T
H
E

L
I
B
E
R
T
A
R
I
A
N

E
N
T
E
R
P
R
I
S
E


I
s
s
u
e

44


L. Neil Smith's
THE LIBERTARIAN ENTERPRISE
Number 44, April 21, 1999

Wolves Slaughter Sheep: Shepherd Baffled

by Rex F. May

         We're now in the middle of the news reaction to the Littleton high school shootings. I just heard a newsdame ask someone if Hitler's birthday had been 'confirmed'. I wonder if they have almanacs at the news studio.
         I guessed there might be a Hitler connection right off, and maybe a Waco connection. Or maybe even an Earth Day connection. Somber talking heads are trying in their pathetic way to 'make sense of it all.'
         Motive is an issue, of course, but not the central one. Man is fallen, of course, or he is a killer ape, depending on your religious orientation. It comes to the same thing. Every now and then somebody decides to kill a bunch of people. That's the nature of man.
         The central issue: Never mind what the motive was, and the means are universal. What was the opportunity?
         What you need to shoot a bunch of people without getting shot yourself before you've killed as many as you want is a bunch of people guaranteed to be defenseless! And what better place to find such people than at a high school? Kosovo is too far to drive, after all. Everybody agrees that under no circumstances are guns to be permitted at a school. They keep passing laws to that effect. The Governor of Colorado is saying that he will veto the 'concealed carry' bill unless it includes a provision prohibiting concealed carry at schools. So schools are all like little flocks of sheep, protected by a shepherd with a limp staff, passing resolutions declaring wolf-free zones.
         What other place is famous for such shootings? The Post Office, of course, which stringently prohibits anybody being armed in or near the premises. So postal workers, who are probably no more disgruntled than widget manufacturers, by and large, are well aware that if they do go off the rails, they can get a lot of people before they're brought down themselves. When was the last time anybody shot a bunch of people in a police station? Or a redneck bar? No percentage in it.
         Now we can expect a bunch of moronic politicians calling for two things: Eliminating the means, which is impossible -- guns are everywhere and will always be everywhere, simple as that. And eliminating the motive, by lots of touchy-feely stuff. (President Beelzebubba has already encouraged us to 'reach out' to youth). No one will discuss eliminating the opportunity, i.e. seeing to it that there are no defenseless groups of people, because the only way to do that is to do something the established powers don't even want discussed: Arm everybody! If the schools are in loco parentis, they should be prepared to defend pupils. Anybody in charge of a group of kids is responsible for their defense. All teachers should be armed at all times. For that matter, all the older kids should have been armed as well.
         Think about it. Whether these punks were neo-nazis or Goth faggots or Satan-worshipping Dungeons & Dragons gamesters or tree-hugging Earth firsters, they could not have done what they did to armed people! Yes, I know, it was a suicide mission. They expected to die, or that's the conventional wisdom right now. They wouldn't have been deterred by knowing they'd be killed. Sure they would. They wanted to kill a lot of people and have fun doing it. It's no fun when you get taken out before you get started. And let's say they were so flaky they wouldn't have been affected by any of that reasoning and would have gone ahead and done it anyway. Result: They would have gotten some people, but not nearly so many.
         In an ideal world, the entire student body and their parents should sue the school district and the city and the state and the Federal government and every executive who has contributed to this crime by legislation that has made it a crime to defend yourself. Those kids are dead because they weren't allowed to defend themselves, and because the teachers and other school officials didn't defend them -- that, of course, would also have been against the law.
         The above logic is impeccable. You won't hear it on the tube.


To order Rex May's book, click on: http://www.kiva.net/~jonabook/gdummy.htm


From "Capitol Hill Blue": at: www.capitolhillblue.com/April1999/042199/clintongunban042199.htm

         According to White House sources, among the options being prepared for Clinton's consideration:

  • An outright ban on handguns and an expanded list of "non-sporting" weapons;
  • Mandatory registration of all guns owned by Americans;
  • Laws to make parents criminally responsible when their children use guns to commit a crime;
  • Entering the many lawsuits that cities have filed against gun manufacturers (on the side of the cities);
  • Federal funds to place metal detectors in all American schools;
  • Federal money to place undercover police officers in schools; Federally-mandated school dress codes that would ban gang colors and other "non-appropriate attire;"
  • Banning student shooting teams at schools.


Next to advance to the next article, or
Previous to return to the previous article, or
Table of Contents to return to The Libertarian Enterprise, Number 44, April 21, 1999.