The Facepalm of Facepalms

I don't know what I was expecting but I wasn't expecting this. The NRA had scheduled a press conference for today to discuss the awful tragedy in Newtown last week and it became quickly apparent that they weren't in the mood to back sane, sensible gun regulations. Instead they blamed:

Video Games
Hollywood
Congress
The Media
(I'm sure the usual suspects of socialism, communism and the courts were also in there as well.)

And, to top this shiny nugget of goodness off, they called for an armed guard to be placed in every school in America.

I'm still trying digest that last part.

But fine... yes, you can blame Congress. Though a good point was made somewhere on the interwebs: we can have a national database of mentally ill people but not of people who own firearms? Hmmmmmmmmm... little bit of a cognitive disconnect there. Crazy people have rights too, you know... but blaming Congress is like blaming an incontinent, eighteen year old cat for pissing on your carpet. It's just too easy.

So, video games/Hollywood? I'm afraid Conservatives (including the NRA) always get this wrong. Video games and violent movies are just part of the joys of the free market. If violence in video games and movies made no money, Hollywood/the gaming industry wouldn't make 'em- it's as simple as that. So you can have a 'free market' or you can complain about violent video games. You can't do both. NEXT!

The media? This is a little closer to the mark. The hyper-sensationalism of stuff like this only turns mass murderers into celebrities and encourages the next crazy person to start makin' plans. Plus, sticking cameras into the faces of those kids? Irresponsible and downright appaulling. The general shittiness/rushing to judgement/factual errors that have followed this story from the beginning? Absolutely inexcusable. If we can regulate guns because 'all our freedoms have limitations and need regulation' then under that same logic we can regulate speech. I wouldn't be crazy about that- I'd much rather the networks get together and sign a pledge of how they're going to cover things like this and then stick to it. But at the same time, if the vultures can't contain their need for fresh meat, then maybe that's what we've got to do to get some journalistic restraint and ethics going around here because the media has been downright disgusting the way they've handled this.

But the solution? Armed guards in every school in America? I think this happens more often than the NRA thinks. The high school I worked at in Mankato had a police officer who was the 'school resource officer' who rotated his time between the two high schools in town. High schools in a lot of bigger cities have an officer on campus full time. And in general, I think it's a good thing... while some kids will undoubtedly have negative encounters with their friendly police officer, some kids will have positive interactions with them and I think that's a very good thing- anything that gets law enforcement out into the community, contributing positively is something I'd get behind- but police budgets are tight enough. If you want to get police officers into schools, you're going to need cash. (Oh and there's that pesky government spending Conservatives hate too. You can't have it both ways!)

But is it a cure-all? Doubtful. Most schools today conduct lockdown drills- but how effective are they? We protect schools from fire through a variety of methods and have done so for decades. I can't remember the last time I heard about a school fire during a school day- much less one with fatalities. (Google gave me this- and it wasn't top of the search results either.) We conduct fire and tornado drills to the point where kids and teachers instinctively know what to do. Locking the doors and staying very, very quiet might not be as effective as people would like to believe.

The NRA's logic is simplistic. 'The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun?' Well yes, but good guys- even with guns- can't be everywhere all the time. Safer schools start with making sure every teacher and student in America is trained and prepared to deal with the unthinkable. That's not a comforting thought for a lot of people, I know- but knowledge is power and preparation is everything. The more we have of both, the greater the chances we can prevent one of these tragedies from happening again.

(Pay attention kids because I'm usually very good about keeping this blog and my job very distinct and separate- but I have to plug this. If you're an Iowa City peep- especially if you work at the U of I. Take this class. And if you're not, do some research- somebody, somewhere will have something quite similar to this- and take that class... we now return you to your regularly scheduled blogging.)