The massacre in Connecticut
I've been thinking about this a lot the past few days.
1. No gun ban is going to solve the problem. The proposals already being floated do nothing to take the tens of millions of assault rifles and high-capacity pistols that are already out there out of circulation. They're talking about doing what they did in '94: a non-retroactive ban on assault weapons and magazines that hold more than 10 rounds. Absurd and ineffective. The '94 ban was silly. You could still buy an AR-15, it just lacked a flash suppressor and a bayonet lug and you had to pay $50 for one of the gazillion 30 round pre-ban magazines that were already circulating.
2. I support criminal and mental health background checks on anybody who wants to purchase a firearm, even if it is a private transaction. But, based on what we know right now, this wouldn't have prevented this fucking murdering piece of shit from getting those guns and killing those kids. He had a history of mental problems, but apparently his mom didn't. And she bought the guns.
3. Arming the teachers is stupid. Anybody that seriously trains and carries a firearm for self-defense knows that, even after the significant amount of training that it takes to become tactically proficient with a firearm, the willingness to use deadly force effectively is a mindset. Doing it effectively requires constant training. Have you seen the photos of those poor sweet women teachers who this pig shot down? I'm sorry, and I don't mean any offense to anyone, but your average first-grade teacher just isn't mentally equipped to deal with a gunfight that starts when a man steps into a classroom with an assault rifle and starts shooting 6 year olds. Shit, who is? How many of you have heard a 5.56mm round fired off in a space the size of a classroom? How many of you have heard 30 5.56 rounds fired off in a space the size of a classoom in 10 or 15 seconds? The concussion, the noise, the muzzle blast is incredible. The idea that a 50 year old kindergarten teacher is going to draw her Glock and engage the lunatic effectively is just not realistic. Better than nothing? Maybe...unless she starts accidentally shooting kids. Check the statistics on how many cops end up getting shot by other cops when the shit starts flying around.
4. The only answer, and frankly I don't think it's a very realistic one, is to harden the targets. Schools need to be made harder to get into, and they need to be protected by armed guards. And, not fat TSA security guards or mall ninjas who who loll around eating donuts and bullshitting about last night's Packers' game. Dedicated, well-trained, well-paid professional security people. Now....tell me who is going to take that job? Where the reality of the situation is that you are going to sit around for your entire career and there is a 99.999999999999999999% chance that what you are hired and trained to prevent will never happen?
There is no good answer. And, the reality is that we won't implement an effective response to this unimaginable tragedy. Things will go on as they have, and a year from now, or 2 years or 5 years, another group of innocents will be shot down by some crazy with an assault rifle or a high capacity handgun. Because we lack the will to actually do something about it.
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