Can Government Officials Be Trusted With Our Children’s Lives?

Students are brought out of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after a shooting at the school
Students are brought out of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School after a shooting at the school

U.S.A. –-(Ammoland.com)- I’m watching the news media and the government go nuts over the flu. That increased my level of skepticism about our public institutions. That was my frame of mind when Bill Frady asked me, “Didn’t we learn what to do from the first school attacks? Why was there ever a second school shooting in the USA?” Bill asked the right question under the right circumstances, and I think Bill is right. We should have learned from the first attack, but we didn’t. We know how to stop mass public violence, but, too often, we chose not to. Fortunately, recent news helps us figure out what happened. Attacks in public are rare and hard to understand. We pay for preparation every day, but the reward may never come. We make excuses when we fail, and we don’t get credit when we succeed. All of that plays a part. Government has trouble filling a pothole. Sometimes it needs our help to do the right thing.

Practice is a better teacher than theory-

Some problems are easy to solve. You know how to feed yourself and you solve that problem several times a day. You learned what a solution looks like when you were a child. You practiced taking care of yourself as a teenager. In contrast, we don’t have that familiarity with rare events like a school or church attack. We didn’t grow up with school and church security. Most of us don’t know how to think about the problem of mass violence, let alone know what to do to solve it in our local schools, churches, or shopping malls. We don’t have a mental model for violence the way we have a model for feeding ourselves at lunch.

We know how to protect our communities, but the solutions are outside our everyday experience. We have to study before we can distinguish the bad proposals from the good ones. The solution is harder to recognize because it may be an assembly of many small factors rather than one quick fix that solves everything.

As a case in point, the school board in Santa Fe, Texas recently allowed selected, trained, volunteer school staff to go armed on campus. The school board reached that decision almost two years after a school in their district was attacked, seven years after the attack at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Connecticut, and almost 21 years after the attack at the high school in Columbine, Colorado. We have to become comfortable with a new idea before we’ll adopt it, and that takes time.

It is psychologically hard to face violence-

Doctor William April studies violent criminals. He says, “To properly plan for violence, you must first admit and accept that the world is not as it ought to be.” We don’t like to think about unpleasant events. You know how it felt to set up a retirement plan, get life insurance, get flood insurance, and write a will. If you don’t know how that feels, then you made my point for me, and please take care of yourself and your future.

We put off those tasks because they remind us of unpleasant possibilities, and because we can. We ignored the problem yesterday, and we saw the sun come up today.. if we’re lucky.

Many of us are distressed by reality. Thinking about evil is depressing. If getting insurance made you uncomfortable, then hold onto your emotions when you think about stopping the murder of children. Thinking about the worst possible events can be emotionally painful. To make matters worse, we ignore our small successes.

I’ve seen churches easily respond to an accident in the parking lot because they had prepared to face larger emergencies. The church volunteers and the church governing board deserve praise for their rapid response and the increased level of care they were able to provide. They seldom get the credit they deserve.

It is hard to deal with rare events-

It is hard to work for something that has a payoff in the distant future. That is a truth, and if you doubt me then look at how hard it is for most of us to lose a few pounds. We know what we should do to lose weight, but the reward of better health and a longer life comes years from now, while the cost of shedding weight is paid at every meal and at every workout session. Likewise, the emotional and physical costs to protect our kids are paid every day. The reward of preventing or minimizing an attack will only come at in some undefined moment in the future.

The pain is real. The thought that there is evil in the world is uncomfortable, and some people experience that discomfort every time they see a sign that says ‘school staff may be armed.’ They are willing to trade dead kids in the future in order to avoid the discomfort of recognizing evil today. Some people are angry at those of us who recognize evil.

Most of us have pleasant memories of going to school. These angry people are saying, ‘Don’t put those ugly walls around my happy place. Won’t the problem simply go away if we close our eyes and wish real hard?’ In a perverse inversion of incentives, they will have a lot of company and sympathy if their undefended school is attacked.

We find it hard to blame people who refused to prepare-

I have friends who ride out floods, hurricanes, and fires with ease because they planned ahead. Likewise, some friends study self-defense and trauma care. In contrast, we donate time and money to help the victims who didn’t prepare. Of course, our heart goes out to the victims of mass murder since they didn’t deserve such an attack. I think we also owe a debt of gratitude to those who put plans in place today so they could ride out those storms. Give thanks to the people who prevent and minimize the damage caused by an attack on our schools and churches. We owe them that.

Government is only as smart as we are-

Preventing mass public violence is controversial. Our bureaucratic system isn’t designed to make unpopular decisions. That means politicians can only go where we lead them. A politician may make the correct decision, but be criticized by people who have not studied the problem as much as he has, or as much as you have. You have to speak up, or someone else will.

There are lots of easy answers out there but few of them help. Politicians are often rewarded for doing the wrong thing. A popular but ineffective solution may solve the political problem today, but worsen the long-term security problem. We’ve seen some communities proudly leave their children undefended even after an attack in their community.

In contrast, other communities faced the reality of evil and learned to prevent and minimize violent attacks on their kids. Some of those preparations, like armed volunteer staff, cost almost nothing. At the other end of the spectrum, better mental health programs are expensive but provide payback for years, if not for generations. We need both.

How long should we wait to face our problems? I’ve seen churches build a security team in a week, with help. We can pay now, or we can pay later. That is up to us since we are the conscience of our body politic. Our politicians can’t solve a problem until we recognize the solution. It is up to us to remind our politicians and bureaucrats to do the right thing.

Have you told your politician what to do to make our society safer?


About Rob MorseSlow Facts

The original article with sources is here. Rob Morse writes about gun rights at Ammoland, at Clash Daily, and on his SlowFacts blog. He hosts the Self Defense Gun Stories Podcast and co-hosts the Polite Society Podcast. Rob is an NRA pistol instructor and combat handgun competitor.

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Darkman

Before 1965 I would say yes you could. In the last 50+ years. With the last 20 being especially dire. The answer is NO. To many rules designed to complicate the process. Not enough discipline for Everyone in the System. From Children to Parents to Administrators to Bureaucrats and Politicians. Ethics and Morality are Archaic terms with lost meaning. It’s the fault of everyone involved regardless of excuse. Laziness, Disinterest, Lack of Caring, What can I do, It’s not MY problem and even that’s what I pay MY taxes for. I’ve heard them all. By becoming Divided and Disinterested. We… Read more »

Knute

The same stages as all civilizations on planet Earth have gone through before, and will have to go through yet again. #1 bondage to faith #2 faith to courage #3 courage to liberty #4 liberty to abundance #5 abundance to selfishness #6 selfishness to complacency #7 complacency to apathy #8 apathy to dependency, #9 (and/or #1) dependency back again to bondage for lap#___. We are currently at stage 2. When the masses have gathered enough faith, they will have sufficient courage to shake off this yoke the tyrants have saddled us down with. Then will follow a period where the… Read more »

Deplorable Bill

I figure it’s 8 nearly to the point of 9.

Arm up, carry on.

Dave in Fairfax

Knute & DP, I figure it’s 8 for most, 2 for a few. We’ll see how it shakes out.

Knute

I’ve posted this same information on at least a half-dozen other sites over the years, and you two are the first ones to ever respond. So congratulations! No one else wants to even touch something so controversial, not even with a ten-foot pole. So that alone puts you both in the top 1 percent. And of the other’s I’ve talked about this with (face-to-face) 8/9 seems to be about the stock answer. Most think we (the US) are trending towards apathy/dependence. IMO, the US descended into dependency with FDRs “Great Society” (always give your evil plan a cute, catchy name.… Read more »

TNJEWBOY

The “Administrative State” or “Soviet Rule.”

JPM

I wouldn’t trust any “government official” or any professional politician with the lives of my pets and livestock, much less the lives of my children.

Wild Bill

When RM writes about church security teams, I think that he has hit on something. Church security teams could provide the perfect cover for militia groups. Who says that a church security team could not be 150 persons strong.
Command and control, logistics, secure (in person) communications, and training could all be attained in the guise of church security teams.
Maybe the local Rotarians, Lions club, Elks club, and even chambers of commerce need security teams.

Knute

WB) And we already have a word for that. For private individuals that provide security, that just show up in a time of need on a voluntary basis. Whether it’s through a Church, a local club, local governments, or in any other way, it is a “Militia”! This is WHY the 2a exists, and why the word “militia” is crucial to it. Because volunteers that just spontaneously show up in response to a crisis MUST provide their own equipment. Since they are volunteers (as opposed to a “standing army”) they will be the first responders. Usually days, weeks or even… Read more »

Knute

That is how it worked here in Montana, in Virginia City/Carson City back in the day. Some thugees appointed themselves the “law” and just started oppressing the populous. After their thefts became intolerable, the citizens tried election, legislation, the Territorial government, etc. No one was willing or able to do anything whatsoever. Typical ‘leaders’ for you. So, after a year or two of abject failure, Some 50 people (no one ever admitted to knowing who) put some white hoods over their heads and lynched all the local LEOs from the nearest handy tree. And lo and behold… all the train,… Read more »

Knute

I wasn’t trying to insinuate that LEOs are the ones at fault here. That just so happened to be the ones that the locals had to deal with in Western Montana at that time. This time around it will be… whoever it’ll be.
I WAS attempting to insinuate that no crime wave in history has ever been solved by ‘the authorities’ by whatever name. but always by direct citizen action. Or, IOWs, militias.

Wild Bill

@OV, Yes it is an a cover story is always better to keep the snoopers away. The Fat Boy Institute cares about militias, but would run the risk of embarrassment if it looked into every church group.

Knute

That is what they do. Once we allow liars to define the terms, all else becomes meaningless. That is why I’m forever harping on the definitions of words, and always in there plugging to have the meanings of words restored. If we cannot break out of this incessant babble, and back into meaningful dialog, then all that is left is the law of the jungle, or “might makes right”. That is what civilization is designed to prevent. And it does an admirable job of it…. at first. But then a few generations pass, the children become weak and sloppy and… Read more »

Wild Bill

@gk interesting article.

Deplorable Bill

W.B. Out here in Arizona, we live in a right to carry state. I would guess there is a 50% chance out of every two people you will find someone is armed. You do have a good idea. I would that anyone who meets in a group should be armed. I would that everyone of age, who is not in jail or the loony farm, should be armed. I run a Church security detail in Az. Out of a possible 175 people present on any given Sunday there is less than a dozen armed and five of those are on… Read more »

Wild Bill

@DP, Excellent! With everyone carrying the firearms of their own choice, and no standardization, it must take a lot of thought how to deploy each of them. I guy would not want the .380 carriers on the outer perimeter and the riflemen in the foyer.

Knute

That’s one problem with militias. With non-standardized equipment and supplies, each man has to be responsible for his own resupply. Not such a big issue for church security and such that have little need for resupply, but in a battlefield situation it becomes quite a challenge for those who must “well regulate” the militia to keep it from becoming a mob. The best example I can think of is Mel Gibson in “The Patriot”. “You are all volunteers and can come and go as you please. But while you ARE here, you will obey my orders or you will be… Read more »

MICHAEL J

I can’t trust the government with my Constitutional rights, so the answer is NO!

Stripeseven

Since communist infiltrators have apparently been in the business of indoctrinating our young to the Marxist ideology for years, probably not so much. Beware of any politician that agrees with dictators.

StandWith Me

Picture reminds me of old photos of Japanese soldiers leading American prisoners off to a prison camp.

CommonSense4America

The Democrats have already answered this question. “Never let a crises go to waste”.

Deplorable Bill

The fact is the only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun. It has always been that way and it will continue to be that way until CHRIST returns. Cops just can’t be everywhere all the time and I would not want them to anyway. I have seen police states and I have no desire to live in one. The fact is that YOU and I, the armed American citizen, WE ARE the first responders. Probably 999 times out of 1000, the cops are only there for clean up duty. The… Read more »

Deplorable Bill

AMEN! U.S.A. The day is coming! Anyone bourn after May 14, 1948 IS the generation that shall not pass until the coming of the LORD. Until then, we the armed, are the first responders and will have to make do until the calvary arrives.

Arm up, carry on.

UncleT

Really tired of hearing this mental health excuse. This excuse is already unconstitutionally locking up people until the city or state determines you are competent and innocent to return home and chances are you still won’t Abe allowed to get your arms back and will be lucky to buy anymore legally. Many People are evil, they may snap at anytime. Denying the rights of the innocent people of the 99.9% who will never harm anyone is ridiculous and unconstitutional.

TNJEWBOY

Government welcomes these events.
So that it can increase its size, cost, reach and power.

The action is in the reaction. Create a horrible event then ram legislation which destroys freedom and liberty through Congress. That’s a pretty neat trick.

Jim

Don’t be silly, of course the government can be trusted with our kids — “I’m from the government I’m here to help you…”