Gun related tragedies garner special attention from the media. These situations are no less sad than any other types of deaths, but they involve a hot-button political issue which sells. Perhaps that’s why they feel more tragic… But, I digress.
Long have we attempted to come up with solutions to remedy the problem. Band-Aid™ after Band-Aid™ is applied and all it does is cover up a festering wound. We, as a society, have not come up with an idea that has made a difference. The problem can clearly be chalked up to, as I metaphorically referenced prior, using the same tool over and over to fix the problem.
Gun control measures have been attempted for well over 30 years. Since the Columbine shootings that spurred the already-hot-topic of gun control even faster, many states have taken a hand at gun control. It doesn’t seem to matter what measures were taken. We have extreme control measures such as in California and Illinois (Chicago specifically), and more relaxed measures in places like Texas and Florida. Gun violence still happens; even if measurably less in states with relaxed gun control.
The primary targets consistently remain locations where the strictest anti-gun policies exist. Namely: schools. Schools are supposed to be “gun free zones”. Sure to shock many readers (#sarcasm), criminals seem to completely ignore these laws and ordinances. Strangely, these non-law-abiding folks pay no heed to the warning signs and proceed straight into a space that ends up being grossly ill-equipped to manage violence.
It’s time for a change. Dramatic change, in fact. But the author isn’t going to recommend more gun control. If it’s not abundantly clear by now, there’s little hope of understanding, but… Continuing to use ineffective measures hasn’t been working. 30 years of doing the same thing, only continually harder, has drummed up literally a net negative result.
Our dramatic change should instead of moving in the opposite direction. It stands to reason that when something doesn’t work, that something needs to be changed to something else. The proposal to assist in mitigating this madness? Let’s arm our populace.
No, this doesn’t mean everyone gets a free gun (even if that would be kinda neat). It means thinking outside of the consistent, tiny little box our heads have been stuck in. There are options that really do make sense that I’ve heard, but no one seems to run with them. Either arm the teachers or provide armed security.
Let’s break this down a bit for better understanding of the general concepts:
Arming our teachers in a concealed carry capacity means that an assailant doesn’t know who may or may not be armed. That air of mystery is an immediate mitigating factor. The possibility that plans will fail miserably because the victim may be able to fight back thwarts many o’ violently offensive efforts.
Resources can be spent on expertly training these teachers. Rigorous qualification demands can be made to accurately manage high-stress situations. Continued education in these skills can certainly and should be required. And all of this is optional for the individual teacher. If they’re not comfortable with doing this, then they don’t have to participate.
The alternative option is in a similar vein. We have a large volume of veterans who would be more than willing to accept the duty of watching over our children. As a proven point, they already devoted a fair portion of their lives defending all of us. These veterans would carry the same requirements as the aforementioned teachers: extreme training, qualification demands, and continued education.
Tax dollars already being spent on studying these events could be easily funneled into either of these ideas and create a no-additional-cost-to-taxpayers program to cover the expense.
It’s a holistic approach to a problem that continues to see no benefit from the way things have historically been handled. Stop beating the dead horse and let’s do something we haven’t tried yet. Best case scenario is that this mitigates this type of violence. Worst case is that we go back to the drawing board. Only after alternative attempts have been used and potentially proven wrong can we then open the discussion for new changes.
-Mike H
