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Reality check at Mr. LaPierre's table, please!
"The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun...I call on Congress today, to act immediately to appropriate whatever is necessary to put armed police officers in every single school in this nation."
– Wayne LaPierre, at NRA press conference
"I wish to God she had had an M-4 in her office."
– Rep. Louie Gohmert on Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochspring
Who exactly would pay for a rapid response team for every school? Does he think a volunteer force would work? To effectively counter the threat of a lone gunman, you would need people in full body armor all the time, and even then, you don't have an answer to one of them going nuts. Arming everyone is not the answer.
Gohmert also needs a reality check. Too many assumptions. That she's present when the shooting starts, that she has the presence of mind to grab the rifle (which would have to be locked up, so it would also assume that she has the presence of mind to unlock it), that she can shoot accurately and take out the shooter. The top rules of shooting a gun are to treat all guns as if they are loaded and to be sure of what's behind your target. Could you imagine how the principal would feel if she missed and killed one of her students? I'm sure there would be no litigation if that were to happen. A SWAT member specializes in not only accurate shooting, but also tactical manouvering, and they practice it on a regular basis, does a school principal have the time for that?
Video games are not to blame, nor are TV and movies. The problem is too many guns in circulation and people with profound mental disturbances who should not have access to guns in the first place. But since mental health problems are not "manly", we can't address them as they should be.
*sigh*
LaPierre needs an attitude adjustment, the country's opinion is heavily against the NRA at the moment and if he doesn't come up with something more reasonable, his organization and him are just going to become increasingly irrelevant.
– Wayne LaPierre, at NRA press conference
"I wish to God she had had an M-4 in her office."
– Rep. Louie Gohmert on Sandy Hook principal Dawn Hochspring
Who exactly would pay for a rapid response team for every school? Does he think a volunteer force would work? To effectively counter the threat of a lone gunman, you would need people in full body armor all the time, and even then, you don't have an answer to one of them going nuts. Arming everyone is not the answer.
Gohmert also needs a reality check. Too many assumptions. That she's present when the shooting starts, that she has the presence of mind to grab the rifle (which would have to be locked up, so it would also assume that she has the presence of mind to unlock it), that she can shoot accurately and take out the shooter. The top rules of shooting a gun are to treat all guns as if they are loaded and to be sure of what's behind your target. Could you imagine how the principal would feel if she missed and killed one of her students? I'm sure there would be no litigation if that were to happen. A SWAT member specializes in not only accurate shooting, but also tactical manouvering, and they practice it on a regular basis, does a school principal have the time for that?
Video games are not to blame, nor are TV and movies. The problem is too many guns in circulation and people with profound mental disturbances who should not have access to guns in the first place. But since mental health problems are not "manly", we can't address them as they should be.
*sigh*
LaPierre needs an attitude adjustment, the country's opinion is heavily against the NRA at the moment and if he doesn't come up with something more reasonable, his organization and him are just going to become increasingly irrelevant.
no subject
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/us/mixed-reaction-to-call-for-armed-guards-in-schools.html?smid=go-share&_r=0
This is not a simple problem, and there isn't a simple solution, but I find it profoundly disturbing that the NRA's focus is entirely on stopping people who are already armed and ready to kill, rather than any sort of prevention. Personally, I don't see why any common citizen should be able to acquire an assault rifle or automatic weapon--that doesn't mean you can't have your handgun for self-defense or your hunting rifle (though those also need to be kept out of the wrong hands--there's a reason my parents took my stepbrother's entire gun collection out of his house when he was deeply depressed after an almost-fatal car accident). And further stigmatizing mental illness (and also further stigmatizing things that aren't metal illness, like introversion and shyness--I was a shy kid, a loner, and a little odd. That alone doesn't make someone a potential killer) just makes it harder for people seek help. We need to make it easier to seek help, for ourselves and those in our care.
no subject
It was a freaking Rickroll.