357WheelGun
Member
Unarmed? Aren't people around here always saying how dangerous a pen can be, so lets ban them next? How people can be killed with anything, that a gun is no more dangerous, its just an object? Seems like your average college kid is quite well armed. Of course, whether or not he knows how to use what he has....well that applies to firearms too. That gun doesn't do you any bit of good if you can't shoot straight with it.
This is either an intentional red herring, or you're tragically unable to understand the difference between objects that can easily be used for harm and those that cannot. In and of itself, a firearm is no more dangerous than the mouse attached to my computer (that is to say, without any human interaction, the inanimate object itself is no more dangerous). However, a firearm has far more capacity to be used to harm another person if and only if it is acted on by a human. That is to say, the actual danger lies not in the device, but in the use of the device.
Furthermore, postings by anyone other than me cannot be expected to embody my beliefs. The fact that people other than me have posted such things about the danger of pens, etc is completely and utterly irrelevant to a discussion of my own position.
Finally, even when other people bring up the issue, the point is not that pens, etc are dangerous. In fact, the point is quite the opposite. It is intended as a sarcastic reminder that the danger of an item (and some items contain more capacity for harm than others) is not realized until that item is acted upon by a human.
Aren't people around extolling the virtues of how carrying is a confidence builder? Shouldn't we give people the tools to feel confident no matter what? Or is it puff out your chest and carry a gun or cower and die as a sheep? Are those really the only two options you're giving people?
Again, what other people have argued is not necessarily what I have argued myself. You cannot substitute other people's opinions for my own. This is a particularly poor example for you because I stand completely and utterly opposed to the notion of carrying any weapon as a "confidence builder". If a person is not confident without the weapon, he or she will not truly be confident with it. At most, it will be a false confidence, and that has a very unfortunate tendency to encourage very stupid decisions. I would even go so far as to say that, if carrying a firearm is truly a confidence builder for a person, that person is nothing more than a mall ninja. I am no more confident with my side arm than I am without it. There is only one option for confidence, and that is to be confident without resorting to external devices.
Charging as a tactic is limited. Of course remembering some of the classrooms I've been in, taking the fight to the bad guy isn't going to be the worst thing to do. I personally would rather go down attempting to do something and not be shot in the back cowering in the corner. So wouldn't knowing when to charge and when to not be important to know? Wouldn't it be one more tool in the toolbox of self defense?
Therein lies the root of my disagreement with teaching unarmed students to mob a gunman. They are never warned that it is, for many of them, a suicide mission. It is irresponsible to present this as a reasonable option without also emphasizing the fact that many students are certain to be wounded or killed in the process. If everyone who charges agrees that they are, individually, willing to die to stop other people from getting shot, that's fine. Noble even. But to teach students to fight back with backpacks and laptops without also informing them that such resistance is, in essence, a suicide mission, is morally repulsive.
So since you don't recommend charging, what would you suggest? Honest question. No guns now, this isn't about needing to allow the right to carry in school. Carrying is a personal choice.
Again, you're putting words in my mouth. I never once said that I don't recommend charging. I said that I think it's a recipe for a lot of dead people. There's a difference.