Human Capital Development, Not More Guns

Today at CPAC, Wayne LaPierre, NRA EVP, doubled down on the gun lobby’s vision for America, more guns.  He did so by advocating for additional security at schools.

If he truly believes that schools need more security then he and the gun lobby should pay for it.

I do not like nor respect Mr. LaPierre and others in the gun lobby seeking to spend my tax dollars on items that do not contribute to human capital development and will more than likely lead to more deaths. We have limited resources and I prefer that we focus on the development of human capital, which should result in improved thinking so we can, for instance, resolve conflicts without force.

I am not naïve.  Force may be needed, but for all intents and purposes, is it not the last resort?

Folks like Wayne LaPierre wrap themselves in the red, white and blue; they talk the talk of supporting our Constitution the Second Amendment, but never truly walked the walked by having signed their name on a piece of paper to defend our Constitution with their own life.  I did.  I served our country as a US Naval Officer when such service was frowned upon. I took my oath seriously and still do.  As such, I feel obligated to invest my time to overcome the rhetoric of those that pimp out the Second Amendment so they can sell more guns, which will most likely result statistically in more deaths, please see Guns = Death.

Guns = Death

What is the primary function of a gun?  If you answered something other than kill, you are delusional. Guns may perform other functions, such as – fill in as a paperweight, a prop in a piece of art, used to fire a bullet to hit a target, etc, but the intended function is to kill, that simple.

Guns as they relate to America form a dichotomy. Without guns we could not have life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, yet today guns are literally killing us, please see chart below.  

America has a problem and it is more than just guns. Our country is kind of like Imelda Marcos.  Instead of shoes, we have a gun obsession, arguably fueled by the gun lobby.  As such, America has 3x as many guns per 100 people than the median and 10x the number of homicides-by-gun per 100,000 people than the median resulting in approximately 4 homicides-by-gun per 100,000 guns or approximately 3x the median. We have more and kill more! Just like Imelda, unfortunately some of us must have some form of psychosis to ignore the facts.

In 2015 slightly more than 10 million guns were manufactured and distributed in the US.  If the ratios I just provided remained constant then there would have been 360 more homicides-by-gun in 2016, yet per CDC data, the total increase in deaths by firearm was 2406.  Assuming the ratio of 2 suicides-per-gun for every homicide-by-gun holds true then there was an increase of approximately 900 homicides-by-gun over the prior year, an acceleration in deaths.

Some of you may be jumping out of your seat yelling that is why we need guns for self-defense. First, less than 300 deaths by firearm were attributed to self-defense last year; translation, guns used for self-defense is immaterial.  More importantly, that thinking is in-line with those who believe that only more government policies can solve poverty.  Think of it this way, the more right you go, the more left you become.

Since some people may have a hard time wrapping their mind around these facts, please let me state the obvious, less guns will mean less deaths.

Is It Time To Use Article V Of The US Constitution?

To prevent any erroneous conclusions from my two previous posts, I want to state unequivocally that I support the Second Amendment as it is written, not as it has been manipulated, twisted, contorted and abused to feed some Americans’ obsession with guns.

The Second Amendment (2A) states, “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

I believe that one sentence is extremely well crafted to prevent any ambiguity.  However, over time ambiguity has set in, which I attribute to two major changes following the ratification of 2A. Those changes are: 1. The U.S. formed an army several years later (i.e. stopped relying solely on militias) and 2. State governments had greater legislative power until the passage of Amendments 14, 15 and 16 following the Civil War, hence the use of the words, “Militia” and “State.”

Because of the aforementioned changes coupled with the passage of time this ambiguity has arguably increased leading some Americans (including some Justices of the Supreme Court to my chagrin) to now believe 2A means something different than initially intended, such as guns for self-defense.  If these individuals believe so strongly that 2A means something totally different than the original intent then it is imperative for them to seek changes, not through narrow opinions issued by the judicial branch, but from the legislative branch.  These individuals should seek to amend the Constitution via Article V. This process will most likely be nasty, but the debates should undoubtedly determine what we want as a nation.

Home Of The Brave

I recently worked in an industry in which conviction was expected. If you believed in your vision then you were obligated to stand tall and stand proud even when events ran counter to your belief. If you could not pound the table with conviction during such events, then you lost the respect of your audience – competitors, employer and customers. With that in mind, I find it interesting that the gun lobby shrinks back into the shadows following the massacre at Marjory Stoneman Douglas (MSD) on Valentines Day, a day of love and compassion. Their actions imply guilt and remorse for what occurred.

Yet, the gun lobby has worked tirelessly and insidiously for decades promoting their vision.  The Supreme Court essentially rewrote the second amendment with a ruling based on a tortured analysis of just one sentence’s structure allowing the narrow majority to infer the authors’ intent 215 years later instead of validating and reinforcing what was actually written. The Supreme Court says the Second Amendment now pertains to self-defense, which has helped crystallize the gun lobby’s vision for America.

If the gun lobby truly believes their vision for America is right then they are duty bound to pound the table with conviction that the gunman at MSD would have been literally stopped dead in his tracks if guns were allowed on campus.  Just today, Rush Limbaugh advocated for guns on campus.  I am led to believe, the gun lobby has lived for this moment so they could advocate for all to have guns, including but not limit to teachers, administrators and most importantly, students. That’s right, students.

The killing of innocent Americans by an American on American soil should be a rally cry by the gun lobby for Americans to own guns, not just adults, but all Americans. Self-defense classes should begin in kindergarten and continue through twelfth grade graduation. Why, you may ask. Surely, you have not forgotten that kindergarteners died in the Sandy Hook massacre. Surely, the gun lobby would not want anything like that to happen again and is not just a price that is paid to have the right to own a gun for self-defense (which could be accomplished by myriad of other less dangerous activities).  We must arm these young tots, adolescents and teens so they are ready for the dangers they will encounter (regardless whether the adults allowed these dangers to manifest, germinate in the first place – that’s immaterial). Shootings like those at MSD and Sandy Hook and Virginia Tech and ... are like a war zone and the students must be armed.

Weekly trips to the firing range are a must, so are target practice and unscheduled drills to simulate armed intruders.  Since schools have tight budgets and cannot add this training to the curriculum then courses such as art, music and other unnecessary electives should be dropped, but definitely not gym because we want the students physically fit. In addition to buying pencils, pens and notebooks to begin the school year, parents could buy ammo and new cool holsters that match lunch boxes and back packs.

Guns are part of America’s heritage and all should embrace it.  Understandably, there are some adults who do not (that's me if you have not figured out), but if we start the process of training and more importantly, indoctrinating the use of guns at a very young age then over time there will be greater acceptance, would you not agree?

 Just imagine, if this vision were executed ten years ago then the students at MSD would have been able to coolly duck for cover, pull out their weapon and drop the perp in seconds saving many lives. Per President Trump, “no child, no teacher, [would] ever be in danger in an American school [again]. No parent [would] ever have to fear for their sons and daughters when they kiss them goodbye in the morning.” That would be awesome, would it not?!

Some of you reading this may think that this vision smacks of a third world country and you would be right.  USA has the highest gun ownership per capita in the world followed by, you guessed it – third world countries, predominately those in the Middle East.

To paraphrase Charlton Heston, let them pry the guns from our cold, dead hands – after the dust settles, of course. 

Go America! We are the home of the brave because we have to be if this vision becomes reality.

When is Enough, Enough?

Today there was another shooting at a school, 17 dead at the time of publication exceeding the number of deaths that occurred at Columbine approximately 19 years ago.  This shooting happened in south Florida, the state in which I live.

In this year alone,  just one and half months, there have been over 10 shootings at schools this year and several mass murders alone.  I have lost count and it is possible you have, too.

When do we say, “enough is enough!”

When we find ourselves in a hole, should we keep digging?  I think not.

Given all the deaths from shootings at school, some say, we should allow more open carry or concealed carry.  Does it really matter whether it is open or concealed?  To use the gun in "self-defense" someone has to shoot first and it is very well possible one or more people die before the shooter is prevented from firing more bullets.  Allow me to repeat myself, “it is very well possible one or more people die before the shooter is prevented from firing more bullets.” Even if the shooter does not kill someone, the mere fact of spraying bullets surely causes trauma.  My nine year old was traumatized from learning the news of today’s events on the radio on her way home. Should not schools be a safe place?  After hearing the news, I am sure my daughter is a little less certain, would you not agree?  Is that acceptable?  You may say that is life (or in this case, death).  I say that is sad, depressing and unacceptable!

Some say, we should arm the teachers.  Maybe the teachers do not want to be armed.  Regardless, are not teachers already over loaded with minutiae?  Do they need another task that at the end of the day is not accretive to higher learning?

Some say, we should have additional security at school.  That would be fine, but where is the money coming from? To my knowledge, taxpayers (at least the vocal ones) already complain schools receive too much money.  If no additional money is raised to pay for security services then something has to be cut, does it not?  That seems asinine, does it not, especially so when people bemoan that our education system is broken?

So what is the solution to the problem?  Some say, it’s complicated.  Truly, it is not. Please allow me to repeat myself from above, “when we find ourselves in a hole, should we keep digging?”

Are more guns the answer?  Therefore, what is the problem?   What is the one thing we could remove and there would be no more deaths from shootings?

What is more important, life or death?  If death (whether yours or someone else’s), is it really that important? Not in my book.