There was a school shooting in Willoughby yesterday, one mile from my house.
A boy entered the school distraught, heartbroken, and intent on suicide. He fired two shots, put the gun to his head and was quickly talked down by school administrators. Just a very dramatic and dangerous cry for help and thankfully, no one was injured.
Calls for metal detectors and armed guards have already begun because parents are left terrified by the idea that someone could actually smuggle a gun into the school....it is a gun-free zone and all, you know.
*little rant: How long will it take before people put 2 and 2 together? That the gun-free zone sign means nothing? It is not a magical object, warding off evil. No crazed murderer with a gun, intent on mayhem and bloodshed will be stopped by that sign. It only limits my ability to protect myself. Every day that I go to work I pass through a door with one of those signs on it and I am unarmed because...because...actually I don't know why. Is it because I am dangerous? More dangerous than the policeman who comes in fully armed to the library? I had a full background check, got my fingerprints taken, deemed A-OK by the state. Is it because guns are scary? If that's the case, get over it - I did. I am (so very very) tired of babying people who choose to remain ignorant. I am sorry if guns make you nervous but the thought of being attacked, murdered, or raped because I was stripped of the best tool to defend myself with makes me even more uncomfortable.
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
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21 comments:
Girl you need bigger fonts! let yourself be heard!
besides I really had to squint to read that
fixed it for you
You are SOOOOooo right Breda. I could NOT agree more!!!
When I carry in the Library I think of you and that godforsaken sign... : (
I am so sick and disgusted with this notion that somehow anyone can be made completely safe. Armed guards, metal detectors, placards stating weapons are not allowed, anything and everything some terrified group can think of close all the gaps, despite the reality that if someone is determined enough to wreak havoc on themselves or others, they will find a way. Does anyone ever feel safer because of such lengths or is just an elaborate crutch to feed and justify an ever expanding sensation of fear?
Poor kid. Wanted to show people he was really in pain and he's going to spend the rest of his life being remembered for the tool he selected in trying to off himself. (My guess is he was counting on scaring the police enough to pull the trigger for him.)
Natch I thought of you when I heard the news. Yes, it will be silly season in Willoughby.
Actually, you are wrong. That gun-free-zone DOES mean something. It's a notice to all those who might be contemplating wholesale evil that THIS is the place to do it. It tells them they'll be safe there.
But in the end it's not about guns. It's about power: the power of the sign-posting authority to control the lives of people they don't approve of, like gun-folk.
Even when the law prevents you from carrying a firearm, you should ALWAYS carry a good folding knife.
Spending $50 on a good blade is a wise investment.
Nuts go where they know guns won't be.
You don't see too many police stations, army bases, or guns stores being robbed.
Weird huh?
I agree wholeheartedly, Breda...I (you, we) are the only ones we can depend to protect ourselves. It isn't appropriate to make that impossible.
God, I was just on another site I visit - a musician's website (which kinda explains everything) - I've been visiting there for 3 years or so & talking to the people on the message board. Who always bitch about guns. This week, they've decided they're ready for Texas to secede from the US (?) & they're "wearing their fightin' clothes". I pointed out to that they'd need guns - in addition to those clothes - to pull off a successful revolution, and since they were so anti-gun, I just wasn't seeing it. And IMMEDIATELY I get a message from some fool who says well, he's GOT a gun, he's just not some wacko NRA guy. !!?? :)
So Breda, I feel your pain. I didn't even respond. It's too tiring.
Well said, Breda. Once heard a great line: "Blaming guns for school shootings is like blaming the spoon for Rosie being fat."
Glad no one was hurt, sorry that the kid was confused, sad and stupid. I hope that he grows out of it, but then no one has decided to cut off Federal funding so they can arm the teachers or have weapons training for the youth, so they will be safer?
When I carry I don't bother the signs and they don't bother me, although I am sure if someone KNEW they would do something about it, I am so stealthy... for a fat old man.
Tragic when we are prevented from protecting ourselves and especially from protecting children.
Sorry, I don't know the html to put a cool name over the link.
http://store.thewilderness.com/index.php?cPath=51
Stick one of those in your purse and well ...
I'm just sayin...
Never Forget.
http://www.jeanneassamphotos.com/
Please don't take this the wrong way.
http://www.lulu.com/content/547629
I agree 100%.
I want to take your rant and plaster it over a thousand billboards. No, millions.
A very very long time...
We still haven't put 2+2 together on the "Drug Free Zone" signs. If I was an addict, I'd always know where to look for drugs. Just find a place with a DFZ sign. And you know there is a problem with drugs being dealt in the area.
Declaring a school, or anywhere, a "gun free zone" is the equivalent of drawing a chalk line on the sidewalk and declaring it an impenetrable barrier.
Mike
I know the feeling sweetie. I work in a "gun free zone" too. Florida just passed a law where CCW permit holders can bring their gun to work if it is kept locked in your car but it doesn't help me.
All public schools, colleges, universities etc are "gun free zones" according to our CCW permit laws.
It's okay to protect yourself as long as it's not at school. Makes about as much sense as drinking the Kool-Aid right?
But then anti-gunners drank the Kool-Aid long ago. There is no reasoning with them.
I am fortunate in that I am not a young, attractive woman so my likelihood of being a target is diminished somewhat but I do worry about my wife, both of my daughters and my granddaughter.
Hopefully one day people in this country will wake up, throw down the Kool-Aid cup and actually live by and support the Constitution and Bill of Rights.
I'm not counting on it but I am supporting the good fight as best I can. I am a life member of the NRA, GOA, SAF and CCRKBA.
I support them and donate all the time and money I can afford to in hopes that someday we can bring the anti-gun zealots to their senses.
Joe
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