Following the senseless shooting at the Walmart in El Paso, Texas, world renowned astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson made a highly controversial post on social media. As most scientists do, they base their findings on actual data, and not just what they “think” or how they “feel.”
Tyson cited that in the time that had lapsed since the mass shootings in El Paso, TX and Dayton, OH, that we also lost victims to “500 to medical errors, 300 to flu, 250 to suicide, 200 to car accidents, and 40 to homicide via handgun.” His most controversial statement was the last of his post: “Often our emotions respond more to spectacle than to data.”
Though accurate and sensible, Tyson apologized for his post, caving to the sensibilities of the anti-gun folks. In other words, rather than standing by his statement, and letting common sense prevail, he let their emotions defeat him. We can’t let this happen us.
The spectacle itself is created by the global, leftist media. Look back to what happened after the Columbine school shooting in Littleton, CO, in April of 1999. This was when anyone with a serious mental issue learned that if they wanted to make a grand statement of their pain, and become famous doing it, CNN et al would help them out.
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin wants people to "wake up" and recognize that school shootings are a "cultural problem." He said, "As a nation, we want so quickly to find some solution ... but culturally, we are feeding this epidemic." Bevin was responding to a school shooting in his own state, and fought to keep the media from sensationalizing the event.
Who doesn’t want our communities and schools to be safer from these kind of tragic events? Left or right politically, we both want the same thing, but we disagree strongly on where the problem lies. Media sensationalism and spectacle are mostly driven by the left, so when it’s focusing on guns being the problem, the left respond accordingly.
To be fair, even though left leaning media, on a global scale, outnumbers the right exponentially, conservative media does the same thing. Their focus is on the battle of protecting our constitutional rights, which in this case don’t just fall on the second amendment, but also on the due process and improper search and seizure clauses.
Engaging in a debate thinking we are going to get them to see our way is a waste of good time and energy and gets nowhere closer to minimizing the problem (we’re never going to “end” the problem, as some folks advocate, that is a fantasy). The left sees no alternative other than to go after the gun, and will accept nothing less. The constitutional fight may win the early battles, for the time being, but our culture war goes on and people will get killed regardless of who wins.
Increased safety and security are the only programs that can minimize the problems without affecting our constitutional rights. There is data out there to prove this and it is already effective. There are current examples of this, case in point: the Sutherland Springs church shooting in Texas.
Evidence has shown that the perpetrator entered the church a week before the shooting. If he would have noticed armed security, or even some kind of watchman outside the church, it is reasonable to believe he wouldn’t have returned to this church to engage in his atrocious act.
The same could be said for schools. If a student has to go through metal detectors and guards before entering the school, he knows he is not going to be able to take a gun inside the school and carry out his planned attack.
Yes, it’s sad that we have to do this, but it is the times that we are living in. And it’s a better solution than throwing our constitution in the garbage and bowing to the leftist elite via the media spectacle.
We don’t have to wait for legislation or the winning of a debate to begin this process. It is done on a personal and community level (home, church, schools, etc.), and just requires being proactive. This is where safety and training come in.
Not long ago I took a Carry and Conceal Weapons (CCW) course, which is a prerequisite to applying for a CCW permit through your county sheriff’s office. In this class, which consisted of about 50 students, there were two young women who had just graduated from college and started teaching at elementary schools in the Kansas City, Missouri area.
Each of these women were advocating for permission to carry inside their classroom. They had committed to getting the required licensing and training in order to ensure proper security for the students and themselves. Though they didn’t believe they would be successful in getting this permission, they proceeded with the training to ensure they knew what they were doing.
Ninety-five percent of the CCW course is classroom learning, and very important information to know, then lastly the shooting of 50 rounds at a target in a range. Each of these ladies had a Glock .9 mm handgun inside a case, and neither of them had ever fired it before. They had no idea how to load the magazines, chamber a round, or even where the safety lever was located.
The course instructor, Matt Canovi from Canovi and Associates, gave these ladies the proper attention, patience, and instruction needed to get them acquainted with their firearm. He was also very honest with them, and the other class members, that just the CCW course was not enough. They MUST get additional training and time at the range to be comfortable using the firearm in the event of an active shooter situation.
These young ladies, as well as the other class members, took that first step in making themselves and people around them safer. They don’t have to listen to the debates, and they don’t have to follow the media spectacle, all they have to do is move forward. It’s something we all can do.
I will paraphrase the teachings of Matt Canovi by saying this: the bad guy is a coward and he’s always going to look for the weakest of victims to carry out his act. We don’t hear about the foiled attacks, because they don’t follow the media spectacle guidelines.
The foiled attacks are the ones where the bad guy met a good guy with a gun. Whether it be for your home, your workplace, your church, or anyplace in your community where you deem it important enough to protect, get the training and don’t be a victim. Don’t risk being a statistic. Don’t risk being a part of the media spectacle.