alternately titled, Paul Helmke Shows His True Collectivist Colors, when asked about the first day of school at Harrold Independent School District...
"It's unfair of us to ask teachers to take on the additional job of being police officers," said Paul Helmke, president of the Brady Campaign.
So not only does Paul Helmke believe in collective rights, but he also apparently believes in collective responsibility, i.e., entrusting one's safety to the collective of local law enforcement. (Hey, how'd that work out at Virginia Tech?) Personally, I could give two farts in a windstorm what Paul Helmke thinks is fair. *I* don't think it's fair to clamp down on the freedoms of the many based on the crimes of the few, as that Helmke cretin advocates. I guess society at large does have a vested interest in the schools being protected, but the fact is in sparsely populated places like Wilbarger County, there's only so much money that's going to be made available to staff the local law enforcement agencies. And it's also undeniable that not only are the teachers who are carrying guns are not only protecting the students, but they're also protecting themselves. So all in all, it seems to me to be a win-win situation -- the teachers with CHLs and weapons on their respective persons are going to be able to have a much faster response time to crises on campus than any law enforcement, AND the county's resources won't be strained any more than they already may be. Come to think of it, those are advantages that accrue to society at large as well. It brings to mind another old question and answer.
"Why do I carry a gun? 'Cause they don't make a holster big enough for a cop."
Even if they did, it still deserves to be pointed out that James Brady was surrounded by armed guards -- arguably the best in the world -- and he still ended up as a victim. And the vast majority of the rest of us don't have that advantage. So I suppose Mr. Helmke and his cohorts want us all to be as unequipped and unprepared as James Brady was that day in 1981 -- even more so, probably, when you think about it. Crazy, stupid or evil? How about all of the above?
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