Monday, November 19, 2018

Arming Everyone

THE GREAT AMERICAN GUN DEBATE long ago congealed into two warring camps, as most issues of public policy did, The haves and have nots. The armed and the unarmed. Those whose solution to rampant gun violence and mass murder is to arm as many "good" people as possible, and those whose solution is to are as few of them as possible. The arm bearing advocates would begin by selecting administrators and teachers from among school employees and strapping steel to them. after extensive, appropriate training, presumably. the rest are mere details; deciding. whom to arm whether it will be voluntary or mandatory, and all manner of other specific details and considerations. By extension, if it is desirable under current circumstances to are teachers, it becomes desirable, or worth considering if nothing else, arming a wide variety of other officials in a wide variety of other venues. Besides public (and private?) schools, synagogues, churches, and masques come to mind, especially considering that many our our American mass murders seem to be motivated by religious based hatred. What about libraries? Athletic events on college campuses and in professional sports arenas and stadiums? Grocery stores and shopping malls? Public parks? Museums? Under this plan, it could eventuate that for the average American citizen, it becomes difficult to go anywhere in public without being under the watchful eye of a gun carrying public protector with police powers. In England, and most other countries, there are far fewer guns in public hands than in the United States, and in all these countries, the frequency of gun violence is far less. There is an obvious relationship between these facts. In London, it is nearly impossible to step outside without being on camera, and it is becoming more like that in America. If there were far fewer guns in the U.S., and more cameras, would there be less gun violence? The answer to that seems evident as well. It is difficult to envision more and more Americans becoming interested in mass murdering because fewer people are well armed, and it is equally difficult to imagine those intent on mass murder to refrain merely because more and more Americans are armed. Most mass murderers seem to have already forfeited their desire to live free in society before they pull their semi automatic triggers.

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