Our Schools: The Nail, Hit on the Head
David Kpopel, writing for the Volokh Conspiracy, hits the nail on the head on the issue of preventing further school shootings:
Never mind the "conservative penumbra of the Constitution" issue that makes any form of widespread gun control an absolute no-go for me: high-quality weapons in the hands of ordinary, law abiding citizens renders the government more trustworthy.
Kopel goes on to his central point:
This is exactly what is needed. Thugs in schools will contonue to bring guns in through extra-legal means; our teachers need to be at least as well armed as a deterrent. When Klebold and his accomplice entered Columbine armed to the teeth, they could simply have been sliced down by a hail of uzi fire from half a dozen guards and teachers. Good riddance. This will also help break the back of gang influence in inner city schools.
Perhaps America (a country at World War, by the way) needs a bit more, not less, of the old West. For all popular propaganda to he contrary, it was the law that won and the OK Corral and a bunch of stolid citizen "squareheads" who shot up the thug/rebel James-Younger gang in Northfield Minn. Where the law has broken down, it can only be restored with the barrel of a gun, to paraphrase Mao...
Monk
the only realistic gun control policy which would stop school shootings would be to completely prohibit firearms, and confiscate the entire existing supply of more than 200 million firearms. Lesser policies (e.g., one-gun-a-month, gun registration) would, whatever their other merits, be unlikely to have a significant effect on school shootings. There are no substitutes for firearms (in both offensive and defensive situations), because firearms are fairly easy to use, and can project force at a distance.
Constitutional problems aside, it seems completely implausible to believe the gun prohibition could be successful, given the ability of the black market to supply drugs (which have been illegal for almost a century) to a wide variety of consumers, including high-school students.
Never mind the "conservative penumbra of the Constitution" issue that makes any form of widespread gun control an absolute no-go for me: high-quality weapons in the hands of ordinary, law abiding citizens renders the government more trustworthy.
Kopel goes on to his central point:
The second-best--and much more realistic approach--would be to allow licensed, trained teachers and administrators to possess concealed handguns on school property. I agree that having police officers on school grounds would be very helpful, but it seems that there are not sufficient police resources to cover all schools all the time.
In 2004, I detailed how Israel (which has a well-established Swiss-style [civic duty] gun culture) and Thailand (which has a very strong anti-gun culture) have armed teachers in order to protect schools against terrorists.
This is exactly what is needed. Thugs in schools will contonue to bring guns in through extra-legal means; our teachers need to be at least as well armed as a deterrent. When Klebold and his accomplice entered Columbine armed to the teeth, they could simply have been sliced down by a hail of uzi fire from half a dozen guards and teachers. Good riddance. This will also help break the back of gang influence in inner city schools.
Perhaps America (a country at World War, by the way) needs a bit more, not less, of the old West. For all popular propaganda to he contrary, it was the law that won and the OK Corral and a bunch of stolid citizen "squareheads" who shot up the thug/rebel James-Younger gang in Northfield Minn. Where the law has broken down, it can only be restored with the barrel of a gun, to paraphrase Mao...
Monk
posted by Monk | 05:46
