At some time I had believed that arguing was done with voices only. Now we have campus police who are not trained police officers, but people who for some reason carry a gun. Students carry guns. Some colleagues carry guns.
I refuse to carry a gun, and I wish I lived in a world where there were not so many innocent people killed every year - not by terrorists - but by idiots packing a firearm.
I don't carry or own a gun. Yet, I find hard to object to one of my colleagues, a petite lady, who packs heat when she teaches nights. She has to walk a large, dark, parking lot, where some women have been assaulted in the past.
ReplyDeleteTwo words: pepper spray.
DeleteShe's as likely to end up dead at the hands of her own gun or the other guys as she is to successfully defend herself.
Delete*guy's
DeleteNot true, Frog and Toad, at least, not if she has been properly trained to use her gun, and she practices drawing and firing it. I live in a town with a huge shooting club (even at quite a distance, we hear the pop pop pop during the summer.....you get used to it). People do, believe it or not, practice such things and if they are skilled, then what you are saying is not true.
DeleteThis story makes me ache for the young man's family and friends.
ReplyDeleteAnd I agree with you, Suzy, about the firearms. One thing that gets me about this story is: Why does a small, Christian* school even have armed guards?
* What would Jesus carry?
Or at least why do they carry routinely, as opposed to having a small selection of appropriate weapons available should a situation that requires their use arise?
DeleteI don't doubt that some people can use guns effectively for self-protection or protection of others in some situations. But I'm pretty sure that effective use requires a great deal of practice with both the weapon and the sort of scenarios in which one might use it (or -- a key point -- might choose not to, because the potential benefits are outweighed by the added dangers). I'm also pretty sure that most police officers who carry guns, let alone most civilians, don't get nearly enough practice of that sort. Finally, I strongly suspect that a substantial proportion of the population (including me) doesn't have the combination of quick thinking, quick reflexes and quick, accurate perception necessary to use a gun effectively, and therefore is better off not carrying one (and thus not risking the potential of introducing a weapon into a situation where none was present to start with).
Agreed.
DeleteI'm at a church-related SLAC in Texas. Out police carry, just like their buddies on the city police department and county sheriff's office.
ReplyDeleteCops can't lose in Texas. Who is going to investigate them? If by some accident someone other than their buddies do, they still get the benefit of the doubt. If that's not good enough, the grand juries let them get away with anything. If, by some remote chance, their crimes make it to trial, our moronic, cop-worshipping fellow citizens are happy to let them go free.