Finally, Somebody Recognizes that People Make the Difference

One school, Manatee School for the Arts, in Manatee County, Florida has actually done the right thing.  According to the website Bearing Arms a Florida School Hires Combat Vet(eran)s To Protect Students. I have argued that violence can happen at any place at any time. While some have come to this conclusion based on statistical studies, my observations are based on the Christian understanding of man as fallen creature. The free will we have only allows us to do evil. Our only hope is in the Lord. But Tom Knighton makes this explicit also:

You never know when violence is going to erupt, especially when you’re talking about a mass shooting. They happen seemingly at random and in unexpected places. They’re not happening in inner-city schools with gang problems, for example. They’re happening in places where you don’t expect the wholesale slaughter of innocent people.

It thus becomes imperative that people willing to shoulder that burden should carry as frequently as the law allows, but the law should allow them to carry pretty much everywhere. That is why many gu trainers say that you should carry every where all the time.  Violence occurs when and where you least expect it to happen.  Besides, criminals certainly carry everywhere. But high school students are of course a different matter. Students shouldn't be carrying guns to school every day because a number of them do not have the maturity yet to carry them responsibly.*

So,since students can not defend themselves against and armed attacker,  the best thing is allowing teachers who want to shoulder the burden to carry concealed to protect the students under their care. But this school decided to hire combat vets. I would take that too as opposed to having the school wide open for anyone to just walk in and start shooting up the place:

First, you take veterans and give them a renewed purpose. Transitioning from military to civilian life isn’t easy, even without seeing the horrors of war, so something like this is likely to help a great deal.

Second, you put guns in the hands of people you know aren’t going to hide outside if shots start to fly. These are people who have seen the elephant already. They’ve already been through the crucible of combat.

The adage that "guns save lives" is as flawed as the notion than guns kill. Every sheriff's deputy at Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school had a gun. The shooter also had a gun. It is not the instrumentality that takes action, or not. It is the people themselves and their intent. Guns are just tools, no more, no less.  Choosing people who have been through actual combat, have faced down the evil and survived is a pretty smart step.  People make the difference, the tools they carry are a secondary issue.

* Note that college students are a different matter entirely. Students who are at least 21, and pass a background check should be old enough to carry on campus. However, as I remember those days myself, I couldn't afford a gun, much less the belt, holster, and training needed to carry. But legislatures who make blanket bans are doing a disservice to students and their parents. However, that is a different story for a different blog post.