« Students with Guns - Thoughts on the NIU Shootings »

I’ve been following the conversations that are being had around the web this morning on the shootings at Northern Illinois University yesterday.  Michelle Malkin’s got a very interesting conversation going on…..interesting and utterly bizarro. Most of the folks in the conversation are suggesting that if it hadn’t been a *gun free* zone,  the killer may not have had the opportunity, or the inclination to open fire.  The general direction of the discussion is revolving around the call for all folks, students and civilians alike to be able to carry guns in public.  That the liklihood of random violence would decrease if the perpetrator was unsure of the ratio of gun toting people to unarmed people.

Am I the only one who’s head aches thinking about this sort of backwards logic? Is it an American thing? More guns=less violence? How about no guns=no violence? How about investing in a wireless frequency that can blanket a public area, able to detect gunpowder, and if someone happens to come into the monitored space, it becomes unbearable to carry a weapon? How about the ONLY people who are allowed to carry guns are police officers? How about anyone else caught with a weapon in an urban area loses a hand? (I’m partial to that one)….

I’m not sure when the US will realize that the freedom to carry a weapon was a reasonable dictate 100 years ago, but doesn’t make the same amount of sense in the 21st century…

 

Comments

[anon today]

What has changed since the last century? The same class distinctions exist. The same issues with economic poverty exist. Now we have more human-made chemicals, more technology which creates stress (while other technologies alleviate repetitious work), and better weaponry.

Trust the police? Sure. Trust my neighbour? Maybe. Trust a stranger? Sounds like the start of a fark "florida" article to me.

I don't know what's changed. Sadly, human beings still need to be governed by force: Break the rule and you'll be punished. You know--criminal law and military law. I think the latter is the only way to "lose your head" these days.

Is that sort of sensor system available? If so, please link to some information in a future blog post since I don't often follow comment threads.


Good reading you as usual. Keep on teaching.