Category: Current Events

Glenn Reynolds is a happier warrior than I am, and has had some real gems, and good rhetorical comebacks to the anti-gun crowd.

Like this one about what the gun community is going to do about this tragedy. Apparently the answer has been a problem for the sarcasm challenged.

So if we’re going to have a “National Conversation on Guns,” here are some openers.

Meanwhile, does Media Matters’ David Brock have a new assistant who carries an illegal Glock, or is that over with?

A USA Today piece from Glenn talking about the fallacy of gun free zones. Shame the governor of Michigan didn’t read it, or didn’t care.

Hey, Mayor Bloomberg: What kind of guns does your security detail carry? Same goes for celebrities.

The Fruits of Britain’s Gun Policy.

Clayton notes that sensible people need to get out there and start steering the public debate in a positive direction. I made a decision on Friday to give people the weekend. But tomorrow I plan to begin the political struggle in full to save what many are going to want to do to our rights.

This weekend MoveOn was running vigils around the country, and we drove over to the one near us to see what was going on. About ten people showed up, with six having been registered for the event. This was a good indication for how fired up the gun control movement was getting people. Most other vigils within 100 mile radius had fewer registered than ours. The ones in New York City were likely much better attended, because they had a higher registration rate than the ones in this area.

I did not take pictures. The event was not overtly political, and to the extent that people showed up because they were grieving, I did not want to make a spectacle out of it. For all anyone knows, it was a group of people celebrating Christmas, because that’s what it would have looked like to a casual observer. CSGV also held a protest at the White House on Friday, which you can see was not well attended. I don’t think people really want to see this politicized, so to the extent that the other side is doing it, there’s something to be said for never interrupt your enemy when he’s in the middle of making a mistake.

This is well worth your time to read in its entirety:

I am sharing this story because I am Adam Lanza’s mother. I am Dylan Klebold’s and Eric Harris’s mother. I am Jason Holmes’s mother. I am Jared Loughner’s mother. I am Seung-Hui Cho’s mother. And these boys—and their mothers—need help. In the wake of another horrific national tragedy, it’s easy to talk about guns. But it’s time to talk about mental illness.

The system is failing her, and, I might add, failing her son.

You know, I can talk about not politicizing tragedies until I’m blue in the face, but that won’t stop some on our side from doing so. There’s a few things to consider here:

1. I think its just as inappropriate for us to shoot our mouth’s off about politics in the wake of a tragedy as it is for the other side to do.
2. The vast majority of elementary school teachers will not choose to carry firearms, and we’re certainly not going to force them to do so.
3. There’s a time and place for arguing over the wisdom of gun free school zones, but hours after a tragedy like this one is not the place for it.
4. I think even when debate is appropriate, our side has framed this debate very poorly. I like the way CalGuns Foundation frames the issue.

I don’t even thinking shouting politics from the rooftops in the wake of tragedy is an effective strategy, because when emotions are raw, any political reaction is going to be rash and not well thought out. Give people time.

John Richardson has a round-up of the people exploiting tragedy for political gain. I’ve heard rumors that the Brady Campaign were fundraising hours after the tragedy as well, but I have no hard proof yet. If this is true, it’s truly beyond the pale.

The following is a guest post from my mother. She recently retired from her job as a social worker, a role she has had in various forms going back to the Johnson administration. She’s a gun owner, but you won’t find her on the range often because she’s too busy with her grandchildren. She’s hardly a raging libertarian, but also saw the many weaknesses of government programs to address many problems. These are simply some of her quick thoughts after watching the news today and reflecting on her personal experiences with the mental health programs over the last few decades.

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It is heartbreaking to see what has happened today, as well as what has happened in other similar incidents. In these situations, it has been established that the majority of the individuals involved have had major mental health issues. After having just retired from more than 40 years in social services, I have seen many, many changes in handling those who are mentally ill.

Back in the early 80’s, we started mainstreaming mentally ill folks back into society, even those who clearly were not capable of functioning without some sort of structure. I agree that we need to understand mental health issues and must learn to distinguish those from those who are treatable and are capable of following treatment from those who, without structured guidance and possible mandated medication and treatment, are not able to function in mainstream.

We closed many hospitals, which I agree many needed to be updated and made more humane, but by not improving those facilities, we turned many people out on the streets without any form of support. Those people were left to become homeless, unable to manage medication, unable to take care of their personal needs, etc., and many of those turned to crime not because they were a bad person. They had no conception of right or wrong, they weren’t on medication, and they often have no family to assist them. Or, perhaps they had family that cared or had family who become emotionally burned out and/or financially strapped and unable to function themselves. It is a sad state we are in and, while I don’t have answers, I do know we need to look at what needs to happen in our mental health programs.

It seems it’s easier for the government to give them a check, food stamps, than deal with real treatment programs. My sister currently works as a case manager for mental health and her caseload is off the charts with no way to require her clients to comply with treatment or take medication correctly. The result is that some end up in jail for some type of crime or homeless because they couldn’t function enough to properly take care of their lives.

My heart breaks for the families and children, I just pray that the wrong “cause” isn’t made the issue instead of looking at the “real” issues of what’s happening here.

Mass stabbing of school children in China. Apparently there’s been a rash of them in that country. But it seems this guy had no apparent motive:

No motive was given for the stabbings, which echo a string of similar assaults against schoolchildren in 2010 that killed nearly 20 and wounded more than 50. The most recent such attack took place in August, when a knife-wielding man broke into a middle school in the southern city of Nanchang and stabbed two students before fleeing.

Seems that in China, most of these are perpetrated by people who have mental health disorders, which is also the case here. It would be interesting to know if China is also deinstitutionalizing its mentally ill, as we have been doing here for some time.

Yes, wouldn’t it be nice, if as gun owners, we could just experience grief and sorrow along with the rest of the country. Instead we have that impending feeling of doom over what the media, the politicians, and the people in society who don’t much care for civilian gun ownership, are going to do to our lives, liberty and often times livelihood. What if we could go through something like this, without worrying about how much we’re going to be the scapegoats?

I know that’s the thought that’s been crossing my mind as this entire horror story is playing out in the media. I don’t want to think about, or deal with politics right now. But that’s precisely what I have to start getting ready for if I don’t want to risk that possibility that America, and the politicians who claim to represent her, in their rashest and most impulsive worst instincts, pass a knee jerk law that will overnight turn many Americans into instant felons. There are times I believe we all deserve a break from politics. This is one of them, but we will never get it.

I believe we will not leave this horror unscathed, either mentally or politically. Our liberties and beliefs will be called into question, ridiculed, beaten, and we’ll be told to get in line for the good of everyone. This could very well be the point as which the pendulum swings back. The narrative that’s been driven home is that NRA is beaten up and bloodied, and is no longer relevant. Regardless of whether that’s true or not, what matters is what the powers that be believe. We may not believe the time now is for politics, and it shouldn’t be. But as a variation on an old saying goes: we may not be interested much in politics, but politics is very interested in us.

From our visit out to Hawaii a few years ago: