In
the aftermath of the horrible murders at Sandy Hook Elementary,
everyone is demanding action to ensure that nothing like that
will ever happen again. At either end of the political spectrum
we have calls ranging from “confiscate all guns except for
those in the hands of the military and police” to “arm all
the teachers like the Israelis do.”
Well,
the debate can rage on ad
nauseum as to where along this continuum we should act, but
as the debate rages, budding “Adam Lanza copycats” simmer.
People with sick minds feed on each other – and on the media
coverage their actions generate! The longer we wait to act, the
more likely THEY will act. Regardless of how “the debate”
turns out, we need a short-term solution to counter the threat.
I have a humble suggestion that could immediately be put in
place to deter such shootings, and IT’S FREE!
Simply
call out “the militia.”
In
this case, the militia would have to be composed of members of
our military and police forces – folks who should
be acceptable to both ends of the political spectrum – because
pretty much everyone agrees that they, at least, ought to be
armed.
My
idea is to rotate qualified and heavily vetted volunteers from
the ranks of the active-duty military; Army, Navy, Air Force,
Marine Corps and Coast Guard reserves; Army and Air National
Guard; municipal, county, state and federal law enforcement
agencies; and retirees from all of the above to serve part of
their time as, let us call them “guardians,” at their local
schools. To simplify the logistics of the undertaking, I
recommend that part of the selection process for such guardians
include picking folks who reside in or near a particular school
district where they would serve.
Now,
the selected guardians would have no “official” capacity at
the school other than as a citizen – who happens to be a
trained professional – to provide an armed presence to respond
in the unlikely event of an attack on the school. Yes, we are
grimly aware that such attacks happen, but “statistically
speaking,” they are still unlikely, and would be even less
likely to happen if said guardians were present.
Great!
So who pays for this?
We’ve
already paid for it! Our police and military personnel have
already been trained and are paid to “defend our country”
and to “protect and serve.” My suggestion is that these
folks be asked to volunteer
(i.e. another one of the selection criteria) to do this as not
only their civic duty, but also as another part of the “defend
our country/protect and serve” equation.
For
active-duty military and LEOs, it would amount to taking a
vacation/sick/PTO day as little as once every few months or so
to do “guardian duty”; for reservists and National Guards,
it could serve as part of their “one weekend a month and two
weeks a year” obligation and/or count as points toward their
retirement; for retirees (and everyone
who volunteers) it counts toward the betterment of mankind.
OK,
so who provides the arms and ammunition?
Again,
we’ve already paid for the arms and ammunition used to train these professionals; and if they can’t or, for whatever
reason, won’t provide their own personal firearms to
accomplish the School-Guardian Mission, I’d be willing to bet
that America’s gun owners would donate some of theirs! We did
it once – during WWII – so that the United Kingdom, which
had previously disarmed its subjects, could defend itself from a
feared Nazi invasion. We can do it again, to defend our schools
from feared invasions by deranged sociopaths.
Honestly,
I can’t imagine that ANY active, reserve or retired service
member or LEO would refuse to donate an occasional vacation or
sick day to ensure that our schools are safe. If any ONE of them
would, then all hope is lost.
I
also can’t imagine that anyone – even the most Left-thinking
along the political spectrum – would object to “the military
and police” stepping up to protect our children. Short of
arming teachers – to which they would NEVER agree – I
believe this is the best alternative.
I’m
not sure about arming teachers, anyway. It’s not their job.
It’s not their orientation. We’ve seen it proven that they
are willing to DIE to protect their students, but I’m not
ready to ask them to KILL. I’d want to leave that to the
professionals.
That
said, (tearfully, I assure you) I believe if a program such as
this is implemented and PUBLICIZED by the mainstream media, as
well as all the viral media, knowing that any schools in the
area are protected by the likes of Navy SEALS, Army Rangers,
Marine Corps Recon, Air Force Para Rescue Jumpers, municipal
SWAT team members, et al,
will serve as a deterrent to the likes of any “Play Station
ranger” or “X-Box commando” fantasizing about shooting up
a school. The mere thought of it would make his Huggies go to
“condition Hershey,” and he might just stay home, or, better
yet, seek professional help!
Mark
Pixler
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