First of all, if you expect this post to be about advocating for or against gun control you’ll be disappointed. It’s about the argument, not the content of the argument.
As the owner of a company that has taught Self Defense for 15 years, I have to say all this talk about ‘gun control’ from both sides is driving me insane. Anyone talking about gun-control or no gun-control right now cannot in the least bit be SERIOUSLY concerned with the SAFETY OF OUR CHILDREN. Those talking, on both sides, are at best being dishonest about their end game or worse being plainly manipulative on the backs of so many mourning families. It’s mostly ideological and political Grandstanding that’s going on now, at the expense of our children’s safety. Yes, we SHOULD have a conversation about sensible laws regarding firearms ownership, but it’s so far on the periphery of School Safety that using these tragedies to drive the debate is actually despicable. Take the politics and ideology out of it and you are left with the obvious…if you want to make schools safer then you MUST harden the target. You must make the SCHOOLS themselves safer. I’m not talking about electronic locks on glass doors, or checking everyone’s ID when they come to the school, or making people ‘sign in’ when visiting. Those are all ridiculous as far as providing any real protection against suicidal attacks. Those measures are important for preventing kidnapping and acquaintance abductions but that’s about it. Politicians, the wealthy, Israel and the Hollywood Elite all know that there is only really one way to stop a suicide attack, and that is to drop the attacker before they can get into position and hit the switch. All of those listed above use armed guards to keep them safe. Even that isn’t full-proof (or even Fool-proof), but it’s the best option and it’s proven effective. If you’re not even considering that, then you are not in the least bit serious about SCHOOL SAFETY. You’re only serious about your agendas.
Furthermore….If you are SERIOUS about school safety, stop talking about guns, knives, mental health, explosives, cyanide gas, man eating lions, and poisonous scorpions being released by crazy people in schools. Put up measures to stop people from bringing those things into the schools to begin with. Armed guards are just part of a comprehensive plan to keep our children safe. If you are SERIOUS about school safety, then you need a series of automatic ‘fire doors’ that can shut down sections of the school or the entire entry to a school. Put 100 feet between the first Administrator desk at check in near the front door and the actual entry to the school. Put an automatic steel door or cage at the end of that hall and a panic button up front. Put the ‘open’ or ‘all clear’ button in the classrooms with the teachers and give the fire department and the police control key. If you are serious about school safety, put roll down doors above every door and window in every classroom making each room a virtual “Panic Room”. If you aren’t even considering this type of fortification, then you are clearly more concerned about pushing your ideology on people than you are about SCHOOL SAFETY.
And for God’s sake stop trying to use “Stats” on facebook, on cable news, and the newspapers. Stats are completely useless. You can find a stat to fit any argument, that’s obvious so stop wasting peoples time. You can find a famous person to quote your ideology regardless of what it is. I like Morgan Freeman, but don’t think I want him to be in charge of School Safety because he was in a Batman movie. I used to like Sean Penn movies, but I don’t think he should be in charge of diplomatic relations for the United States. I don’t want to use too many analogies either because too many are being flung around like so much monkey poo (yes that’s an analogy, sorry)….but I’ll use just this one simple one. When you leave your house or you go to sleep you lock it don’t you. Why? To keep someone from breaking in or stealing you belongings inside. To protect it and your family. Would you leave it unlocked and instead put signs on it reminding people it’s against the law to break in? Of course that’s silly. Now, having a conversation about what in society is driving people to break into your house might be useful for the Country, but does nothing to keep your home safe right now (and arguably for the foreseeable future).
Speaking of conversations, If we’re going to have conversations on the periphery about keeping our schools safe (gun laws, mental health, etc), why aren’t we having the real conversation now? Why aren’t we discussing what’s leading to the absolute disregard for morals, personal responsibility, and consequences of action in society? If you want to talk about guns being used in extreme violence, then you MUST talk about that violence itself, not just the tool. And by the way Hollywood, it really shows your level of intelligence when you advocate against guns and then the very same actors are making movie after movie that not only glorifies guns, but literally creates over the top violence and carnage using those guns that couldn’t possibly be thought up or envisioned by people until you use special effects and computers to go further than even the worst offenders and psychopathic nut job murderers could have imagined. Listen, I went to school in a state with some of the strictest gun laws in the Country. Yet in a town where just about every household of the kids in my class had guns in it. There was bullying, there were fights, and there were houses with guns not 3 minutes walk from the school, and yet somehow no one over got a gun and came to school and shot anyone. So yes, the conversation about this growing culture of violence and lack of consequence for action should be had. That is a conversation worth having, but still does nothing for school safety NOW.
If you are SERIOUS about school safety and the safety of our children, take real action and protect the schools. Stop using the deaths of so many to push your agenda, one way or the other. Harden the damn target!
This is, of course, only my opinion. James