Guns, Kids, Schools and Protection

My babies, ages 7, 6 and 3.

In the minutes following the Newtown school massacre my Facebook feed ignited with gun-control arguments. I refrained from saying much, other than I would like the ability to protect my children in any situation because I thought the timing of the argument was in rather poor taste. Those children, teachers, too, are someone’s baby, not a soapbox for gun control.

It’s been a few days now and I would like to offer my opinions as a mother. My children are presently 7, 6 and 3 – the same ages as the children gunned down in their classrooms at the start of their school day. While I do not personally know anyone involved, Newtown is about an hour away from my NY family.

As a mother, I try to teach my children empathy for others as well as responsibility for their actions. If you hurt someone you say you’re sorry and mean it; you ask them if there is anything you can do to help. My biggest responsibility as a mother is to protect and provide for my children as well as teach them social responsibility. I take this job very seriously… {if you think you know where this is going, you may be surprised} …which is why I plan on educating myself on a gun. I am going to the range for some target practice. I am signing up for the concealed carry class they offer so I can get my permit. I will then purchase a gun to carry on my person at all times {NOTE I did not say “keep in my purse” as 90% of my day is not spent with my handbag…bags get stolen…I’d like to see you try to steal my pants 😉 }. Am I a crazed individual seeking to disrupt cultural norms? Only when my Housewives don’t record. In the event that my children and I are faced with a madman threatening us with a firearm, I’d like the chance to protect them. Without a firearm, what am I supposed to do…hit them with my purse?! {You know, the purse I don’t have 90% of the day.}

Metal detectors in a high school in the Bronx.

I can hear you asking, ‘what do you plan on doing when your kids are at school?’ I HOPE that some positive school safety changes will come from this horrific event. Inner city schools have been dealing with weapons and violence for decades. They installed metal detectors, maintain one point of entry and have police or other armed security roaming the halls to make sure the kids get to class safely. If courts and other tax-payer-funded government buildings have these kinds of safety measures, why can’t our schools? Public schools are funded the same way {for private schools I say raise your tuition by $50/yr per family to cover the expenses.} I would absolutely support a change like that.

I can also hear some of you saying that guns should just be banned, nobody needs them, etc etc etc. Please don’t let your emotions make you naive. Guns don’t kill people {please see the below video as well as my earlier posting} bad people who want to hurt other people use guns to kill people. If, by some magical space magnet, all of the guns were pulled off of the face of the planet, we would still have bad people.

Before gun powder was “discovered” and guns were mass produced, wars were waged for THOUSANDS of years using swords, knives, axes, catapults, fire, arrows {do you really need me to go on??}. If you wanted to kill just one or two people, please don’t forget about lady’s choice: poison. In today’s world, you could also build an explosive device…I have heard that instructions can be found and easily downloaded from the web. You could also use chemicals {ie chemical warfare} or electronic disruptions. I would rather be approached by a guy with a gun than a guy with Sarin gas. I find the thinking that banning of all of the guns will solve the problem utter buffoonery.

I hope and pray that the people and legislative bodies that govern this wonderfully free country do not naively and emotionally rush to ban firearms. Countries with high gun ownership have a lower rate of crimes committed with guns. By contrast, countries who have low gun ownership {due to laws or disinterest from the public} have higher rates of crimes committed with guns.

I urge you to consider who and what evil really is and take steps to bring it to light instead of taking away the means to protect your family.