Do You Hear Yourself?

Have ya’ll done lost your minds? In the wake of the mass tragedy at Virginia Tech, alleged grown ups and so called law enforcement officials here in Ohio are calling for arming teachers or for allowing concealed carry by both students and teachers on all school and college campuses in the state.

Okay, not enough kerosene on this fire, let’s try throwing on some gasoline. Are you all fucking crazy?

Has anyone really thought this through? What happens when a six year old takes his toy Glock with the authentic noise to school and points it at somebody? What happens to the silly teenager who tries to play a harmless prank that makes a loud noise that resembles a loud bang? What happens if a car backfires while driving past the school yard during recess and the history teacher on duty has an itchy trigger finger?

What happens if the school bad ass gets hold of teacher’s gun instead of going home for dad’s, and decides to really do some damage because he’s pissed off about a grade or detention?

People, you’re arming against your own kids. For the most part, these are not stranger attacks at these schools. These are your kids, your children. What happened to parenting?

All of these young killers,,,,Harris, Kleibold and now Cho, exhibited early signs that could have been seen and dealt with, had their parents been involved in their lives. The warnings were there for anyone, teachers, other students, school officials. All anyone had to do was to pay attention and also to take action. A recent study of young murderers acting out showed that 70% told someone before they acted. All of them acted out prior to committing their heinous acts.

Columbine happened in 1999, I have yet to hear a word from either of the boys’ parents. Cho’s parents are also silent. They have in fact, disappeared, although the mother’s family is talking.

Some of the parents in Paducah, Kentucky, for example, paid for their inattentiveness with their own lives, killed by their son before he went to school.

You will never make me believe that these parents didn’t know that their kids were sick. If your kid has enough spending money to buy guns at five or six hundred dollars a pop, to shoot up his school...you have enough money to find a hospital or a shrink to help him cope. If you can buy him a car, you can get him help.

Yes, mental health laws, the courts and gun laws need change. And given the state of mental health treatment in this country, finding help may take some effort. But if you bring kids into this world, then you owe it to them to take care of them mentally, physically as well as materially.

Before arming against your kids, how about metal detectors in doorways. There are many, many other security measures that can be taken before anyone else starts shooting. A simple book bag, with four or five books in it really can stop a bullet.

Please...more guns are not the answer. It is time to stop trying to keep up appearances. Understand that most American families are dysfunctional. Deal with it. Your kids are crying out for your attention, not another IPOD.

Put the guns away, hug your kids and vote these gun crazy idiots out of office. ,

Hiding in Plain Sight...32...3311

We mourn those who died at Virginia Tech, as the killing escalates in Iraq. 157 die today, victims of a series of car bombs, reportedly orchestrated as an attack on the latest plan to make the country safer. At least 94 wounded in these same attacks.

3311 Americans dead since this farce of a war began. Bush is still playing politics by holding up funding, blaming Democrats for his mess.

Cho Seung-Hui was apparently identified as “troubled” and possibly dangerous and still nothing could be done to stop the rampage. In this country, this open society, you have to make a direct threat, or actually commit a crime in order to get arrested, or it seems to even get help.

This shouldn’t surprise anyone, really. Women victimized by their mates go through this all the time. Nothing can be done against stalkers or abusive husbands and boyfriends unless the abuser takes direct action against his intended victim. More often than not, the victim is killed.

Just thinking or writing about violence or violent behavior will not get you incarcerated. If that were the case, then the guys who write horror movies like SAW or HOSTEL would be locked in padded cells with the keys lost forever.

One talking head on FOX, today speculated that maybe this society should treat everyone like in the movie “Minority Report,” where people were arrested before they committed crimes. These people were identified through their thoughts which were monitored by way of some amazing contraption operated by the government.

But our society cannot force citizens to see a shrink. We, as Americans are allowed to be crazy, as long as we don’t hurt anyone, even when it is obvious that we might, and eventually will. By law, we have to wait until the gun goes off, so to speak.

I would much rather see us as a society tighten up gun laws. I am troubled by the unwillingness of the NRA to compromise on the issue. If you want to own a gun for protection, I’m okay with that. I have a problem with assault weapons. I have a problem with automatic and semi automatic pistols in the hands of everyday citizens.

It’s not that I’m afraid of guns. I know how to shoot. I know how to handle guns. I don’t own a gun because I know that I CAN and will use it if necessary. If I were attacked and had a gun in reach, it would be used, make no mistake about it. So I choose not to have them available. I prefer to rely on my brain and survivor instincts for getting into and out of situations should they arrive. That may sound stupid to gun owners, but there are always other options.

Why not allow single shot for home protection, or rifles for hunting. Again, I’m okay with that. I have a problem with overwhelming useless firepower.

The argument for having guns to protect against crime are weak. The face of crime in America is still the young black male. But young black males are killing other young black males. There is no rampage going on against society in general.

Burglars usually attack a house when the owner is not home.

Home invasions happen to drug dealers, usually staged by other drug dealers or some thug looking to make a quick score.

Campus/school shootings are perpetrated by angry young white men against their peers and their own families.

Gangs rarely venture out of their neighborhoods.

So maybe as a society we need to address our approach to identify and to act against mental health issues exhibited by obviously troubled people before they explode against the rest of us.

How, I don’t know, because any answer that I can come up with makes us less of an open society. I don’t want anything put into place that hinders my American-ness.