Initial Thoughts On Shooting Spree In Connecticut
BY Herschel Smith
12 years ago
There will be further calls for stricter gun control. Obama will do it, the Democrat senators will do it, and the left-leaning think tanks will do it. Expect it.
Next, remember that despite what you will hear, gun violence is not soaring in America.
Also, despite what you will hear, law abiding citizens will still need protection from criminals, including the very type or pattern weapon that the shooter used with a high capacity magazine.
If the school was unprotected with concealed carriers or security, the pattern weapon the shooter used is irrelevant. He could have been carrying a 5-shot revolver and accomplished the same violence. He was unimpeded, and that’s the problem. This is sad, and it could have been ameliorated to some extent if someone had been carrying a weapon.
As I’ve said, crime is a moral decision, value judgment and social and cultural phenomenon. It isn’t related to the existence of guns, and if guns weren’t available, they will use hammers. Gun control laws cannot raise children to believe in values.
Despite what you will hear, gun control won’t stop injuries and crimes. In China, a knife-wielding man just injured 22 children in school.
As for the national conversation about guns that we are said to need, we’ve been having it for years. Gun control advocates don’t want to have a conversation. They want to confiscate guns.
On December 15, 2012 at 5:54 pm, Burk said:
Sorry, your logic doesn’t work. If they can use hammers, then why not allow them to use nuclear bombs, or grenades? Why not have a civilian arms race with complete freedom to carry any weapon a person would like to keep themselves “secure”? And why not encourage children to carry weapons, since they need protection, perhaps most of all?
No, we do draw lines about who is worthy of keeping highly dangerous weapons, and which weapons are allowed in civilian hands. You draw such lines as well. The question is not some fantasy of no lines at all, but … where to draw each of these lines. In my book the more attached a person is to his weapon, the less worthy he is of having it. But that is just me .. I am sure the lines will be redrawn in the coming years.
On December 15, 2012 at 5:59 pm, Herschel Smith said:
I think a hammer or a knife if a highly dangerous weapon in the hands of someone intent on harm. My logic is just fine. You just don’t want to admit that you’re wrong. But I still want you to use a stop watch the next time you have to call a LEO and write in and tell me the response time. And as I’ve said before, I FULLY support your right not to own a weapon fo any kind, including knives and hammers, much less guns. I don’t think you’re mature enough to handle any of them.
On December 15, 2012 at 10:45 pm, Dan said:
Here is the difference between what happened in China and what happened in Newton Connecticut : all of the children in the knife incident are alive. The fact is that the gun is a lot deadlier than a knife or a hammer. I don’t think anyone can block a bullet but someone does have a better chance of blocking a knife or a hammer.
If Adam Lanza went into that school with a knife or a hammer I doubt he would have did the amount of damage that he did.
I don’t know where I stand on the gun control debate, there are a lot of things to consider in this debate that I have not fully explored, but its at devastating times like these that make me wonder why.
On December 15, 2012 at 11:19 pm, Herschel Smith said:
Dan. Three words for you.
Fertilizer … Timothy … McVeigh.
Actually, two more words.
No … Gun.
On December 16, 2012 at 5:40 pm, John A said:
Highest death toll from school violence in USA – 1928, over 38 in all. Weapon: homemade bombs.
On December 18, 2012 at 2:57 pm, GunRights4US said:
If safety was really the goal, then the privately owned automobile would be under the same legislative assault as guns. How many Americans die each year on our roads?
I no longer care about “the debate”. Neither do I care any longer about abstracts like natural rights or the social contract. I’m weary of arguing with imbeciles who want Nanny to hold their hand all their lives.
I will remain armed – no matter what. Come try and disarm me, and people will die. Lots of them – I promise you. I have a LIFETIME of training under my belt and I will be a most difficult nut to crack! Or… leave me the f*** alone. No one will die. It seems simple to me.
However I know that the members of the HIVE, the COLLECTIVE, are intent on subjugating everyone to their utopian ideals. It ain’t happening without a fight – I assure you.
On December 19, 2012 at 12:26 pm, DonM said:
Sometimes a breakdown in school security is caused by inadequate schoool security.
Every school employee should be trained and equipped to protect the students. If they don’t want to be so trained, they should pay for a security guard out of their pay.