As you would expect, there has been no shortage of
insensitive, offensive and downright ridiculous statements from conservative
pundits regarding the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Anyone who says
that those children died because there wasn’t a Bible in the classroom or a
cross hanging on the wall should be involuntarily committed. However, the most
Orwellian war-is-peace claim is one we’ve heard before after tragedies like
this; if teachers had guns, the murderer could have been stopped sooner.
More guns would have helped. Right. On the surface this is a
genuinely illogical argument. But let’s go just a step deeper. Police carry
guns, but they also have extensive training in how to use these weapons, and
perhaps more importantly, they have training and experience in how to react in
stressful situations. Showing a teacher where the safety is and how to aim a
weapon is only one part of the equation. Are they also going to go through
training on how to react in the event someone enters their classroom and begins
shooting? Will they be confident and calm enough to NOT start spraying the room
with bullets? Expecting teachers to act rationally and with restraint in an
irrational, highly emotional, life and death situation is a fantasy.
More guns in the hands of more people is absolutely not the
answer. And I am guardedly optimistic that the horror of Sandy Hook may
actually motivate our leaders to start implementing some common sense gun laws
in this country. We are, unfortunately, a violent country when compared to
other first world nations. We need to do a far better job of keeping guns out
of the hands of criminals and the mentally ill.
Just one related note. On the same day that Adam Lanza shot
and killed 20 children and six adults in Connecticut, a man in China attacked
school children with a knife. There were 23 injuries, but no deaths. The
Chinese children will be scarred for life, both mentally and physically, but
they are still here to grow up, have families, find rewarding careers and live
long lives. The 20 Sandy Hook children are gone forever because instead of a
knife, Adam Lanza had a gun.
