Guns: May i begin by saying that i have waited to make my stance on a few of these issues. I have randomly commented on peoples posts in order to make them think about their stance, but never have had immense feelings one way or another. Secondly, I must ask my family and friends who are reading this to keep an open mind and do not inflict negative energy towards me because of my stance on a few of these issues. It will be neither you nor I who decide these things regardless of our ranting and raving or our posts and links on facebook.
That being said here is my stance:
I understand that people want to protect themselves, collect, and hunt with guns. I understand the immediate response to school tragedies to be shove a few police men at the doors and patrolling them and have them armed and ready to go. Will that help? WHen i ask myself these types of questions i put myself in the killers shoes and I observe what FBI knows about the killers. They know they are never random (they go to great lengths to destroy evidence, write notes, observe the area, prepare enough ammunition, buy ammunition and guns in a stealthy way in order to not be traced). I think it is safe to conclude that they prepare themselves physically and mentally ( i wont go into it here but i do believe the main area that needs change is mental health and america-----coming from someone who works alongside mental health counselors everyday and has taken graduate classes with them for two years, discussing these instances often with research). Back to the discussion, if i was the planning killer how would i plan for cops in the school system? I would most likely visit, get to know them. The sandy hook killer went to elementary there and could have told the front cops that and visited multiple times. Obviously, the columbine killers went to school there, meaning a cop would not have stopped them from going in. I doubt our budget in america would allow for more than one or two cops, most likely one cop in many schools. After a few years he would probably just be sitting at the front in a desk reading a book, checking individuals in. If the killer knew the cop, he would probably say hello to the guard walk past him turning to shoot him in the back of the head. That is what i would do.
In conclusion, i think you would need much more than one cop at the front entrance and i believe the killer could access at least one entrance rather easily. Especially in an affluent area where crime is obsolete. In addition, since the discussion is about the sandy hook shooting, he did not go through an entrance but through a window, a armed guard would have had to beat him to the classrooms.
There is one area that i believe an armed guard or two would help is if he did go through a window as in Sandy Hook, the guard could have potentially slowed him down when attempting to go to other classrooms. Judging by the types of guns Adam was wielding, it would be difficult for a cop with a pistol to take him down, but you never know.
Overall, i believe this is not the answer, i'm not about to say i know what the answer is. I do not think everybody should turn their guns in and not be allowed to own a gun or that we need military in each school.
As stated earlier, i do know americas ability to understand and treat mental health needs more attention, funding, and discussion given to it.
I will leave you with this article by NPR about Australia and America's similarities and the 1996 Catastrophe that happened in Australia NPR looks at Australia's response and explains the data on the implications of their laws. I understand that its difficult to compare countries because of size etc, but i believe it is still worth a look.
""The facts are you are 15 times more likely to be shot dead per capita in the U.S.A. than here in Australia.""
Click below for article:
Australia Article for NPR
Interesting article below from an interview by NPR Click below.
Guns: what we know and what we do not know.
Now a look at is it becoming more commonplace?
Click below for article:
Is it more commonplace?
click below for article:
More common 2
I'll be the first to admit that i know little about guns though almost every one of my friends and family owns at least one gun, many owning multiple. I have researched guns and had lively discussions with each side. I have studied political philosophy and philosophy of law. I am not entirely ignorant on the subject.
Sunday, December 23, 2012
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Present, Past, Present, Future, Present
“The only limit to our realization of tomorrow will be our doubts of today. Let us move forward with strong and active faith.”
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
― Franklin D. Roosevelt
This post is not to say that the past nor the future are obsolete. I am not implying we should forget about everything and merely live for the moment, resulting in fatalistic movements and choices. This is more of a post about a realization of our memories, thoughts, and experiences.
When I reminisce about my past it normally has a footing in the here and now. An object whirls me back to a different time and i relive that moment in my mind. I hear a song and I am reminded of a darker time. I see a house, a robust smell, a vivid jolt of deja vu. These things all have a foundation, a stem, in the present.
When you think of a loved one that is gone are you living in the past or are you rather surviving the here and now? Aren't you lonely now which causes you to think of a different time, meaning your past thought stems from the present.
What of the future? Ah yes, it too has it's root in the present. When we contemplate the future we normally have a pressing issue in the present that forces us to attempt to transcend time and interpret the future. We decide to go to college in order to have a more lucrative employment later in life. The reason we thought about the more lucrative employment is because the choice was at hand in the present. This does not take away from the importance of that future or the importance of the college choice.
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