Teen Brings Gun To Middle School
We've been hearing about this "epidemic" of guns at school pretty often lately. I have to be honest - I don't know what to think.
On one hand, I don't like the idea of "gun-free zones" at all (unless it's a private-property owner's decision). On the other hand, I can understand not wanting to "let" just any child of any age carry a gun at school. I also don't like the idea of "permitting" a right.
So where does that leave me? First of all, I think that adults should unhindered in their right to self-defense, except in the private property owner's situation I mentioned above. What about the kids? Personally, I think it ought to be up to the parents to decide when a child has shown enough maturity and competence to handle firearms responsibly.
Let's look at a crazy hypothetical. Let's pretend kids of any age could carry guns, even at school. They could carry openly or concealed. Teachers, administrators, and other adults could of course do the same. What are the problems?
Right away, some would say that playground fist-fights would turn into playground gunfights. Irresponsible parents could let (or just not care to know if) their kids take a gun to school and bully people around with it. Hmmm. That's no good.
What if there were a parental-permission type of system, where any person under the age of, say 16, had to show a card/slip of paper/whatever that demonstrated they have permission from their parents to be carrying? Eh, you still have the problem of irresponsible parents giving out permission willy-nilly.
I guess I come to the point of thinking that if a person isn't old/mature enough to be responsible for his own actions, he ought to be under the supervision of someone who is responsible for his actions (a parent).
The best idea I can come up with right now would be to say that if you're under the age of 18 and you're not hunting, target shooting, or traveling for one of those things, you need to have adult supervision in order to be in possession of a firearm. Basically I'm saying that a child wouldn't be allowed to carry for self-defense against other people unless they're at home. I guess people would just have to argue and compromise to come up with a reasonable age limit.
I'm certainly open to suggestions.
On one hand, I don't like the idea of "gun-free zones" at all (unless it's a private-property owner's decision). On the other hand, I can understand not wanting to "let" just any child of any age carry a gun at school. I also don't like the idea of "permitting" a right.
So where does that leave me? First of all, I think that adults should unhindered in their right to self-defense, except in the private property owner's situation I mentioned above. What about the kids? Personally, I think it ought to be up to the parents to decide when a child has shown enough maturity and competence to handle firearms responsibly.
Let's look at a crazy hypothetical. Let's pretend kids of any age could carry guns, even at school. They could carry openly or concealed. Teachers, administrators, and other adults could of course do the same. What are the problems?
Right away, some would say that playground fist-fights would turn into playground gunfights. Irresponsible parents could let (or just not care to know if) their kids take a gun to school and bully people around with it. Hmmm. That's no good.
What if there were a parental-permission type of system, where any person under the age of, say 16, had to show a card/slip of paper/whatever that demonstrated they have permission from their parents to be carrying? Eh, you still have the problem of irresponsible parents giving out permission willy-nilly.
I guess I come to the point of thinking that if a person isn't old/mature enough to be responsible for his own actions, he ought to be under the supervision of someone who is responsible for his actions (a parent).
The best idea I can come up with right now would be to say that if you're under the age of 18 and you're not hunting, target shooting, or traveling for one of those things, you need to have adult supervision in order to be in possession of a firearm. Basically I'm saying that a child wouldn't be allowed to carry for self-defense against other people unless they're at home. I guess people would just have to argue and compromise to come up with a reasonable age limit.
I'm certainly open to suggestions.
2 Comments:
I think much of the hysteria over kids with guns in school is highly misplaced.
We get the impression that it is happening more because it is hyped so much in the media. Also, detection efforts at the schools are much more aggressive than in the past which means that incidents that would have gone undetected no longer do so.
I'm no Constitutional scholar so I can't speak to the rights of minors in this regard but I'd say your evaluation is pretty much on the money.
What do you think the body count would have been at Columbine if the juniors and seniors had the right to concealed/open carry?
Three. The first victim, Klebold and Harris.
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