We Have Seen the Enemy

First, from Leonard Pitts, Jr:

In the wake of the recent spate of shootings at U.S. schools, a Wisconsin state legislator has proposed a novel solution: Let's arm the teachers. . . .

Me, I think Frank Lasee is simply an agent of the zeitgeist and no one knows it yet. Or hasn't anyone else noticed our recent surplus of really bad ideas whose commonality and selling point is that they are simple. Workability? That's optional. Rationality? Overrated. What we want are ideas that can be explained on bumper stickers. If they require position papers, we're not interested.

Think I'm kidding? Consider a few actual ideas recently floated, debated or enacted by actual elected representatives.

Terrorism a threat? Bomb Mecca.

Terrorists won't talk? Torture them.

Illegal immigration a problem? Fence off the country.

FEMA a failure? Change its name.

We have become ever more impatient with the complexities and convolutions that characterize our most intractable problems, ever more intolerant of solutions that require patience, long-term thinking, and the coordination of multiple strategies. Like overweight people looking for a fat-burning pill, we want magic solutions that require no investment of time, tears or tolerance. . . .

Paired with a bit from local writer Mary Sanchez:

For all the recent head scratching about how to prevent more school shootings, studies have made several things clear:

School shooters almost always are boys. The shootings are planned attacks, not spur-of-the-moment. And the guns come from the shooters’ homes.

We need to quit dancing around these facts . . .

Arm the teachers? How about disarm the kids?

The best way to do that would be to address where school shooters get their guns: from their homes. Oh I know, people will talk about their right to bear arms, the need for self-protection, their desire to hunt. All are understandable replies.

But people with guns in their homes should honestly address several questions: Do you really need a gun in the house? If so, how secure is it? How well do you know your son? Does he respect the gun in your home?

I can hear the refrain now; “Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.” Nice slogan.

Here’s the truth: Troubled boys with access to their parents’ guns have killed their classmates, their teachers and quite often, themselves.

And yes, it can happen anywhere.

Both from page B9 of today's KC Star.