April 26, 2007

NAMING IT DOESN'T MAKE IT SO

Mark Steyn is awesome, as usual: Let's be realistic about reality

But you can't do that at Virginia Tech. Instead, the administration has created a "Gun-Free School Zone." Or, to be more accurate, they've created a sign that says "Gun-Free School Zone." And, like a loopy medieval sultan, they thought that simply declaring it to be so would make it so. The "gun-free zone" turned out to be a fraud -- not just because there were at least two guns on the campus last Monday, but in the more important sense that the college was promoting to its students a profoundly deluded view of the world.

Posted by: Sarah at 05:16 AM | Comments (13) | Add Comment
Post contains 118 words, total size 1 kb.

1 Oh that was awesome. The Prussians has a great saying: Trust is good, control is better.

Posted by: CaliValleyGirl at April 26, 2007 11:43 AM (deur4)

2 Possibly so. But think about this: would you really want more than one untrained idiot running around with guns? It would be worse carnage than what happened. More guns is NOT the answer. I don't know what the answer is, but arming more idiots who go charging in like Rambo is NOT the answer.

Posted by: dejah at April 26, 2007 04:50 PM (pD1u6)

3 I don't necessarily think that people who own guns are "untrained idiots." More guns isn't always the answer, but I think in this particular case it was.

Posted by: Sarah at April 26, 2007 04:53 PM (vrR+j)

4 "A profoundly deluded view of the world." Like one where Saddam possesses WMD and is working with Al Queda, and where the Mission is Accomplished?

Posted by: q at April 27, 2007 01:46 AM (n17hK)

5 Q, Hijacking another thread, eh? Your right, Saddam never had or used WMDÂ’s against Iran or his own people. The UN was free and able to verify that he no longer had WMDÂ’s. Hell, he was a wonderful man and his people and neighbors loved him. There were no terrorist or their training camps in Iraq pre 2003. We didnÂ’t crush the Iraqi army, capture Saddam, kill his lunatic sons and free the Iraqi people from a tyrannical dictator and his rap rooms and slaughter houses. You absolutely right, the world would be a much better place with Saddam still in power. One other thing, we should leave Iraq, that way there will be peace in Iraq and the world will be one happy place. Kumbiya my Lord, Kumbiya...

Posted by: tim at April 27, 2007 03:55 AM (nno0f)

6 It's getting harder to find places where the nutcase right still speaks up, but this site rarely disappoints.

Posted by: q at April 27, 2007 05:25 AM (n17hK)

7 ...and youÂ’d be an expert on the nutcase subject. DoesnÂ’t that tinfoil get hot?

Posted by: tim at April 27, 2007 07:15 AM (nno0f)

8 Doesn't giving dittohead get tiring? Army Spc. Bryan O'Neal is a hero. You dishonor brave soldiers like him.

Posted by: q at April 27, 2007 08:31 AM (n17hK)

9 You can't fight ideology with a gun. Iraq and virginia tech were both avoidable mistakes that Bush is directly responsible for.

Posted by: Will at April 27, 2007 10:20 AM (soQkB)

10 q, Get a clue. Since you seem to think you know about honor, exactly how do you honor soldiers/marines? Careful now, IÂ’m setting you up. Will, So Columbine was Clintons fault? (Speaking of Clinton, shall we dovetail Kosovo into all this, q? ) Your freedom of speech, in your & qÂ’s case-to make an a$$ of yourselves, came from the barrel of a gun. If you didnÂ’t think that history started the day you were born, youÂ’d know that. FreakinÂ’ children. Go play with your ipods. Till Monday kids. Late.

Posted by: tim at April 27, 2007 11:02 AM (nno0f)

11 The gun issue has always been so foggy for me. On one hand, I agree that it's so very scary to think of the kinds of people who possess weapons in our society but I also realize that many people who own guns are responsible, law-abiding citizens who realize that the gun is probably their only chance against someone else with a gun. It sounds so simple but it's so true. In many ways, I agree with the view that if we outlaw gun ownership, the only people with guns will be the outlaws.

Posted by: Nicole at April 28, 2007 07:32 AM (vYQMs)

12 Nicole: Actually, a gun is also useful against an assailant who doesn't have a gun. Say, one who is a lot stronger than you are. It's caller an equalizer for a reason.

Posted by: Patrick Chester at April 28, 2007 07:46 AM (MKaa5)

13 OK - College Exam time. Put away your IPODs...no cheating here. This is a multiple choice exam. One question. Two answers. You DO NOT GET to answer "C". Why? The VT students did not have access to answer C. OK...Ready? Scenario: You are a VT student sitting in class taking notes on the lecture when a student you've noted around campus but don't actually know walks into class, lifts his firearm, and begins taking aim. Something inside you assures you this man is not bluffing and will begin killing people within nanoseconds. Do you: A: Scratch your head, wondering how this can be since you are seated in a clearly marked "gun-free school zone". Silently congratulate the university administration for creating a NEARLY gun-free zone while at the same time cursing them knowing that 99+ percent of your fellow students scrupulously follow the rules. Sadly, you realize, at least one doesn't...never knowing this is to be your last thought as NUTJOB has apparently selected you to be his first casualty. B. Take a quick assessment of the situation and realize that NUTJOB apparently holds all the cards. Drop to your knees and pray to God that by His grace there is at least one other person in the room who has disregarded the law-enforcement-by-sign approach and is carrying a weapon, determining that one additional weapon in that room statistically reduces the body count by half...implicitly understanding that if this is a particularly GOOD day for you, that other weapon in the room might end the event with only the bad guy dead or wounded, achieving a 97% to 100% needless death avoidance rate, including saving yourself, who, unknown to you, were to be first on the shooter's list of victims. OK...time to mark your answer. Before you do however...ask a trusted friend to help you. Ask your friend to hold your head under two feet of water for exactly 2 minutes. Not a second more, not a second less. Then, around about 1 minute, 18 seconds, try to rationally assess just what rule for good social order can prevent you from breaking your friend's arm in order to grab a precious breath of air so you may continue to live. Time to mark your papers. Remember...you may choose only between A or B.

Posted by: Tim Fitzgerald at April 29, 2007 05:35 PM (kb594)

Hide Comments | Add Comment

Comments are disabled. Post is locked.
48kb generated in CPU 0.0368, elapsed 0.1066 seconds.
48 queries taking 0.0922 seconds, 182 records returned.
Powered by Minx 1.1.6c-pink.