Criminal law, Politics, Society

Send God, Guns, and Money: Sandy Hook Shooting Becomes Rallying Point For Political Advocates

praying_hands[1]300px-M4-TransparentThe murder of 20 children and six adults at the Sandy Hook Elementary has spawned an array of commentary from calls for new gun controls to greater funding for mental illness in the United States. However, Fox commentator and former GOP presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said that the shooting was not surprising after the removal of prayer from public schools. Rep. Louie Gohmert, a Republican from Texas, did one better, he wished God ensured that Principal says Dawn Hochsprung had an M-4 assault rifle at the school before she was killed.

Gohmert told Fox News “I wish to God she had an M-4 in her office locked up so when she heard gunfire she pulls it out and she didn’t have to lunge heroically with nothing in her hands but she takes him out, takes his head off before he can kill those precious kids.” Wouldn’t it be a bit more direct to pray that God had stopped Lanza from going to the school or that he was institutionalized before his mass murder?

If school teachers are now to be armed, wouldn’t the teachers have to carry around their assault rifles at all time since they would not know when an attack would occur? Indeed, given the low likelihood of such an attack, should they also be equipped with ebola-medical kits, rabies treatment packs, floatation devices, and other equipment for more likely threats. The average soldier, after all, carries as much as 135 pounds depending on their unit. Should our teachers carry less to protect our children?

As for prayer, is that what caused Lanza (with a history of mental illness) to kill? Lack of school prayer. His first murder was at home. After shooting his mother in the face, would Lanza have hesitated at the schoolhouse gate because he recalled morning prayers in civics class? By the way, those terrorists we read about daily do a lot of praying. It does not seem to have the same impact on them.

Putting aside the desire to try a tragedy to a favorite cause, there is often a search for meaning in tragedies. The most frightening thought is that such a terrible loss would not have meaning. It was an unspeakable crime committed by an unstable person. We are all emotionally shredded by this tragedy. However, we know that this is likely to happen again. Even with gun controls, people will still have guns, which are constitutionally protected. Some will have multiple guns. We do not have to shrug and do nothing. There is a need to better deal with mental illness in this country. It was not that long ago that another unstable young man committed a massacre at Virginia Tech. However, as with gun controls, it is not clear that much would have changed in this case. Lanza’s mother decided to keep him at home and tried to deal with his instability on her own. If a parent keeps a child at home and addresses such problems privately, it is doubtful that new programs would have had any impact.

Nevertheless, I would prefer to discuss expanded mental health programs over assault weapons in schools as a starting point of any reforms.

Source: Hill

310 thoughts on “Send God, Guns, and Money: Sandy Hook Shooting Becomes Rallying Point For Political Advocates”

  1. Jonathan:

    ” I know the entire KJV very well. I know what Jesus would follow,and what he would not follow. ”
    *****************************
    One wonders with your intimate and unerring knowledge of the proclivities of the all powerful divine creator of the universe why you would have such need for the deity’s guidance at all. God does work in mysterious ways.

    1. God who is in spirit unseen at this point in time is in me teaching the unerring truth in the KJV that harms no one. People that are evil kill; kill, kill, thinking God is sanctifying the killing. They are listening to deceiving beguiling lying devils.

  2. Poisoning the well Mark?

    Why not attack the truth of the matter asserted by Paul in the quote I cited?

    Or don’t you want to sound as bat shit crazy as Jonathan Hughes?

  3. Mespo: “Equating life vests with protecting kids seems a tad off base given recent events.”

    Mark,

    Recent events are about as rare as people drowning in flash floods.

    Appealing to the emotion created by said rare tragedy distorts perspective as to actual risk.

    Again, your typical Federal building invites violence by the nature of the business it transacts. Comparing it to a school is a per se faulty comparison.

  4. Bob/mespo,

    I think the cost of having guards to protect against violence is a minimal cost that has enough mitigation value to merit considering even though the need may be remote. I’m not going to play an appeal to probability against the gain in actual safety. However, the searching students thing? That’s just a draconian imposition on 4th Amendment rights absent probable cause; a police state tactic.

  5. Bob,Esq:

    Is that quote from the same Ron Paul who said famously:

    “If you have ever been robbed by a black teen-aged male, you know how unbelievably fleet-footed they can be….Given the inefficiencies of what D.C. laughingly calls the `criminal justice system,’ I think we can safely assume that 95 percent of the black males in that city are semi-criminal or entirely criminal.”

    I don’t even think he made the trains run on time.

  6. The clergy seem to glom onto to any tragedy and the media obliges. Huckabee’s need to backtrack suggests that this has gone a little too far but not far enough for it to stop.

  7. JOnathan:

    “People that build on fear are controlled by a devil. The only thing they know is fear.”

    *********************

    Funny, that is precisely my criticism of the Christian religion.Revelation 20:14,15

    1. Genesis 11:1-9. That is the second death. There is no chance for life after the second death. That occurs around the city of God. Light of God is seen by the wicked as fire. No eternal fire around the city of God. People like you, and the zoosexuals who want to cridisize me for teaching what is in the KJV have no right. They don’t know what is in it taught by warmongering religions that chew up people when they know what sexuality they are having them arrested jailed or killed..

  8. Bob,Esq:

    There are plenty of safeguards on domestic exercises of state power. Equating life vests with protecting kids seems a tad off base given recent events. The point is that our kids deserve as least as much consideration as your typical federal building.

  9. Here’s one of my very favorite pro-gun boys:

    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A47809-2004Nov13_3.html

    Further words of gun wisdom from good ol’ Phil:

    “”I could ask you why should anyone want a Ferrari?” Van Cleave said Sunday. “’Bushmasters] are absolutely a blast to shoot with. They’re fast. They’re accurate.’

    And there’s no denying that their fearsome, combat-ready appearance adds to their appeal, he said.

    ‘Guns are fun, and some of them are much more cool than others. It’s just like we have television sets that look cool, and others are much more boxy,” Van Cleave said.” (these words are not out of context and were said day before yesterday) http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/gun-rights-advocates-under-attack-after-school-shooting/2012/12/16/04cba1aa-47d6-11e2-b6f0-e851e741d196_story.html

    Attaboy, Brownie … keep ’em coming.

  11. Sorry Mark,

    I’ve seen your arguments per “the legitimate use of force by the state” — and I’m well aware you place absolutely no limit on it.

    Ron Paul makes a cogent point above.

  12. Mark,

    If we make all children wear life vests, it would lower the risk of them drowning in a flash flood as well.

  13. Bob,Esq:

    As for what we’re teaching our kids about rights, I suppose we’re teaching them the very real truth that rights depend on the legitimate use of force by the state to protect the possessors of those rights from others who would take them away by force.

  14. “Well, they certainly could also search for contraband brought in by students, teachers, or other employees.” -mespo727272

    Ridiculous.

  16. Bob,Esq:

    While current gun control laws would not have stopped Lanza, armed guards might well have prevented or mitigated the tragedy. Not sure it’s a false dilemma when 20 kids have just been senselessly murdered and the nearest help was minutes away while seconds counted.

  17. Jonathan:

    “Bob,Esq:you save people from being killed buy having people save their soul by being like Jesus is. Eternity starts now not latter.”

    *****************************

    Tell me honestly, have you just finished reading Genesis 11:1-9. It’s starting to show through.

    1. People were faithless doing what they were doing being single minded in trying to build a building high enough to have people not be drowned in another flood. God told them it would not happen. He had to do what he did to stop their foolishness. I know the entire KJV very well. I know what Jesus would follow,and what he would not follow. Jesus is the word made flesh. Jesus is a loving being. A loving being will not harm people. People harm themselves by not being like he is.

  18. Mark,

    Why the false dilemma? Who says you have to arm anyone?

    And would this school also be teaching the kids about the bill of rights?

  19. Bob,Esq:

    Well, they certainly could also search for contraband brought in by students, teachers, or other employees. I think it would not be cost prohibitive and I would welcome that as opposed to arming 5-year-olds or 20 something teachers fresh out of college.

  20. Mespo: Would anyone object to trained armed security at publicly accessed school entrances as we have at other public buildings? We do this for judges and lawmakers.

    Court houses invite violence by the nature of the proceedings held therein. The chances of being killed in a school shooting are too low to warrant such a measure.

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