Every Child Left Behind, Except Congress'

File Under: With Both Barrels

It is disturbing that self-defense, or protection of students in the case of very small children, comes into the discussion of teachers being able to teach.  At one point in our history, teachers who chose to do so, carried firearms for their personal protection. Nevertheless, every decision from whether teachers would be allowed to administer corporal punishment, to the ratio of students to teachers in a class, to whether when/how many new text books are purchased, to do we hire new teachers/give out salary increases - all these decisions, including should teachers carry firearms, require our consent by actively or passively voting for or against them.

We could ask why since 1966 or even just since Columbine and Virginia Tech: the Constitutional right to carry on campus has not been restored, schools have not been hardened, crisis prevention/intervention plans implemented/improved, and every school does not have a resident law enforcement officer like Carolyn Gudger who prevented a disturbed man from killing anyone at a Tennessee high school in 2010? Well the answer is obvious.  If the legislature that provides your schools with funds for all those wonderful life-saving initiatives is only concerned with reducing the capacity of firearm magazines has already, by slashing education budgets, categorically stated that teachers are over-payed and textbooks are too expensive, who or what do you think they are truly concerned about?  They do not care if your children are properly educated, but now you are to believe their hearts are moved by your children's safety?

Why was it NOT time to do something in 2006 when a sick man stormed an Amish schoolhouse, with what appeared to be a rape kit, and ultimately murdered and maimed ten girls ages 6-13? Was it not the time because he did not have an AR-15/AK-47 variant during that atrocity? Was it not the time because the number of deaths was a single digit number?  Was it not the time because the victims were from a fringe group, not main street America suburbanites? Was it not the time because no one on either side of the aisle in Congress wanted to screw up their electoral prospects for 2008 on an unpopular legislative issue?  Was it not the time because FEMA, the authorities, the Media, Congress, and anti-gun lobbyist did not have the time in the wake of an actual tragedy to collude against the American people by playing upon their heart strings?  Maybe now is the time because the incumbent government has been given another four-year hall pass, and we finally get to see exactly what "change" we signed up for.

Not a Badge, Not a Cape

File Under: With Both Barrels

A permit to carry and conceal does not grant you the power of police, judge, jury, and executioner - and it does not make you invincible or infallible.

The following video is a thought-provoking statement on responsible concealed carry from a veteran.  It never ceases to amaze me how after shootings, such as those that occurred in Newtown, when all the shooters are dead that even the authorities are confused on the number and identities of the shooters. Yet, non combat-trained individuals who have never exchanged gunfire in the defense of human life are able to speak so confidently and eloquently about being heroes in a dynamic, chaotic shooting situation.

Owning a firearm and carrying a firearm, merely exercising your crucial Second Amendment right, are weighty responsibilities.  However, drawing and using your firearm are among the heaviest decisions - decisions that cannot be made lightly, cannot be taken back, and will have far-reaching permanent consequences to more than just you and your target.  The line between protecting yourself and protecting the innocent is fractious.  If we did not believe it was necessary we would not have such things as soldiers, police, or child protective services sewn into our society - we would not have social compacts at all.  Some people don't have to be preoccupied with their own safety in their day-to-day lives; judges and politicians for instance, have others dedicated to their protection.  Others, like teachers and parents, do not have armed bodyguards within shouting distance should a crisis arise.  One cannot judge what decision another person makes in that situation when after decades of this problem we have come up with no strategic or tactical solutions to violent crime other than to rob individuals of their last ditch means of mounting an effective personal defense.  It is sad to note that during the shootings at Fort Hood, a military base, until the police showed up the only individual with a firearm was the shooter.  Two individuals chose, despite being unarmed, to try to stop him (one by charging him, the other by throwing a chair) and for their valor they lost their lives.  Did they make the right choice? Would things have turned out differently had they sought shelter or evaded? Would they have stopped him early in the conflict if they were armed? These are unknowns.  I like to think their actions bought time - time for a potential victim to get away, time for someone with a firearm to arrive, time for the shooter to stop.  In the end, the individuals with firearms ended the killing as they were trained to do.

Teachers and parents (or just about any other civilian) are not trained to respond to these type of threats; and as long as the debate on gun-control continues, it does not look like states will provide school administrators with funding for concrete preparedness training of real worth.  In the example of a school shooting: Do you know how many shooters there are? Do you know where the shooters are? Do you have the right equipment to defend against and end the threat? Have the shooters implemented any booby-traps? Are police, uniform or undercover, on scene?  The variables go on from there.  Are you going to abandon your loved ones to go hunting down a shooter?  I seriously doubt it.


The above interview with Nick Meli, the citizen who confronted the Oregon Shopping Mall Shooter, helps to illustrate that the decision to use or not use your firearm in a defensive situation is not a simple one.  In a crisis, the best thing you can do to start saving lives is to protect yours first and foremost, then see what you can do to either hunker down and avoid the danger or usher you and your family/friends to safety.  By doing that, you have automatically saved lives.  Once you've accomplished that returning to the danger zone, where you have no idea what's happening, to try to become a living or dead hero has an equal chance of doing harm or good.  Heroism is wonderful; certainly makes for inspiring stories and grateful families.  However, what saves more lives day-in and day-out is proper training, preparedness, alertness, wisdom, and decisive action.  Perhaps that is the stuff of which real heroes are made.

What's In Your Wallet?

File Under: Standing For Something

What you carry in your wallet can convey much information about you. If you are the owner of the typical overstuffed, hip-dislocating-butt-cheek-lifter-slash-assault-weapon wallet, you probably carry some sort of identification, pictures of your family or friends, important business cards, emergency health and contact information, notes written on scraps of paper, various tiny keepsakes to remind you of things, a slew of membership cards, an unused library card, and hopefully, funds of some sort whether currency or plastic. Some items carry more significance than others. They speak to what you believe and the things for which you stand. For example, your military id card, organ donor card, sobriety milestone commemorations, or voter registration card, to name a few, all speak to your commitments, values, and beliefs. Items of this nature are physical reminders, proof of choices you have made and actions you have taken in furtherance of causes you have supported.

Perhaps you carry something that says you are religious, a proud citizen of your homeland, a dedicated parent, a good Samaritan or a conscientious citizen. On the opposite end of the spectrum when you take stock of the things you carry with you everyday, nothing within the things close to your heart tells the world who you are or for what you stood. Maybe your wallet, physical or spiritual, contains more detritus than substance. That's OK. Every journey of self-actualization starts with a realization, and we all know that “knowing is half the battle.” I wise person once told me: every morning you are presented with the opportunity to make a choice; if at the end of the day you are displeased with the choices you have made to date, you have a golden opportunity to make a different choice tomorrow morning. It is never too late to take a stand, to join in, to believe in or be a part of something.

After nearly ten years of service holding all the useless crap one could stuff into a billfold, a loved one convinced me to get rid of my old, spine-destroying leather monstrosity as it had reached epic proportions of girth and density and threatened to warp the very fabric of time and space. Now I carry a lightweight, slim aluminum case with an accordion-style card carrier inside for just the essentials: ID, insurance card, debit/credit card, and emergency cash. Today I made 2 very important, long overdue additions to my new, utilitarian wallet. Two items that carry significance far beyond what their negligible physical weight would imply. Two items which identify me as a firm believer in Constitutionalism, personal responsibility, and someone who stands for independence and self-reliance. What's in my wallet? My new 2012 National Rifle Association of America membership card and my new state-issued Concealed Pistol/Revolver License. What is in my wallet are two pieces of plastic and paper that say unequivocally: I shall not be infringed.