Special to L. Neil Smith’s The Libertarian Enterprise

Alright, I've been quite rough on a few of my friends as we've been discussing the latest mass murder in a school in Florida. As I always am when they say something stupid. Part of it is not their fault, there is a LOT of outright disinformation out there. Ignorance, however, only gets you so far with me in the age of the internet. Google is your friend, so is asking someone you KNOW is far more knowledgeable on this topic than you are. I've studied and written on the subject of the right to keep and bear arms, self defense, and firearms technology for my whole life. Hardly an expert but I sure as hell know enough to fact-check about any claim within seconds, as quite a few blowhards and hoplophobes have learned to their chagrin over the years. And I have a whole folder full of email addresses of REAL experts to consult on the rare occasions I get stumped.

No apologies, that's not how this works. You don't get to be fundamentally wrong and misinformed while advocating violating the fundamental natural rights of millions of American citizens who've done nothing wrong and NOT get rhetorically slapped silly. It is YOUR responsibility to educate yourself on issues, and ESPECIALLY when you are advocating the violation of vitally important pre-existing fundamental natural rights guaranteed (not created) by the U.S. and FOURTY-FOUR state constitutions, dating back even further to the Magna Carta and beyond. That's right, the Second Amendment is not unique, nor in fact is it the most strongly worded. New Hampshire, I am proud to say, even makes it EXPLICIT that we have the right of armed revolt if necessary to fight tyranny. Never forget that; WE never do.

On the topic which has generated all this, I have a very simple truth I am going to state. If you disagree with this, 'unfriend' me right now, stop reading; because you are a collectivist monster I want nothing further to do with, whether you will admit it to yourself or not. Hopefully you will find that this is noncontroversial and almost a trite truism. If you find it bothers you, I'd advise you to THINK about it until you understand WHY before you bother responding, because I will be quite savage with anyone who disagrees on this one. If you need a hint, think about the old trope "women and children first in the lifeboats" a bit, updating the notion a bit for modern gender equality. Anyway, here it is:

ANY adult with ANY (or even NO) firearm and ANY level of training (or even NONE) has a FAR better chance of defending against a maniac intent on killing children than ANY unarmed innocent child AND has a fundamental moral responsibility to TRY even IF all they accomplish is buy those kids a few crucial seconds to escape or make the murderous maniac use up a few rounds on you rather than one of the kids.

We've plenty of grim, heroic examples of teachers who clearly believed that and made that terrible, noble choice. WAY too many have died because our society does not want to face the truth those brave teachers understood with searing intensity in their last moments of striving to do the right thing. We owe it to every damned one of them to make sure the NEXT teacher or janitor or visiting parent or whatever has the tools AND the training to have a CHANCE, no matter how small, to not only save those kids, but to come home alive after doing so.

There are already several efforts underway to develop a solution from sheriffs and other law enforcement around the country. At least one group has surfaced with a good track record of instituting defensive programs in schools - check out http://fastersaveslives.org/ All of these are good, the basic issue is to clear the way for self-defense to operate in the schools and do away with the murderous "gun free zones" that have turned them into a shooting gallery for maniacs to amuse themselves. Get behind those efforts and PUSH, this is too important to stay on the sidelines.

You don't get to dodge on this one, no fancy talking, no do-overs, no calling me names for making you face the truth. None of that helped those teachers and kids when they faced "the gravest extreme", and I refuse to let it help YOU in this far lesser crisis. You're either helping those guardians of the future get those kids out of there alive - or you're standing behind a murderous maniac cheering him on. Choose wisely.

Reprinted with permission from “The Coiled Serpent: A Virtual Tavern” on Facebook