Guns in school

I was a victim of school bullying when I was in Kindergarten. A group of bigger boys beat up on me as the teachers watched doing nothing. I wanted to take a toy gun to school the next day for protection, but my mom stopped me. Now, we have kids who want to bring real guns to school for protection. The worst part of this is that the adults are encouraging this.

Additionally, I have been in Juvenile court where the judge says this action should not be allowed. I had a client who carried a gun for protection and actually used it, yet was charged with a crime. The special juvenile gun prosecutor, a life NRA member saw no disconnect in prosecuting this juvenile. My client was sent to Glen Mills for gun crime.

Now, are we allowing rich, white kids to pack heat, yet showing a bias against poor, black kids in the 'hood are are far more likely to be victims of gun violence? What sort of message is it when a kid is adjudicated delinquent for carrying a gun in self-defence, yet he could have applied for and received a permit to carry that firearm had he been a few years older?

The RKBA crowd have no problem with this, especially since they are the ones ensuring that criminals have unfettered access to firearms. It is no surprise to me that the Second Amendment Foundation's Alan Gottlieb is a convicted felon. Sure, it's for a "non-violent offence" (tax evasion), but he's a felon. The NRA had another slimy type on their board, Sandy Abrams, whose Valley Guns is one of the leading suppliers of crime guns in America, ranking 37 out of nearly 80,000 gun dealers nationwide in total crime guns traced to their stores. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives has documented over 900 violations of federal law at Valley Gun, including illegal gun sales.

No wonder these people don't want gun trace data publicised! But, I digress.

The whole gun rights thing is ludicrous in that it is counterproductive to public safety. And more importantly, the truly law abiding gun owner. I find it amusing that the NRA is trying to discredit the AHSA (American Hunters and Shooters Association), a saner firearms group. I have to admit far more sympathy with AHSA's approach than the NRA. The AHSA realises that people involved in shooting sports need to be conservation minded and promote sane gun laws. It's kind of late for me though because urban sprawl has pretty much destroyed most places I can shoot in Eastern PA.

On the other hand, we hear lots of talk of gun rights and dealing with gun crime, but that is coming from organisations that strive to weaken and void firearms laws. The RKBA trumps people's property rights. In this case, a University can't have a policy against guns on campus without someone getting upset about it. But, doesn't someone's property rights count for something? In this case, a University's property rights.

No, the illusory right to keep and bear arms trumps people's other rights. It especially trumps society's interest in making sure that the streets are safe from the plague of gun violence and its costs to society.