Lessons to be learned from Blacksburg

Like most people, perhaps, when the full horror of the Blacksburg massacre was revealed, among my first thoughts was, “If this guy had not had access to firearms, this wouldn’t have happened.” But then, unlike most people, I kept thinking about it. A hundred years ago, fifty years ago, guns like the ones he used were available – far more available, in fact, than they are now. Yet, this sort of thing simply didn’t happen. It just didn’t. So there has to be some other primary cause.

As I watched Fox News yesterday, I heard a report about the shooter mentioning that he'd left behind a letter in which he blamed “rich kids, debauchery and deceitful charlatans”. He finished his letter by stating, “You made me do this.”

There it was - right there. That was my answer. “You made me do this.” That's it. That is everything we need to know in a nutshell. That is what is different today. One hundred or even fifty years ago, people took responsibility for themselves and their lives and situations. It was their duty to improve their situations if they didn’t like them. If they didn’t take responsibility, then their neighbors or the state forced them to take responsibility. Over the course of the last 75 years, in a laudable effort to "help" people, we have systematically removed the necessity for people to take responsibility for themselves. Indeed, our nation has soothingly whispered in the ears of all of us, “there, there – it’s not your fault.” If something is wrong in our lives today, it is “somebody else’s fault”. But here’s the problem: even if whatever is wrong in your life is actually somebody else’s fault, it’s still your responsibility to fix it! We have created a nationwide culture of entitlement – and when that to which we are entitled (defined by television and popular music, of course) is not delivered to us in a timely fashion, we fall back into the concomitant culture of victimhood. “I didn’t get accepted to Harvard, someone is to blame.” “I am entitled to be popular and a great writer. Since I’m not – someone (else) is to blame.” And of course, right after that last utterance comes, “…and someone will pay.”

Ours is a sick society. But what do we want to do? Ban guns. That’s like throwing away the thermometer because it’s told you you’re sick. It won't make you better, but, at least there's no more proof of how sick you are.

It is already commonly understood that short of banning the private ownership of handguns – and confiscating all of the ones already in private hands (an impossible task) – there is no way to prevent this sort of thing in future. Thus, since we seem hell bent on ignoring the sickness in our society, the only decent and fair thing to do is to let potential victims defend themselves. But, what does it say about a culture and society that has to arm its children to go to school?

Oh, shit.

Some lunatic, piece of excrement has killed over 20 people in Virginia at Virginia Tech University.

There is no way to adequately address this until all the facts are known and people are able to regain control of their emotions.

But, if history is any guide, it seems clear that a MAJOR legislative assault on our right to self-defense will be one result of this atrocity.

I just don't understand.

100 years ago we had a lot more guns, per capita, a far lower standard of living, far greater poverty - than we do today, but we didn't have this kind of mass murder. I do not believe it is the case that we're just seeing this sort of thing reported more today than in past. I am convinced that it is happening more today than it did in past generations.

I don't know what's happened, but, America has changed. Her people have changed. Perhaps it is the case that today, in 2007 America, the majority of people are not capable of responsibly exercising their right to keep and bear arms. Even 50 years ago, if you felt wronged, you'd challenge those who wronged you - or you'd suck it up like a man and move on. 50 years ago, people did not indiscriminately kill 5, 10, 20 people because they got dumped by their girlfriend or they got fired from their job. At worst, they'd direct their rage at the one person perceived to be the source of their trouble. Not today. There are lots of theories, but nobody really knows why people today are so quick to resort to lethal violence or to do it in such a wide-spread fashion.

I just don't understand it.

230 years ago firearms were necessary to provide food for the table - and for defending one's rights against an overreaching government in London. 130 years ago firearms were still necessary to provide food for many people and they were necessary to defend oneself against outlaws and savages. They were considered tools; in fact, the most common place to buy a gun 100 years ago was in a hardware store. Today, it seems that they are necessary only to defend oneself against criminals and lunatics - and it is argued that if guns were properly "controlled", then those two groups wouldn't be dangerous enough to require their possession by the masses - and we'd all be perfectly safe. Some argue that they still are necessary to defend against an overreaching government - this time in Washington, D.C. - but that is an argument for another time.

It is completely true that if this mad scumbag hadn't been able to get a weapon, many now dead would still be alive. But it is also true that if just one of his victims had been armed, this might have been stopped before anyone died. When you boil it down, the end analysis is this: either nobody should be allowed to have weapons, or everyone (barring criminals and the mentally ill) should be allowed them. But, here's the rub: If you say that none may have them, unless you can get rid of every last one of them, the criminals and the mentally ill will still find them - and the "good" people will have no means of defense. Unless you can be absolutely certain that you can get rid of every last one of them, you cannot prevent another incident like today's.

The bottom line seems to be: what happened today is a matter of behavior - and thus, human nature. Despite our material progress, human nature has not changed in the last 10,000 years to the point where we can all get along without some of us resorting to violence. It seems plain to me then, that we are going to have to remain armed until America - or humanity itself - begins again to change for the better. We need to understand what it is about our society that creates the kind of violent rage in people which manifests itself in a Columbine, a U of Texas - and now a Virginia Tech.

My heart and my prayers go out to those - and the families of those - who today died or were wounded.

Bill Providing for the creation of a firearms registry introduced in Pennsylvania Legislature

While widely attributed, it is most often Mark Twain who is credited with this pity observation:

“No man’s life, liberty or property is safe while the legislature is in session.”

While Pennsylvania, more than most states, retains its remembrance of Liberty, the current carnage in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh are testing the common sense of our elected officials. Several of them have introduced a bill which would create a registry of all firearms in the Commonwealth. With history as a guide, it is quite clear where this is headed.

As a purely academic and theoretical proposition, I'd like to see what would happen if this registration bill passes.

My guess is that you would see, right here in Pennsylvania - the cradle of Liberty, the first stirrings of a popular uprising against the authoritarian socialist welfare state that the United States has become.

There would be mass non-compliance and the government of the Commonwealth would have the choice of either using serious force to get its way - or backing down and repealing the law. Besides bombarding state legislators with demands for its repeal, other tactics might include refusing to pay state income tax - and hope that enough joined in to throw Harrisburg into shock; then we might refuse to register our cars - maybe even take the license plates off. I'd toss away all government ID and if asked, tell whoever asked me for it that I refuse to use it. Again, if enough of us did this, the powers that be would be overwhelmed and wouldn't be able to respond.

As a practical matter, even if the law was eventually repealed, some of us would be prosecuted - and they'd want to make examples of those that they caught. It would be bad for some of us - for a while. People would get run over by the government and many would go to jail or worse before we reasserted our rights.

We would have to use the strategies given us by Gandhi and refined by King. As soon as we started shooting – no matter how righteous our cause - we’d be written off by the rest of the country and the state could use all the force it wanted with the blessing of the people. Of course, if THEY started shooting first, well, then….

When, periodically, I re-read our Declaration of Independence, I am struck by the fact that the "injuries and usurpations" committed by the government of His Majesty King George III against the colonists in 1776 utterly pale next to those done to us daily by our own freely elected government in 2007. And I lament that I, seemingly, have not the fortitude which my ancestors showed in standing up to this repeated abuse – and crying, “No more!”

America is at a crossroads.

As Mr. Lincoln told us, “A house divided against itself cannot stand. I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved -- I do not expect the house to fall -- but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.”

If you think, as many of our “citizens” today do, that living under an all-powerful federal government which can tell you not to smoke, not to eat trans fats, to not say certain words, or say anything which may offend someone, that takes your hard earned money from you before you even see it so that it can give it back to you when you turn 65 at less than 2% interest, that countenances the abrogation of property rights, that tells you to your face that it can use your money more wisely than you can, that tells you that you may not engage in your chosen profession without its approval and, finally, that tells you that you have not the right to an instrument by which you may effectively defend your property and your life - is not slavery, then yours is indeed a mean and craven existence.

Either we will reclaim our liberties, or we will become like China – outwardly prosperous, but hollow inside.

There are none now who remember, personally, the bravery and faith which our founders demonstrated, but we can remember that student who stood in front of the tank in Tiananmen Square in 1989 and those who stood up to the storm troopers in Gdansk in 1979 and those who fought against overwhelming odds against the Soviets in Afghanistan throughout the 80s. Ours is no less a revolution than that which occurred in 1917 – and like that one it has to be continually fought. People of the West today don’t remember, or never knew that for the vast majority of history, the normal state of human affairs is one of subjugation, brutality and misery.

Stalin enslaved, tortured and killed more people than Hitler ever dreamt of – but he gets a free pass from the intellectual left today. Why? Because he was trying to help. He was trying to make everybody equal. That’s all that matters to these people. And “these people” are currently running our country. Believe it. Unfortunately, for us, they are smart enough to know that they have to take away our liberties and freedoms slowly, imperceptibly, incrementally, daily chipping away at the foundations of our liberties so that when they've all been taken away, we won't even notice. Sadly, it's not a matter of 'Where will we draw the line?' but do we realize that the line has to be drawn? At what point will we say, "Enough!" when we don't even know what's happening?

"We must hang together, gentlemen...else, we shall most assuredly hang separately." Thanks for the reminder, Ben. Are there any today who could do what you did?

Maybe, if this bill becomes law, it will be enough to convince people that they've lost much and - God willing - they'll want it back. Perhaps it will start here in Pennsylvania. The second American Revolution. But first we'll have to shake ourselves out of our funk. Clear our heads of the soft, soothing, sweet and melodious strains of the Nanny State's lullaby. I am not at all certain of the outcome. But I know this much, I won't be around to see the curtain come down on Liberty in Pennsylvania. In the immortal words of Davey Crockett, "You may all go to hell, I will go to Texas."

Philadelphia, we're #1!

Well, we're over 100 killings for the year. And it's barely April! My guess: 450 for the year. $10 to whoever guesses closest without going over.

If this city truly wants to solve this problem, then it needs to do a few things: 1. Convince black males between the ages of 15 and 25 that killing people is not OK - or 2. Give these young males something better to do than act out the lyrics of rap songs. That means create economic opportunity in Philadelphia. THAT means make Philadelphia an attractive place for small and mid-size businesses. THAT means repeal the business privilege tax and eliminate the wage tax. THAT means eliminate the hurdles and red tape that a business in Philadelphia faces and reform the L&I so people can get stuff done without years of aggravation. THAT means doing whatever we have to do to see to it that those coming out of our schools at 18 can read and add up a column of numbers. THAT means break the unions that won’t permit the changes necessary to our educational system and generally make Philadelphia an unpleasant and overly expensive place to do business. None of this will be easy, which is why people of the caliber of John Street much prefer to point at Harrisburg and D.C. and blame them for their own weakness.

We've let the Democrat/Socialists have their way here for well over fifty years - it's time we had some adult supervision. Since the word "Republican" is so anethema to so many people in this city, perhaps a Libertarian should step up and try running things.

When pigs fly, right?