Posted on 10/13/2006 2:33:17 PM PDT by NapkinUser
More school shootings, and the inevitable commentary on the evening news: "I didn't think this sort of thing could happen here."
The heartfelt, but naive belief that murderous rampages "don't happen here" begs the question: "Where do you think such things happen?"
Labels exist for the places where shootings occur: urban, inner city.
But one thing urban folks can tell their scared suburban friends right now is that a good part of the horrendous violence in their communities is due to the proliferation of guns.
Sometimes it seems like everyone is packing. Someone disrespects your girl? Shoot 'em. Someone looks at you wrong? Shoot 'em. Someone mouths off to you at a party? Shoot 'em.
So for once, maybe the suburbs and rural America can take a cue from the cities: "Get the guns out of your homes."
Because while much of America lulled itself into believing that these things "do not happen here," they were also stockpiling. Where they live guns are used for hunting, for target practice and for a misplaced sense of security. I get that, my mother's family has those references. Mother's stories about growing up on the Kansas farm often involve guns.
There was the time when grandfather's favorite dog turned up rabid. "Get the gun!" Grandpa shouted from the field, knowing he had to shoot his dog before it bit his family.
There are stories about hunting rabbits and duck for dinner and shooting coyotes so they wouldn't kill the livestock.
But mother gave up fetching food from the woods long ago. She goes to the grocery now. She feels safe with good locks on the house. Grandfather's guns have been passed down as family heirlooms, not loaded weapons.
She has no use for a gun.
More people who live in these "couldn't happen here" communities need to come to the same revelation.
Because for all the recent head scratching about how to prevent more school shootings, studies have made several things clear: School shooters almost always are boys. The shootings are planned attacks, not spur of the moment. And the guns come from the shooters' homes.
We need to quit dancing around these facts, starting with the president. George Bush's recent summit should have been titled "Gun violence in schools."
Apparently that would have been too to-the-point. So it was proclaimed the less accurate but more benevolent, "Conference on School Safety."
The little political commentary about guns in schools has been insane commentary. Wisconsin Rep. Frank Lasee proposes teachers carry guns. Missouri Gov. Matt Blunt made the same suggestion, until smarter heads backed him away from the idea.
Arm the teachers? How about disarm the kids?
The best way to do that would be to address where school shooters get their guns - from their homes. Oh I know, people will talk about their right to bear arms, the need for self-protection, that they like to hunt wild game. All are understandable replies.
But anyone giving these answers should also honestly address two questions: Do you really need a gun in the house, and if so, how secure is it? And, how well do you know your son?
I can hear the refrain now: "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." Nice slogan.
Here's the truth: Troubled boys with access to their parents' guns have killed their classmates, their teachers and quite often, themselves.
And yes, it can happen anywhere.
We need to quit building houses around guns!
Tell it to them slow: use 2 words if necessary: Dee + Fence.
I hope the author never hears some maniac breaking down her door while she lays helplessly in bed.
Yes I do need my guns. You cant rely on the police or any other branch of the government.Yes I hunt.
For every rural shooting there is a 99% chance that the perp was Nuts!
"I hope the author never hears some maniac breaking down her door while she lays helplessly in bed."
The official position of the UK govt has been to hide UNDER the bed.
That'll work. /sarc
And take all the spoons away! Kids are getting fatter every day eating ice cream & pudding! Obesity kills!
On one level, I agree. On another, it sure would be nice to hear that she's gotten a first-hand look at why guns in the home would be a good idea.
If she's so proud about not having guns, she should place a "Gun-free Home" sign on her front lawn...
Just a question I have had for a while,does anyone else notice how there seems to be a lot more shootings just before an election.
I can't even begin to plug the holes in this person's logic.
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Or likely it was stolen. Which leads to the best reply for the following question:
Q: What do you need a tactical rifle or handgun for?
A: To protect my deer rifle and other firearms.
Except of course the 12 ga with the pistol grip. If someone is stoopid enough to try to invade a home across the street from one with two police cruisers parked in the driveway, they'll first have to deal with the dogs with big teeth in my backyard. If they get by the dogs, they'll have to deal with a bada$$.
My liberal sister in law was here from Kalifornia last week. We were talking about how we both carry concealed. Sis said that we should call 911. I told her that 911 was a number to call when you needed a public servant to come mop up the blood and haul off the corpse. She had difficulty coping with that statement.
I think we should outlaw all computers so know one can make studid coments
There was an unarmed family of four found shot to death beside a Florida Hwy today. If the father had been armed, it may have been different.
I have suggested in letters to the editors of several pro gun control national newspapers that a practical, commonsense way of reducing gun violence would be a federal law prohibiting the interstate reporting of sensational gun crimes like Columbine for five working days.
Such a law would not affect local reporting, where the need is for immediate information, but would make the news 'stale' at a national level and so unlikely to get the massive coverage that invites copycat violence. And because the delay would be short and for a good cause, it should pass Constitutional muster; after all, there's the Brady Act for precedent.
Oddly enough, no paper has ever published my proposal! ;^)
OUTSTANDING.
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