books and Guns
HARROLD, Tex. — Students in this tiny town of grain silos and ranch-style houses spent much of the first couple of days in school this week trying to guess which of their teachers were carrying pistols under their clothes.
“We made fun of them,” said Eric Howard, a 16-year-old high school junior. “Everybody knows everybody here. We will find out.”
The school board in this impoverished rural hamlet in North Texas has drawn national attention with its decision to let some teachers carry concealed weapons, a track no other school in the country has followed. The idea is to ward off a massacre along the lines of what happened at Columbine High School in Colorado in 1999.
“Our people just don’t want their children to be fish in a bowl,” said David Thweatt, the schools superintendent and driving force behind the policy. “Country people are take-care-of-yourself people. They are not under the illusion that the police are there to protect them.”
Really. What’s the problem?
The whole story in the New York Times is here.
I’m fully behind this and think that it should be the same in high schools and colleges all over the nation.
That kid is great, they make fun of the teachers who might one day save their lives from some Harris/Kliebold duo or a Cho, brilliant.
The key phrase in your post is, “…in the right hands”. But, in determining whose hands are the “right ones” let’s not place so many burdens on the good guys/gals of America that they ultimately don’t even want the challenge of purchasing, let alone moving and practicing with, the best tool for self defense.
Or, are “the right hands” only cops and other security type personnel? We often see how well they handle the responsibility, a la Lee Paige – The only one that can handle a gun in a classroom.
I’ve never once heard the Gun Control nazis say anything about controlling criminals, just guns.
If we had a gun-free world, or even America, the shitbags would just rob you with rocks or sticks just like those in human lineage that they closely resemble…neanderthal. So, how about a rock/stick/hard object free America? Ridiculous, right? Same thing.
I think you love guns and just don’t want to admit it to your academic friends. 🙂
I thought I might hear from you on this one. Hard to say why… could be the gun in your picture!
You really think being robbed with a stick or knife is the same as being robbed with a gun? Come on, now!
And I’ve never heard of a stray stick killing anybody.
And how often do you hear of a stray bullet that wasn’t from some shitbag’s gun killing people?
I fired off a good 100 rounds last night…and so did 30 of my closest buddies….that’s about 3000 rounds that never hit anyone. Now multiply that times all of the ranges in the US that ran matches last night and then multiply that times 7 for the days of the week.
Now, how many stray rounds from guys that aren’t committing crimes can you count in a week?
Gun in my picture or not, I’m a fan of the right to defend myself. And what better to level the playing field with the criminals, like a gun….that’s what cops use, why not me?
Maybe it’s hard for many Americans to imagine, but in most of the civilized world people manage to live just fine without having to defend themselves with force. That’s why we call it civilized.
It’s too easy to get a gun. And any attempt to regulate gun ownership is fought by Republicans and the NRA.
I don’t want to pass laws making it harder for non-criminals to have a gun while doing nothing to take guns away from criminals. I don’t want to take your gun away.
I want to take guns away from criminals. And crazy people.
How can I do that?
I admit the problem is more criminal than gun. But the big problem is criminals *and* guns.
I don’t want to live in a armed society or be a victim. I want to not have a gun and feel safe. And I refuse to believe that’s impossible. In fact, I know it is possible.
But at what cost to our liberty in general do we live in that promise of security? And then, really how secure will we be? Can we trust those that we’ve chosen to keep us safe to not turn on us? It won’t really matter because we’ll have no way to fight back. How much do we have to give up to the government for our own “security”. Why can’t my security be up to me?
The UK has a gun ban….but they lose 300 or so people a year to crimes committed with guns. Australia, same thing. Let’s look at how so many governments have taken away peoples’ guns for their own good in history….The Jews? How about them? The Russians, the Polish, how about them…..now what are they? How did gun control work out for them?
America should once again embrace self reliance and that starts with the ability to defend ones self.
I am worth defending, period. And further, if we can’t defend ourselves against on oppressive government, we might someday be wearing Stars of David on our chests.
davekopel.com/2A/Mags/crcommst.htm
Convict and Jail criminals….period. Let them rot. Let’s make jail a deterrent instead of a haven. Bring back the firing squads and the gallows….maybe then we could put a dent in violent crime. But until the criminals don’t have guns…we should have ours.
First of all, England and Wales (together) lost 57 people to gun homicides in 2006 (not 300). To me that’s a great success. And the population of England and Wales is over 53 million. And there’s a lot of crime there. They just don’t kill each other. Because they don’t have guns.
I’m all for British gun control and British freedom.
Security can’t be up to you because I don’t trust you. Or anybody, for that matter. For 99 “good” people with guns, all it takes is 1 crazy person to kill me. Even if I have a gun, too.
And freedom and liberty? I don’t see gun owners in this country doing anything to keep the Bush administration and the Federal Government from taking away our freedom and liberty.
Though I’m not for the firing squads and gallows, I’d be all for tough penalties for people use guns illegally.
There’s a graphic I’d like your thoughts on. But I can’t put it in a comment so it’s another post.
But the people in the UK have given up the right to take photos of people that harass them in order to show the police. They’ve given up the right to wear hats indoors so that the government can video tape their every move and be able to ID them. How is that free?
Tony Martin killed one of two teens that were robbing him in his own home. He now sits in prison for murder. How is that free??? It doesn’t matter what he used to kill the robber….just that he killed him. What is free about that?
Tony Martin – UK
guardian.co.uk/uk/2003/jan/17/tonymartin.ukcrime
Also, there was a time in the US when people weren’t afraid of guns. They were tools and nothing more. People rode to school on the public bus with a .22 slung over their shoulder and had no problems.
Guns and their owners have been demonized so much so that people aren’t taught how to be safe with them anymore. They are scared of them. So, there are more accidents because people don’t have any idea how to handle a firearm.