Most of the attention on the new bill has focused on provisions
allowing hidden handguns in places where they are now forbidden, such as
schools, university dorms and classrooms, and sporting stadiums.
The threat of violence is every where and there is no way that police ever respond until after the fact. Criminals will find a way to get weapons and restricting these will have no effect. The one thing that could work is to have as many armed citizens as possible in as many different places as possible ready to combat violence with violence. Teachers that run and hide in closets need to be trained to shoot back and aggressively attack attackers. All people, everywhere, need to be trained to attack attackers with whatever is at hand and should be encouraged to carry firearms.
If it becomes common practice that whenever someone flips out and pulls out a gun in a public place ready to commit mass murder, they are immediately mobbed and attacked by everyone around them, then, and only then, will we be able to say that we have begun to solve the problem. Once a generation or two grows up this way, it will begin to be a kinder, gentler society. A well armed society is a polite society.
So here is a well armed shooter methodically killing people around him. What would be the best tool available to stop him? The answer would be another gun. Sadly, no one else had one. In Michigan they are making this possible, and good for them. Forget the candle light vigils, if you want to honor the memory of the victims, buy a gun, learn to use it, carry it often, and be ready to use it to protect yourself and others.
The argument of arming everybody is a fallacy. As the Gaby Giffords shooting showed, armed bystanders have no way of knowing which gun owner is the perpetrator. If everybody is armed, the only way to be safe is to shoot first.
Arming a bunch of excitable bystanders is only a path to even more senseless carnage.
Anybody who suggests arming schoolteachers is a fool.
Ignored in this whole discussion are always the cases where action of bystanders, like at the UCC church shooting a few years back, to restrain and disarm the shooter while NOT carrying weapons, so the death toll was less high.
JR, like with your posts on environmental issues, it is interesting to see the insecure anonymous trolls come out of the woodwork on this issue to repeat worn out sound bites like "armed society is a polite society" which has never actually been demonstrated, except maybe on old movie westerns. In fact, supposedly "polite" gun towns like Tombstone actually had quite strict laws about guns.
An armed free for all is not the way to solve this.
In a Mother Jones analysis of 61 mass shootings over the last thirty years, in not a single one was the killing stopped by a civilian using a gun. These arguments are farcical and not supported by anything like evidence.
The tragedy is that gun fetishists have taken over the NRA and drown out responsible gun owners.
As a friend said, "The suggestion to solve gun violence by arming more people sounds like trying to cure alcoholism by drinking more to build up your tolerance."
By banning guns you would certainly not be able to stop a shooting because only the law abiding citizens would stop carrying. The criminals, who oh by the way are also committing murder, don't care about the laws telling them they can't own a gun.
Our current solution to crime is cops with guns. The problem is that there are not enough cops with guns to be every where at once. therefore the most obvious solution is to arm the average citizen, who is more likely to be at the source of crime when it is about to happen.
The threat of violence is every where and there is no way that police ever respond until after the fact. Criminals will find a way to get weapons and restricting these will have no effect. The one thing that could work is to have as many armed citizens as possible in as many different places as possible ready to combat violence with violence. Teachers that run and hide in closets need to be trained to shoot back and aggressively attack attackers. All people, everywhere, need to be trained to attack attackers with whatever is at hand and should be encouraged to carry firearms.
ReplyDeleteIf it becomes common practice that whenever someone flips out and pulls out a gun in a public place ready to commit mass murder, they are immediately mobbed and attacked by everyone around them, then, and only then, will we be able to say that we have begun to solve the problem. Once a generation or two grows up this way, it will begin to be a kinder, gentler society. A well armed society is a polite society.
So here is a well armed shooter methodically killing people around him. What would be the best tool available to stop him? The answer would be another gun. Sadly, no one else had one. In Michigan they are making this possible, and good for them. Forget the candle light vigils, if you want to honor the memory of the victims, buy a gun, learn to use it, carry it often, and be ready to use it to protect yourself and others.
ReplyDeleteThe argument of arming everybody is a fallacy. As the Gaby Giffords shooting showed, armed bystanders have no way of knowing which gun owner is the perpetrator. If everybody is armed, the only way to be safe is to shoot first.
ReplyDeleteArming a bunch of excitable bystanders is only a path to even more senseless carnage.
Anybody who suggests arming schoolteachers is a fool.
Ignored in this whole discussion are always the cases where action of bystanders, like at the UCC church shooting a few years back, to restrain and disarm the shooter while NOT carrying weapons, so the death toll was less high.
JR, like with your posts on environmental issues, it is interesting to see the insecure anonymous trolls come out of the woodwork on this issue to repeat worn out sound bites like "armed society is a polite society" which has never actually been demonstrated, except maybe on old movie westerns. In fact, supposedly "polite" gun towns like Tombstone actually had quite strict laws about guns.
An armed free for all is not the way to solve this.
In a Mother Jones analysis of 61 mass shootings over the last thirty years, in not a single one was the killing stopped by a civilian using a gun. These arguments are farcical and not supported by anything like evidence.
ReplyDeleteAt best, they appeal to 'truthiness'.
The Newtown shooting should prove that the Michigan law is needed. If any of those teachers had a gun, many lives could have been saved.
ReplyDeleteit is a tragedy that no mass killings have ever been stopped by a citizen with a gun, we intend to change that.
ReplyDeleteThe tragedy is that gun fetishists have taken over the NRA and drown out responsible gun owners.
ReplyDeleteAs a friend said, "The suggestion to solve gun violence by arming more people sounds like trying to cure alcoholism by drinking more to build up your tolerance."
This actually sounds like a pretty good idea.
ReplyDeleteBy banning guns you would certainly not be able to stop a shooting because only the law abiding citizens would stop carrying. The criminals, who oh by the way are also committing murder, don't care about the laws telling them they can't own a gun.
Our current solution to crime is cops with guns. The problem is that there are not enough cops with guns to be every where at once. therefore the most obvious solution is to arm the average citizen, who is more likely to be at the source of crime when it is about to happen.
ReplyDeletetherefore the most obvious solution is to arm the average citizen, who is more likely to be at the source of crime when it is about to happen.
ReplyDeleteWell, as a solution I have to say that has been working like shit and it is time; past time, to take a different approach.