Shoot Me Now

I barely had gotten off my plane flight to Florida yesterday when I heard everyone despairing at a mass shooting in a Connecticut school.  This is a tragedy, yet upon looking at the news stories and Facebook posts I found mostly opportunistic political chatter about how this time "we" (i.e., government) must ban guns to keep everyone safe. 

Let me make sure I understand.  The federal government has killed hundreds of thousands of men, women, and children around the world over just the past twenty years through economic sanctions and direct violence, so we should entrust this entity with all guns to prevent the danger of random school shootings that claim fewer than one hundred lives per year and are actually diminishing over time?  This is ridiculous and reveals once again the servile mindset of modern America.  It also ignores that the shooting was illegal in myriad ways, not least of which was the ban on possessing a firearm on school property -- making something illegal does not make it disappear.  Guns aren't going anywhere, and a law banning them would serve only to disarm law-abiding citizens and leave them at the mercy of criminals and people with badges (though there is often some overlap). 

I know what you're thinking:  "if it saves just one life, it's worth it."  Then we should ban school buses while were at it, since "during the seven years between 1989 and 1996, 9,500 school-age children were killed during school hours while riding in all kinds of motor vehicles," a record of carnage far outstripping that of firearms.  And this says nothing of the thousands of innocent lives lost to regular automotive traffic every year, so if we are to be governed by sentimentalism it's time to bring back the horse and buggy.  

It makes no sense to argue that things are different now; principles are true or false regardless of circumstances, and it is a true principle of the American spirit that private gun ownership is vital to liberty even if it carries risks.  The risk of random violence is far less than the risk of an omnipotent government having its way with a prone and disarmed populace.  But perhaps the risk of an uninformed and unthinking populace is greater still.

EDIT

I heard someone make the excellent point that guns have been with us for a long time, it's just the flurry of school shootings that are of recent vintage.  Something indeed has changed and needs fixing, and it's not the guns.  It's the modern school, a mental and spiritual slaughterhouse designed to destroy the individual, along with a modern "culture" that recognizes no higher power and views nothing as sacred.  A tormented individual who has been taught that the people surrounding him are mere clumps of matter and accidents of evolution has precious little reason not to vent his angst upon them.

DOUBLE EDIT

I also understand that the shooter took a turn for the worse when his parents got frivorced (frivolously divorced), which represents a specific and virulent form of today's disregard for the sacred.

TRIPLE EDIT

Vox Day nails it, including the observation of strange details indicating a possible false flag (as with the Batman shooter).  They are getting desperate indeed.

This I Believe . . .

There is a discernible order and truth superseding human control and connecting everything in the universe.  Whether you call it "God" or something else, it is undeniable if your eyes are open.

I oppose school vouchers not because of the harm they might do to public schools, but because of the harm they will do to private schools.  Wherever public money goes, public control follows.

As America imports more people fleeing from the rest of the world, America is becoming more like the rest of the world.  Amazingly, this self-evident observation is too controversial for anyone in public life to utter.

Secession is not treason.  Secession is a defense against treason.  If you don't take my meaning, read my copious posts about how the federal government shreds the Constitution on a daily basis.  A breached contract no longer binds.

Anyone who takes an oath to uphold the Constitution has a right and a duty to disobey orders that clearly violate it.  On a larger scale, anyone with a conscience also has a right and a duty to disobey orders that clearly violate it; "following orders" was a defense rejected at Nuremberg, and for good reason.

Capitalism untethered to any religious, ethical, or moral considerations is just as destructive as socialism.  Indeed, Karl Marx portrayed capitalism as a necessary phase that society must go through to reach socialism and later communism, since the base materialism of capitalism disregards and destroys tradition, individual moral worth, faith, and loyalty. 

I don't believe in punishing people for trashy or immoral behavior. I simply don't associate with such people.  Our collective problem today is that we celebrate such behavior while forcing the responsible among us to pay for it, which hardly fosters civilization.

Happiness is something far different from pleasure or joy, which are fleeting.  So many people are in therapy because they were brought up to believe they have a right to feel good at every waking moment, and that pain is negative and should be avoided.  If they would simply embrace pain as a fundamental aspect of life in this world, they could achieve true happiness, which is contentment.

Living in a cold climate makes people stronger and more resourceful.  Living in a warm climate makes people languid and dull.

Love is not merely an internal feeling, which is selfish.  Love is a conscious choice to devote yourself to someone even when internal feelings fade.  If it were otherwise, there would be no need for the marital vow to love.