And now, for more on something else that bothers me...the delicate sensibilities of some people.
Over at his blog, AD's been catching hell the last couple of days for a rather trenchant observation:
...one of the speakers (at an EMS conference --ed.) will be James Hyatt, Executive Vice President and C.O.O. of Virginia Tech University.Then proceeded the wailing and gnashing of teeth. "Tasteless! Words fail me! Too many college students can't be responsible!"
The title of his presentation? Campus Security and Emergency Preparedness.
The program doesn't say whether it's supposed to be informative or humorous, but in any case, it oughta be a short lecture.
Right, okay, because *some* college students can't be responsible we should disarm everyone. What. The. Hell. Ever. Let's see, here in Texas, well, let's just say I chose to carry my Springfield GI 1911. Factor in the cost of that weapon with the cost of ammunition to become proficient with it. For purposes of the argument we'll define that as minute of goblin at 15 yards, and 1,000 rounds of 230-grain ball. And then there's the cost of the concealed-handgun license class, which here in Texas is $140. Assuming $17 for the cost of 50 rounds of said ammunition and $420 for the sidearm, and taxes, we're already north of $800. You think anyone's going to invest that kind of money and gamble it by not being personally responsible for it? Everyone's different indeed, but in the case of someone who's going to carry a weapon, I'd like to think that person is going to be thinking on a deeper level than your stereotypical college student who gorges himself on pizza and beer every night. Some might call this a good argument for a CHL requirement and the accompanying costs that go with it, and really, I don't mean it like that. I think the only permit we need to carry is the the one we get under the natural law of self-preservation, which could be stated as "everyone has the right to own the most effective self-defense tools he or she can manage." Furthermore, even the exorbitant Texas CHL fees are but a fraction of the cost of a good weapon. I got that Springfield cheap and I know there's no way in hell I could get it now for the price I got it in early 2006.
As for the "tasteless joke" complaint...cry me another Ohio River. If someone gets offended because of such an offbeat observation, and it makes them think, well then all I can say is so much the better. I don't know how often that would be the case -- likely as not it would make the Perpetually Offended retreat back into their shells -- but it can't be anything but bad if we as a society can't say what we think about things (in whatever way we deem necessary to trigger thought and debate) just because someone, somewhere, might get offended. But maybe that's just me. I know that if I was a Virginia Tech parent, before the shots stopped on that April day I'd have been on the horn to my legislators demanding to know how in the hell this was supposed to happen considering the fact that Virginia Tech officials were on record as effectively saying the campus was safer because everyone was disarmed. Tasteless joke? Hardly. I'd say that considering the fact that everyone's STILL disarmed at Virginia Tech, they're still just as vulnerable and that there's little if any point in VT's James Hyatt bothering to show his face there.
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