| School Shooting - Who's to Blame? | |
It's happened again. Another young fool has taken a gun to school and shot up his classmates.
SANTEE,
Calif., March 5 -- A 15-year-old freshman was arrested Monday after he opened
fire at a high school in suburban San Diego, killing two students and injuring
13 other people, most of them students, sheriff’s officials said. Witnesses
said the gunman, whom one described as a frequent target for bullies, smiled
as he emptied his revolver, stopped twice to reload and resumed firing.
(From MSNBC's article)
You may recall that back in November of 2000, I asked my readers to vote for George W. Bush for President of the United States. That plea was based upon my respect for the man, and upon my fears of what Al Gore would have done to further strip us of our rights, and of what he could do to the U.S. Supreme Court. My respect for President Bush deepened today, when I read his reaction to this incident:
President
Bush, who was talking with reporters in Washington about budget negotiations,
said he was “saddened” by the shooting, which he called a “disgraceful
act of cowardice.”
“Our hearts, our prayers go out to the parents
and teachers whose lives have been completely turned upside down,” he said.
(From MSNBC's article)
The President's to-the-point statement cuts straight to the heart of the matter -- we are dealing with a coward, first and foremost. This young man is not the victim here -- let us not be swayed by reports that he was “a little skinny kid... [who] gets picked on a lot" in school... that defense of his actions rings especially hollow to me. Why? Because before I grew up to be the self-assured fellow that I am today, I was the skinny kid with glasses who got picked on and beat up in school... and I never even considered shooting anyone over it.
Let me tell you, I hated the bullies -- they were lowlifes with poor self-esteem who got their jollies by taking out their frustrations on others. All bullies are this way. Tell me, do you see a difference between my description of bullies above and the actions of this killer? I sure don't, especially when you consider that witnesses report him smiling as he fired. What that young man proved is that he is less of a man than any bully who reportedly victimized him is, and he is not deserving of our sympathy. I have been there, young man, and there is no excuse for your actions -- none whatsoever.
What we have already begun to hear (yet again) is that the presence of guns is the problem. Without guns, he couldn't shoot anyone, right? Well, hear me out on this. When I was in my early teens, I walked down the road on my way to hunt squirrels through the neighborhood where my uncle had an old mobile home for a hunt camp, with my double-barreled .410 shotgun. Did anyone panic? No. Did I shoot or endanger anyone? No. Wait, you say, that's just one incident, that doesn't mean much...
Page Two >> More Guns, Less Crime (the good old days)
