Last Wednesday (Ash Wednesday in the Western calendar), a young man murdered seventeen students in cold blood in Parkland, Florida. This was an atrocity of the first water and our prayers should go out to the victims and their grieving relatives.
Unfortunately, those who are grief-stricken will not be allowed to mourn. No sooner were the police called that many on the left started calling for stricter “gun control”.
No surprise there, that is their wont. It’s an involuntary reaction at this point, kind of like what happens when the doctor strikes your kneecap with a hammer. Of course, it’s especially delicious for those on the left because the malefactor was a young, white male. They’re always on the lookout for The Great White Defendant (as Tom Wolfe so humorously put in in Bonfire of the Vanities).
Problems abound however. Though the shooter’s surname is Cruz, there’s so far been no rush to pin the dreaded label of “white Hispanic” upon him. This is curious if you ask me as the left showed no hesitation several years ago when they cobbled this curious qualifier together and pinned it on one George Zimmerman –a man with marked mestizo features but alas, a German-Jewish last name–several years ago. Perhaps there’s an election coming up? Who knows?
Another problem is their pathetic attempt to use some of the survivors in their campaign to weaponize their jihad against the Second Amendment. This will not end well for them in the mid-terms. And as far as the young people are concerned involved in this campaign, they will come to the realization that they were used and then cast aside.
Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, Russia. Well, not really but bear with me.
Believe it or not, Russia does play into this atrocity in some ways. How you may ask? Well, I’ll tell you how: you see, the FBI knew about Nikolas Cruz for almost two years. Red flags had been waving in the wind about him at tornadic speed for that long and from many different quarters. But the FBI was too busy hunting wild geese in Russia because “muh democracy” to do anything so trivial about this wacko right on our doorstep who was a ticking time-bomb.
Worse, to hide their incompetence, they hastily jury-rigged thirteen indictments against “Russian nationals” the very next day in order to deflect the anger that was intensifying against them. (By the way, don’t look too closely at the indictments –President Trump and everybody around him had been exonerated by Mueller’s team.)
Meanwhile over in Dagestan, Russia, a religious fanatic goes all jihadi and murders five women on Maslenitsa, wounding another five, right after Forgiveness Vespers. With a gun. In a country in which there are strict gun controls. In a country in which there is no Second Amendment. Regardless, there was nary a peep from the Western press. Why? Because reasons.
For a really good take on this, please see Terry Mattingly’s most recent column. https://www.getreligion.org/getreligion/2018/2/18/massacre-on-ash-wednesday-now-orthodox-believers-shot-leaving-forgiveness-vespers
As for myself, I will say that a dishonest type of politics has entered in this debate. (I know, I know, try not to choke on your biscuit or spit up your coffee.) Judging from the libtards on my Facebook page, they are positively chortling with glee that the perpetrator in Florida was a young, white male. Somehow they believe that this obviates the thousands of atrocities that are performed by foreign-born jihadis and/or illegal aliens who rape, pillage and murder to their heart’s content.
Why? “Because reasons” as I already told you. That’s why. (Anyway, I made it easy for you by posting the Media Narrative Chart.)
Regardless, next week, or next month, when a disgruntled young man of the Islamic persuasion drives a car or truck into a group of several dozen people and/or swings a machete wildly into a crowd, these same people who scream “Gun Control!” at the drop of a hat, will go out of their way to justify chain migration, or “freedom of religion” or some such claptrap. As for the victims, crickets will chirp.
It’s instinctive. The left is not interested in addressing root causes but only in political theater. And it should be clear by now that they really don’t care about the victims. Any victims.
See what I mean by “crickets”? Fifteen Nigerians were slaughtered the other day and I had to dig deep to find any reportage of it:
http://torontosun.com/opinion/columnists/fatah-a-slaughter-in-nigeria-goes-unreported
There were 37,461 traffic fatalities in the United States in 2016. That is over 102 per day.
We are not discussing the abolition of motor vehicles.
Perspective is necessary.
As to the ethnicity, it would not surprise me if young white males are the leading perps on these type of things when they are not related to Islam. Young white males have lost the most in the feminist matriarchy and I’m sure, consciously or unconsciously, feel cheated as to their prerogatives vis a vis generations past. They are ignorant, but not that ignorant. The dysfunctional public education system hasn’t totally divorced them from historical reality, though that has been the intent.
So you get “acting out” against The Dis-empowering Borg from time to time. Schools are the vanguard of the Matriarchy. Par for the course. Obviously it is tragic and a stain on our claims to be a moral country. But it is no less than a symptom of the failed social construct that we have imposed here.
I’m sure it will go on until the underlying problem is remedied – that being the feminist matriarchy, not gun ownership.
The narrative is quickly becoming openly anti-male. Aside from the Freudian connotations of gun control, they really want to ban white males, replace them with women at every turn and keep a few sperm in a freezer somewhere until “science” eliminates the need for that.
Such a hatred also animates the LBTQRSVWZ and the sexual harassment agenda too. Last year a homosexual sports writer wrote a piece attacking the “toxic masculinity” of baseball for instance.
George, please explain what the Second Amendment says about ‘militias’. I’m confused.
10 U.S. Code § 246 – Militia: composition and classes
U.S. Code › Title 10 › Subtitle A › Part I › Chapter 12 › § 246
10 U.S. Code § 246 – Militia: composition and classes
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
(b) The classes of the militia are—
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the Naval Militia.
(Aug. 10, 1956, ch. 1041, 70A Stat. 14, § 311; Pub. L. 85–861, § 1(7), Sept. 2, 1958, 72 Stat. 1439; Pub. L. 103–160, div. A, title V, § 524(a), Nov. 30, 1993, 107 Stat. 1656; renumbered § 246, Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title XII, § 1241(a)(2), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2497.)
That pretty much settles it, doesn’t it?
10 U.S. Code § 246 is referring to a smaller class of people than the second amendment. The US Code section is concerned with who can potentially be drafted in the worst case scenario, “militia” being synonymous with “battle worthy men of age”.
In Vietnam, the age was 18-26. In World War II the age was 18-34. My grandfather was drafted at the ripe old age of thirty-four, for example. Theoretically, under current law, they could stretch it to 45 if need be.
The “militia” of the second amendment is the reason for the right to bear arms, not the exclusive bearer of arms. The “people” hold that right. This would have included at least all men of majority age.
This explains it pretty well.
The militia is the whole of the people, and the Supreme Court upheld this view in DC v. Heller. This is settled law; why do gun-grabbers continue to exercise this argument?
“Shall not be infringed” should be the end of the gun debate. If Trump gives in to the well-rehearsed sob stories, even on nonsense issues like “muh bump stocks,” that is strike two. (Bombing Syria for no reason was strike one.)
Actually, the 9th Amendment is also settled law. The 9th Amendment simply says your rights are not more important than mine. Consider, for a moment giving a gun to a guy who says ‘I want to kill people’, or allowing him his 2nd Amendment right.
His right to own a gun does not outweigh my right to walk down the road in fear of my life for the liberties he has been granted. It doesn’t and in fact Florida recognizes this reality in the Baker Act. However, the Baker Act has holes. Unless the state is aggressive in applying the Baker Act, it results in omission. Florida has one of the loosest gun restrictions of all the states and probably has also been loose in application of Baker.
Not sure if all the states have Baker type laws, but they can’t allow ‘dangerous’ people to possess guns over the rights of the rest of us to walk freely down the street. And this ain’t gun grabbin’, but rather common sense.
“Shall not be infringed” is not the end of the gun debate. Sorry. Well regulated is the beginning of the article you cite, but I noticed you are unwilling to mention the word regulated.
The regulations the state applied in the Heller case were simply overreaching, and I agree they were. Even in the Heller case, the decision was close, but I personally agree with the majority.
However, the state of Florida underreached with Nicholas Cruz and gave him rights over the rights of others and for that they will pay.
George,
As I permanently leave this forum, one final thought. Orthodox Christianity and White Nationalism! Who woulda thunk it??
Constantinos: it’s Orthodoxy and sovereignty (i.e. “nationalism”). There is no “white nationalism” or “black nationalism” as the white and black and yellow races transcend political borders. Greece is not Norway and Botswana is not Zaire.
Orthodoxy sanctifies the borders and identity of a polity. That’s why it’s enduring in Europe, more so than the Protestant nations. And that’s why we have autocephalous, territorial (i.e. “political”) Churches, in which the bishops are all equal to each other. In other words, why we can’t ever have papalism.
Constaninos, “Say it ain’t so, Joe!
A little levity in the conversation: http://www.nbc.com/saturday-night-live/video/john-david-stutts/n9083?snl=1
George,
Access to high capacity handguns and rifles, have been around, and legal to obtain for anyone 18 years old and up for about 40 years now, but I don’t remember mass shootings in high schools, back then until the last 15 odd years.
This alone proves we don’t have a gun problem, but a general psychological societal problem. There are many facets to this deadly phenomena, but one that sticks out is knee jerk reaction doctors, and stressed out single mothers, who can’t control normal hyper activity in male children, seek to medicate their children, when doctors even suggest ADD, or other mental disorders, and prescribe drugs to children at young ages. What happens when these young adults, simply stop taking the medication? Or worse, continue taking a drug/s they never needed, transformed into hazy minded, living zombie adults! A sad, greedy, and deadly combination of Big Pharm Lobbyist, and the breakdown of the American family coming home to…?
Ann Coulter also wrote an article that nearly 50% of mass shooters were first/second generation immigrants or children of immigrants. Another reason perhaps to put a moratorium on immigration? We are talking nearly 50%, from such a small portion of our population. Of course, the Democrats will scream that is racist mentality, and will only focus on gun control.
Violent TV, Movies,Video games another? Good luck, curtailing that trillion dollar business!
The big one Internet, and social media, The Great Anesthesia! We are numb as a society, all the horror of the world is there is to see. Seen over and over by our children, makes torture, death and murder not only blasé, but for some romantic and exciting fantasy, that becomes reality.
How about strictly enforcing current laws, and sadly it’s come to one access into schools, with a least two armed guards. Don’t tell me we don’t have money for that, we always have money for illegal immigrants flooding our schools!
You are quite selective, Bob – either by weakness of memory, or you listen to pundit creeps – but the first “school shooting” with a high-powered rifle occurred here in San Diego on January 29, 1979. That would be 39-years ago. The shooter was a 16-year old girl, Brenda Ann Spencer, who was not in any way “immigrant-related,” nor numbed to the horror of the world by video games or the internet because, factually, they were not available. A reporter reached her by phone in her home – directly across from the elementary school where she murdered two adults (the principal and I believe a teacher) and severely wounded 8 children – before the police arrived and asked her why she did this. She famously responded: “I don’t like Mondays.” Her defense team tried to offer an explanation that she had suffered a “frontal lobe injury” (the seat of emotional regulation & behavioural control) as a young child in a biking accident. That to this day she remains in CA state prison speaks to the success of that defense.
We have been around this block of “massive criminality on the part of immigrants” at the hands of jackasses previously, only significantly worse, and you would now serve up an entitled silly rich white woman who wins the silver medal for lies with no actual data. It simply is not true. And as long as we’re talking data, perhaps you could compile a list of school shooters who were actually medicated for ADHD (are you thinking I have a hunch?).
The fact of the matter is that we have no reliable system, algorithm, profile, plan, or program to predict violence in humans. None. How do I know this? Because I have been part of an ongoing research group that has studied the phenomenon. This started at John Jay College in NYC, then in prison, then expanded to researchers in the Netherlands, then to CA schools, and then our most significant addition, researchers from Israel. Why were they important? Because – at least in their minds – they have the most to gain from accurately predicting violence and providing preventative intervention. What have they come up with? Nothing. They were/are “successful” as the NYPD was successful, by stereotyping, profiling, discrimination, and segregation. Ben Gurion is the safest airport in the world, but has very limited flights and they discriminate. The only factor ever identified for predicting violence is a past history of violence; not immigration, video games, social media, or the internet. Go to Harlem, Bob, or go to East LA, and you will find gangstas, drug dealers, immigrants, and metal detectors at every entrance/exit. But I ask you, how many school shootings were committed by gang members, drug dealers, or immigrants? How about minorities/people of color? Nah. It was all white kids (ask Ann Coutler where these white kids’ people immigrated from. Sweden? Ireland? Italy? Russia?). And have you ever heard of one of these white kid school shooters complain of having difficulty getting a weapon or ammunition? No. “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Right. How many people would that Valentines’s Day white kid have stabbed with a knife before the football coach who died smacked him with a chair?
Finally, shame on you, Mr. Michalopulos, truly, for even making an analogy of fifteen Nigerians, murdered and unreported. As if to say you would have even stopped to read such an article had it not served your purpose? Did you not but a week ago emphasize to me that we are obligated to “care for our own,” even quoting the Scripture to me? These children were are own, and this is not to say the others were unimportant, but this event was our personal tragedy, in our very house, such as it was.
Likewise the first mass-murder in a schoolhouse was in Pennsylvania in the 1790s (I believe) when an Algonquian Indian went berserk and murdered ten white schoolchildren. And during the 1970s, when won heard the word “Irish” we immediately associated the word “terrorist” thanks the the prolific bombings perpetrated by the IRA.
That’s neither here nor there. The problem now with terrorism and mass-murder is as la Coulter states: primarily as an artifact of the immigrant population from Third World countries. Out of all proportion to their population. Neither Coulter nor I use this as an excuse to exonerate native mass-murderers any more than we use MS13-inspire gang rapes of young girls to excuse the behavior of predatory native males. Her thesis is why bring in more pathology from areas where such behavior is endemic?
And the horrors which are perpetrated in the cartel-controlled areas of northern Mexico rival anything that obtains in ISIS or Taliban-controlled areas. Beheadings, mutilations, gang rapes, mass murders, you name it, are the order of the day there.
It’s ironic, but every day we don’t secure the southern border by completing the Wall, it’s going to make it inevitable that we will be forced to conquer the northern states of Mexico at some point in order to pacify them.
Yes Mr. Stankovich, I am guilty of soliciting s response from you. Who else might understand a deadly phenomena/epidemic we are experiencing now with children, and young adults? I understand there were a few shootings 30-50 years ago, but nothing like we are seeing today. The list of shooters that Ann Coulter listed is was it is, so it is a fact that a very large percentage of a very small group of people are committing these shootings, in schools and other locations. You have every right to disagree with her political agenda, but the list is a fact.
So far as all the other factors, no, no data, but something(s) is causing this wave of young and old people committing mass shootings and killings. Could they kill so many with knives and swords, no, but the reality is we live in a country with guns, and always will, unless you want to start a real killing spree in what a revolution would bring, let’s be real. The fact is criminals, old or young, and the insane/evil will have access if they want firearms, even banning large capacity clips, won’t stop the killing,reloading clips only takes about 3-5 seconds.
Personally I don’t want the security that are at inner city schools, but at least few teachers who have a military or police background, or certified in firearm training, with concealed weapon might be a start. I know the teachers love their kids, and would risk their lives to protect them. The shooter at worse would be slowed in his tracks with bullets flying at him, at best he would be stopped cold or otherwise flee.
As a parent of both young and old children, I have a always prepared myself for the day a teacher might call me in and request a mental evaluation, of one of my kids, by a doctor. So far it has not happened, but if you don’t mind I would appreciated your take on the drugging of our children, when they seem hyperactive, and misbehaved. I thank you in advance!
My take is pretty simple: In every case, use any medication only when it is diagnostically indicated, in the smallest dose possible to the achieve the therapeutic goal necessary, and for the shortest period possible. School personnel have a right to demand behaviour, but not forced assessment and/or medication. How often do you find them spending funds to evaluate a child to determine if they are gifted & talented and simply bored out of their minds in the hands of a mediocre and uninspiring teacher?
Further, I was reading recently that nearly 40% of psychiatric-specific medications are prescribed by primary care physicians and pediatricians who, on the whole, are not trained to appropriately diagnose (as opposed to “recognize”) for psychiatric conditions; select the most appropriate medication (the choices these days are phenomenal & the genetic indications are increasing ); properly prescribe (again, the choices, dosages, ranges, side-effects, and efficacy can be dramatic), and appropriately monitor & measure progress. Far too frequently, patients are being given another medication(s) to manage the effects of a medication(s) that was poorly manged, blah, blah, blah… They would not be so cavalier with any other sub-specialty.
Everything I know about medications and children/adolescents I learned from the United States Navy (Naval Medical Center San Diego, Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, in specific) who made certain a child was properly diagnosed before any decision was made about their care. It is a brilliant model of medical discipline and the appropriate use of medication combined with psychotherapy.
And in case you were wondering, Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder is complex, particularly in light of the newest information we have – e.g. from a Nov. 2017 study, it is clearly a highly heritable, polygenic disorder that is closely related to Autism, Bipolar Disorder, Major Depression, and Schizophrenia through the salience network of the brain, responsible for executive functioning and answers the question of “inattention,” revealing common pathways that may result in more effectual treatment. It is an exciting time.
Michael S, any correlation between ADHD and dyslexia and/or the other disorders?
The short answer: 103 citations – 8 alone already in 2018 – speak to the correlation between ADHD & dyslexia, autism-spectrum disorders, learning disorders, arithmetic disorders, language disorders, speech disorders, fine-motor control, and balance. While they each appear to be under unique genetic influences, they likewise appear to share common genetic influences that results in derangement in specific areas of the brain responsible for these activities.
Michael S. They are disorders in that they are out side the norm, but are they really disorders or just different ways of thinking and processing information.
My son is dyslexic–he has great difficulty processing two dimensional information. Probably would also be considered ADHD. However, he has an incredible three dimensional imagination that allows him to order things quickly and easily. It translates also into the ability to see the best way for a group of people to function together to achieve a goal and efficient ways to accomplish tasks.
I met a gentleman a couple of years ago that was super ADHD. He claimed it was because he was a higher life form(he actually told me that). He perceived and processed information in his field (aeronautical engineering) 3 to 4 times more rapidly with fewer errors than any of his co-workers (or so he told me).
Are there not better ways than medication to help folks function in a world in which they are different? Are you aware of any research in that direction?
First, I should have noted that the 103+ citations to which I referred are contained in the National Library of Medicine.
I think a significant aspect of our views of these “disorders” are necessarily pejorative because of our experience with the most frustrating manifestations: impulsivity & inattention often translate into frustration (exaggerated, to a great degree, from repeated failure) and boredom. It seems to me Nirvana took a shot at it in Smells Like Teen Spirit, “She’s over-bored and self-assured,” and “Here we are now, entertain us, I feel stupid and contagious.” I know as someone who only had to manage children’s and adolescent’s hyperactive & inattentive behaviour for a matter of hours, it can be difficult to not imagine that some aspects of their behaviour is not willful. And somewhere, in the back of someone’s mind, is the idea that ultimately, the responsibility falls mightily on poor parenting: “My kids don’t act that way.” Parents become more isolated, embarrassed, and resentful, and then the school calls, “We need to talk about your child’s behaviour.” Fortunately, we now are able to access the operation of the human brain live as it functions through fMRI thechnology and molecular and biogenetic information we had never dreamed possible. That alone has allowed us to identify those at a disproportionate risk; to help identify, diagnose, and intervene earlier (as the evidence is clear that earlier intervention results in better outcomes longitudinally); and assist in the development of newer medications and treatment modalities.
I think it is important to realize that there is a significant body of literature, gathered over an extended period of time, that clearly indicates that stimulant-type medications prescribed to children and adolescents for ADHD are effective, cause relatively few complications, and result in no long term complications. I have mentioned a number of times the Cochrane Library, which is the premier source for evidence-based medical practice in the US, and their assessment of the use of the three main forms of amphetamine (dexamphetamine, lisdexamphetamine and mixed amphetamine salts) can be downloaded in PDF format here. The main side-effects are loss of appetite, anxiety, insomnia, and stomach pain, all of which can be managed symptomatically, changing the medication formulation, and so on. In any case, it is usually not reported that the vast majority of children who are accurately diagnosed with ADHD simply outgrow it. It is thought that 10% or less of children diagnosed with ADHD as children carry it into and are affected as adults.
Finally, as to your last question, we have known since the late 1990’s in a massive, pioneering study of ADHD referred to as the “Metropolitan Study” (because it was simultaneously conducted in numerous “metropolitan” areas of the US) that best outcomes occur when medications are combined with cognitive behavioral therapy, active family participation of the family, and close involvement with the community (e.g. after-school programs for school mentoring, sports & recreation, etc.). The more active children became in cognitive behavioural therapy and parental/community activities, the more likely the were able to function without medications. But we now know this from the measured, sustained neuropsychiatric impact of psychotherapy (e.g. mindfulness focused, even the addition of prayer) on the brain. And there is significant research of the helpfulness of these combinations with decreased amounts of medications to affect change.
Thanks again my layman’s take from your post, keep child stimulated and motivated in class and on a level slightly above par level. Second never go off a primary doc’s diagnosis. Third the fine line seems it not so fine , but misdiagnosed, because the first two points are not followed thru.
Finally pray to God properly diagnosed, and properly treated. Most likely by second and third opinions. Nothing at times more stressful than raising children. Glory to God I have been blessed thus far. All the best to you Dr. Stankovich.
The trouble in many cases is the pressure that educrats bring to bear against the parents of young boys to medicate, often unnecessarily IMHO. More often than not, we’re talking about single mothers btw.
Now as near as I can tell, there are exactly eleven instances of mass murder school shootings in the US – “mass murder” as an epidemiological term indicating >5 deaths – beginning with the 1999 event at Columbine High School in Littleton, CO (which, at the time, with 15 deaths, constituted the largest event in US history). Of the eleven mass murder events, two were perpetrated by Asians: Seung-Hui Cho, killed 33 people in the attack at Virginia Tech University in 2007, and One L. Goh killed 7 people in the attack on Oikos University in Oakland, CA in 2012. Christopher Harper-Mercer, who killed 10 people at the Umpqua Community College in Roseburg, OR, where he was a student in 2015, identified himself as being of “mixed race” as his father was Caucasian. The remaining eight were non-Hispanic Caucasians. Of the eleven mass murderers, only Mr. Goh had any association with “an artifact of the immigrant population from Third World countries,” as, apparently, he was a legally admitted immigrant. Ten of the perpetrators have no connection whatsoever to areas where “such behaviour is endemic.” Their only affiliation to an aggregate seems, in the end, to be to “silly white geese,” as nine of the eleven took their own lives (one is said to have engaged the police in a “gun battle” with the express purpose of “suicide by cop”), while four of the eleven also made it a point to murder one or more first degree family members before embarking upon their murder spree. If you – and/or Ms. Coulter – are able to reasonably explain to me how securing the border with Mexico with a big wall will do anything to ameliorate this form of violence for which we basically have nothing by way of insight or intervention, please, I am all ears. Personally, I think you are posturing.
I’m just guessing they quickly looked away after reading this post. Thank God this ridiculous misadventure of fear didn’t happen in the late 1800s or my families would have never been allowed to come to this great nation.
The common problem Bob misses is missed by you as well in rebuttal Dr. S (not in knowledge). This kid belonged in an institution. They don’t exist much anymore and neither does a budget for him/them. The pushdown on institutions started when Dr. S? About the 60s per the google education I get. But it saw bigger pushes during the ? 80s from my recollection(not googling). So, now, instead of locking people up when they throw chairs at fellow students and threaten to kill them, we say ‘he is just acting out’ and try to help him avoid the school to prison pipeline by not reporting to police. Then the NRA says, ‘it’s his right’ to own a gun. And the ACLU says, despite the fact this person can’t pay their own bills, they too, ought to have the 2nd Amendment rights (HJ Res 40). The reality Bob misses is this is the collision of liberty.
Liberty for lunatics to own guns. Yes, Bob, there is a Santa Claus.
Not just small caliber pistols, but high caliber or high capacity weapons. Bob missed that 30 round AR15 bit as well. Convenient for him to say guns have been around. He missed the muzzle loaders the Constitution was written to reflect. There are no gun regulations. Pick a state, walk into a gun show with green money and you own a gun.
But there is hope. I have rights, too. I have a 9th Amendment right that says Nicholas Cruz’ 2nd Amendment rights are not greater than my right to walk down the street.
And even a conservative court will agree. The 2nd Amendment is being tested and it is failing. The notion that all people should be free from institutionalization is also failing.
What Bob doesn’t see and others don’t see is I have rights and my rights do not allow Nicholas Cruz the freedom to walk to a gun show and buy a gun. They want so badly to avoid this conversation and obsfucate with arm teachers, more armed guards, more mental health. The 2nd Amendment is going to be challenged by the 9th Amendment. It is only a matter of time and it will not withstand the challenge. When it does fail, that will be a glorious day.
The failure will not be what the far left hope for. It will not be an assault weapons ban. It will be a requirement to make sure the person buying the gun will not be infringing on others right to walk down the street. It will be extensive background checks. The end to anyone selling a gun. The end to gun show loopholes. The requirement for medical practitioners, teachers, and LEOs to report Baker qualifying events.
The legislature will fail to do it and it will be by judicial fiat once again.
It is coming, watch for it. Pray for it. Jesus would respond to this problem very simply. He would say, there is no need for Nicholas Cruz to own a gun. That would be all you’d get.
I find it disappointing that the FL governor’s proposal rejected arming teachers. Plus the proposed prohibition on those under 21 owning or possessing fire arms just means that there will be fewer people trained in how to handle them. That, IMO, will lead to more gun accidents and bad use. “Forbidden Fruit” and all of that.
This is a public health problem, or so my late father and nationally renowned local public health officer, always said. His solution would be gun education and training on the proper handling of guns AND working to build up communities by addressing the mental health needs of folks and reducing family pressures as possible.
Wish he were still here, he would have an innovative, workable, effective plan of action and probably would have one already in place ten to fifteen years ago.
We talked about the issue briefly about 25 years ago because he was already seeing it as a future need.
Michael, whenever I hear some “concerned” person say we should take guns out of the hands of 18-20 year-olds, I want to scream: “Did you see Saving Private Ryan? A lot of those men who stormed Omaha Beach were that age!”
Really, we need to just go ahead and abolish mandatory government schooling. The lack of education and critical thinking astounds me.
The no guns until 21 has serious flaws. The good in it is to try to avoid the unhappy 18 year old from planning revenge on his old high school, who he blames for his misery. If states can require someone to be 21 to purchase alcohol; they surely can do so to purchase a gun.
The 2nd Amendment is being tested and it is failing, along with not dealing with kids who are threatening others.
The deadliest school masacre in US history occurred in 1927 in Bath, MI. 44 people died 38 students when a local farmer and school board member blew up the school. Had all of his explosives gone off many more would have died. 500 pounds he had planted in the basement failed to explode.
Where there is a will, there is a way.
try and buy some dynamite in 2018 and see how that works out for you
Deep Steak: Try and buy some fertilizer and fuel oil. It is not about the weapon.
Do not forget Alvin York and Audie Murphy. They show what one man with a gun and courage can do. Murphy was 19, York also. They both grew up with guns and did subsistence hunting. They both faced down much greater fire power single handedly.
The statement that the cop who hid could not have done anything because he was out gunned is ridiculous. Technology worship makes us weak.
Also the war movies make us think such men were much older. York was played by Gary Cooper, Murphy played himself but over 10 years after the fact. The actors in Pvt Ryan much older than the actual soldiers they represented.
It is just another case of the infantlizing of our children. Keeping our kids in a prolonged state of immaturity.
If they are going to make guns illegal until 21, why not shooter video games too? Rate all movies with violent themes as unsuitable for those under 31. New rating NC21. Require ID checks and robot ushers. Mandatory locks on TV that require proof of age before viewing.
If you ever doubt the intent of the public school movement read the works of Horace Mann and his compadres. To simplify: get God out of children’s lives, weaken parental influence and make the kids good little minions of the authoritarian state. He died before the Civil War.
Good little nihilist as most social planners are.
Public education, despite the skill and dedication of many good teachers, is and always has been about propagandizing. They are government mental institutions. Scott’s propsal to “harden” the buildings will make them like prisons.
Would not be surprised to see an increase in required psychotropic medications to make the inmates more docile and easy to control.
Arguments about gun ownership are premature until/unless we are willing to discuss the underlying problem and that is that our society is a violent one. Most people who are shot to death in this country are either related to the shooter, know the shooter or have some indirect relationship, i.e., gang members shooting at members of other gangs. We live with this myth that guns are necessary to protect ourselves. Those who don’t understand how a society/country can actually continue to exist without an armed citizenry know nothing about western Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan, etc.
I have no wish for this country to be like a single one of those places.
How about just the USA without the several hundred million guns in this country?
Alitheia, it is arguable that the character of our nation is inextricably intertwined with the necessity, ability and willingness to protect ourselves against all enemies foreign and domestic–the ability to forge our own way in challenging and threatening situations.
Fredrick Jackson Turner a noted and influential historian of the early 20th century certainly felt this way.
It is at least possible that the division and conflict we see in our body politic is a resurgence of the original conflict at the beginning of our nation: Be ordered by the state for our own good, or take the risk of ordering ourselves in spite of the state.
One must not forget either role of faith and religion that was an undercurrent of the American Revolution (possibly a remnant of the English Civil War and Cromwell’s Protectorate). Does the state have the prerogative to control faith, movement, guns and a whole host of other things, or not? Will ceding them that prerogative make us safer? The gun control debate is and cannot be isolated from the full context of the political fight going on in our country. To put it more simply: It ain’t about the guns.
In college I had a dorm mate who was from Tanzania. At the time (late 60s) there was a ferment in Tanzania who were going through their own turmoil. He told me with great intensity that he would rather be free than safe. That is often the political dichotomy that is presented to us. From a Christian perspective it is false.
As a Christian I have to realize that the violence we see in our society mirrors the violence in my own soul. The absolute best and most effective antidote for that violence is for me to repent. The only safety I have and the only security is my submission to the love of Christ. It is also the only freedom that matters. In Christ, I can be both safe and free, just not in the way the world sees it.
Alithea,
One of the best selling point we had in Latin America when the choice was between Soviet Marxism and American style government was the Second Amendment. All we had to tell them was that each American has a constitutional right to keep and bear arms, that there are more guns than people at large in the United States, and that we haven’t had a revolution in over 200 years.
That’s all some of them needed to know in order to choose wisely.
I’m not exactly a poster child for democracy, being a monarchist, and some of those Latin American government ended up being anti-Marxist right wing authoritarian governments (no enemies on the right, as far as I’m concerned). But, hey, you want to make an omelet . . .
https://www.nationalreview.com/2018/02/the-gun-control-debate-could-break-america/
And on it rolls.
Let’s go on a little mental expedition, shall we? Here is the text of the Second Amendment:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
The first thing you should notice is that there is no introductory, “Congress shall make no law . . .”
Arguably, the Framers intended this to be enforceable even against the state legislatures.
Secondly, you should notice that there are two different classes or sets of persons mentioned, the “militia” and the “people”.
Gun control advocates would have you believe that the first term is inclusive of the second, so that the right only protects organized militias. In order to see why this is actually illogical, let us do a little substitution exercise.
Imagine that the second part of the amendment refers to the “militia” as well. Thus we get:
“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the Militia to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
This is how gun control advocates wish the amendment read, but it does not. If it did, it would be useless and redundant. If one is going to establish a militia, either at the state or federal level, one presumes that one has the power under the state or federal constitution to authorize that militia to bear arms. What else is a militia? One does not need a separate constitutional amendment to safeguard the rights of a government established militia to bear arms. That’s ludicrous.
Reductio ad absurdam
Now, let us make a different substitution. Let us substitute the “people” for the “militia” in the first clause. Thus we would have:
“A well regulated people, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”
This is clumsy and redundant, but it makes sense in a way. The assertion is that people need government to be civilized and therefore the people should be armed. Yet there is no further reference to regulation of X by Y. Self regulation is assumed.
This too does not really make sense. Reductio ad absurdam.
The only manner in which the amendment makes sense is if you are talking about two discreet groups of people – the militia and the people. The militia may be made up of some subset of the people, but it does not include all of the people. That is, the militia is some sort of standing military.
Then the amendment makes perfect sense and could be restated thus:
“Since it is necessary for any militia to be well-regulated by some outside force for the state to be both secure and free, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed.”
The Founders had living experience of forced conscription into the King’s army and forced boarding of the King’s army by the general populace. They knew exactly what they were guarding against.
This may be the boldest statement by any group of revolutionary founders anywhere ever. They were so convinced of the stability and fairness of their system, operated by a moral populace, that they were willing to stake the very existence of the military, and thus the state, on the good will of an armed general populace.
That is a testament to belief in the power of human liberty if ever there were one.
Excellent argument, Misha.
However reliance upon David French, Co-adjutor of the Church of Cuckservatism is misguided. He believes that the gun debate could “break America”. Wrong. America is already broken (and not just because of guns). What have patriots to do with libtards who want to flood America with Third-worlders? Why do Christians have to accept anal marriage? Why do our “betters” fight to the bitter end to protect baby-killing at all costs?
This is not a civilization and the fact that we try to force these things down the throats of other nations will not redound to our benefit. God will not bless any of this.
Short of redemption, our polity will collapse. It must. God will allow it to be so because of of His mercy so that we stop being a danger to others. Like most cuckservatives, French is blind to the reality and still believes that as long as the sacred texts of Milton Friedman are recited then all will be well. He’s an idiot.
I through French out just for a little perspective as to how it’s playing in some quarters, not because I agree with his point of view. I quote the enemy and neutrals from time to time.
and “through” should read “threw”, I got in a hurry
As to the lion and the lamb, there will be wars until Christ Himself returns. We know this for certain as it is told to us in the Apocalypse of St. John and in other places in the Gospel:
Matthew 24:6-14
“And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Then shall they deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall rise, and shall deceive many. And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved. And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
And don’t forget that Christ Himself ordered His Apostles to arm themselves for self-defense after the Last Supper:
Luke 22:35-38:
And he said unto them, When I sent you without purse, and scrip, and shoes, lacked ye any thing? And they said, Nothing. Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment, and buy one. For I say unto you, that this that is written must yet be accomplished in me, And he was reckoned among the transgressors: for the things concerning me have an end. And they said, Lord, behold, here are two swords. And he said unto them, It is enough.”
Lotsa bitter conflict on the horizon. The wise will be locked and loaded.
I can only pray that our God, Who proclaims that the “wolf and the lamb shall feed together, and the lion shall eat straw like the bullock: and dust shall be the serpent’s meat. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain, says the Lord,” (Isa. 65:25) will allow me to hear this moronic argument before the throne of judgement: that any attempt to control guns – logical & reasonable – against their use to murder the innocent will necessarily result in the loss of 2nd Amendment rights and the collapse of the union. This is the logic of Trump University, and one of the stupidest things published on this site, and to suggest that it sources from our God and is associated with His “blessings,” among the most blasphemous.