If Sandy Hook Slaughter Had Been Terrorism

The contributor Cincinnatus has submitted the following record of recent correspondence between a friend  and him. The conclusion is obvious from the outset  - that if the Sandy Hook slaughter had been an act of terrorism rather than the act of a mentally ill or criminal subject, the Progressives would be clamoring for the presence of police or armed guards in schools.

The agenda of the Left is exposed by the posing of the most basic of alternative scenarios.

"A Practical Question

The following is a correspondence between Anthony and Paul concerning current events. Anthony asks the question and Paul answers it. All Americans who want to find a reasonable and practical solution to the current wave of mass murders that have occurred in public un-protected places need to ask this question of their Governmental Representatives as well as those in the media. I include the media because without a true independent, enquiring  objective, and intelligent media our form government will one day cease to exist because the career politicians will become like feudal lords.

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Paul,

A question comes to mind concerning the recent shootings that have occurred.

What if it were a terrorist group that committed the recent mall or school attacks? Would we not want to have armed security guards (as well as other measures) in the schools to protect our kids? In the last several weeks the sheer stupidity of some begs another question "have they the mental capacity and the intellect to vote in a Republic let alone in a democracy?”
Regards,

Anthony

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Anthony,

What is interesting is that the Government, in a major bi-partisan fashion within the last decade, advocated the arming of people to protect American citizens as a response to exactly the same kind of situation and actions that occurred at these mall and school shootings. This program has been 100% successful (a rare occurrence for a Gov program indeed) and not one progressive/Democrat/MSNBC anchor of any notoriety has come out opposed to this program!

And yet when the same exact proposed policy is offered as a counter measure to recent school/mall/public place shooting incidents by the right wing wackos, these same people are apoplectic!

Let's look at it the Armed Sky Marshall and pilot program that was implemented after 9/11 has been 100% successful in the protection of American citizens in air transportation. No hi-jacking, no in-flight murders, no mentally ill or Serotonin Re-uptake Inhibitor drug crazed psycho has been successful in causing any more than a mild panic aboard a domestic aircraft while in flight due to the exact same policy Wayne LaPierre recommended and the liberals condemn!

Looking at the two situations reveal a significant similarity between schools, malls, and in-flight aircraft and thus reveal similar ways to counter threats:

Schools and Malls / In-flight Aircraft

A certain number of unarmed citizens who abide the law congregate for lawful and temporary purposes, which are relatively isolated from the public and traditional law enforcement.

Willful egress and exit are limited once entry has been attainted

An apparently efficient screening procedure is set-up to keep non-ticketed air passengers (in the case of airports) from gaining entry onto aircraft. Likewise a visual/direct challenge method used by teachers and aides at limited points of entry exists in schools to keep unknown adults or unrecognized people of student ages from

gaining entry into schools. Metal detectors are present in the worst urban (not at the DC Sidwell Friends Academy - they have a dozen armed guards) schools

The response to crisis can significant vary in both aircraft and schools depending on the nature of the problem; in the event of a crisis that requires intervention an in-flight aircraft usually has to land first before a response team can approach and enter the plane. This could take anywhere from minutes to hours. Likewise in a school, unless the police station is within sight of the school, the response time for outside intervention to be on-site could be minutes and in some localities, up to an hour (in secluded rural areas). Most schools have limited medical response personnel trained to manage low risk situations until help arrives. In any event with no on-property means of counter measures the occupants must wait for outside crisis responders to arrive.

Here's the reason it works in the Sky Marshall / Armed Pilot program and one that Government should take notice:

It puts the responsibility to effect counter measures in the hands of the citizens or an immediate member of the community in question (this deals with the isolation and the limits on entry factors). The people trained to deal with these situations have the ability to respond almost immediately (taking the response time issue out of the equation). For the general public, it is unknown whether a Sky Marshall or armed pilot is on-board which creates an unpredictability of response force on the part of potential defenders in the minds of potential violent actors. The first level screening procedures are not relaxed or abandoned, indeed they serve as the lowest level means of intimidation to would-be perpetrators and when combined with the potential uncertain and unknown threat of armed force as a response, the fruit-cakes, evil-doers and murderers simply stay away. Our own history shows this to be true.

The dirty little secret the liberals don’t want the public to realize is that a program exactly the same as the NRA has proposed is alive and well and is already WORKING!

No need to restrict the rights of some people at the seemingly and unproven advantage of others. Gun control is political through and through and the public is made no safer as a result!

Regards,
Paul"