After the shooting in Newtown, CT, I noticed on Facebook many people asking that the country have a \u201cconversation\u201d about guns. Now typically, that\u2019s a request for some sort of dialog. However, a few of those asking for that proceeded to immediately disparage anyone who would disagree in the slightest with more restrictive gun laws. That, folks, is a monologue<\/i>, not a dialog. <\/p>\n
To have a dialog, we need to consider all<\/i> possible options. And to do that<\/i>, we need to find out what works. Not just in theory; we need to know what has worked well over a long period of time. And for that, I\u2019d like to look at the history of school shooting deaths in Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIsrael?\u201d, you might say. \u201cWhat can a nation with a population of 8 million tell the US, a nation of 300 million, about gun laws?\u201d What indeed. Let\u2019s look at their history of school shooting deaths. Israel, you will remember, is a nation under siege from all of its neighbors. The entire country is essentially a war zone, which you\u2019d know if you ever tried to fly there. You think we have onerous airport security here? But Israel is fighting for its life, so it has to take many more extraordinary precautions.<\/p>\n In 1974, there was a terrorist attack at an elementary school in Ma\u2019alot<\/a>. Palestinian terrorists took 115 hostages, of which 25 died. Now, British colonial laws were in effect at the time that were designed to keep Jews from owning guns. After Ma’alot, anyone from the Israeli Defense Force (current or former) was allowed to carry a gun anywhere. This included teachers. Field trips always were with armed guard.<\/p>\n So, just the opposite of what\u2019s being called for here happened there. Instead of gun-free zones, guns were around children all the time, especially when they were out and about. The reason was to prevent terrorist attacks, but presumably if it\u2019s expected that this law was to prevent those, then they\u2019d work against any random shooter. And understand that this law didn\u2019t stop Arab hatred. It didn\u2019t cure mental illness of any kind, and certainly not the kind that the Newtown shooter had. It didn\u2019t eliminate evil.<\/p>\n It\u2019s just that now, guns were in school, held by people who had been trained in their use. And for over 30 years, there was not a single death<\/i> in a school shooting in Israel. All this in spite of the fact that some teachers carried guns. Or, you might say, because<\/i> of the fact that some teachers carried guns.<\/p>\n But you write that sentence the way you want. Regardless, draw your own conclusions as to whether it was effective.<\/p>\n Because that\u2019s really what we should be considering when it comes to protecting our children; what is effective. Seeing what happened in Newtown, CT made us feel powerless, and we feel like we must do something<\/i> to try to prevent this from happening again. But let\u2019s do something effective<\/i>. Let\u2019s pass laws, not just with our hearts, but with our heads as well.<\/p>\n A city in the metro Atlanta area, Kennesaw, GA, passed a law in 1982 that all heads of households were to own a firearm<\/a>, except those with mental or physical disabilities. The law is never really enforced, but the fact that it is on the books is enough. The year after the law was passed, Kennesaw\u2019s burglary rate dropped more than 50%. The following year, it dropped another 50%. Oh, and where guns are banned, like Chicago, IL, they had more deaths in 2008 than we had soldiers killed in Iraq that year<\/a>. Just this past New Years Day, 15 people were shot, and 3 were killed<\/a>, in a single incident on the west side of Chicago. Again, draw your own conclusion as to which is more effective.<\/p>\n If gun-free zones make people safer, should we make the White House a gun-free zone? Should VP Joe Biden, who is tasked with working out new gun laws in the wake of Newtown, should he lead by example and disarm his Secret Service detail? No, we protect those who are important to us. We should do no less for our kids. President Obama sends his girls to a school that has an armed security detail, so clearly, he has his own opinion on gun-free schools.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After the shooting in Newtown, CT, I noticed on Facebook many people asking that the country have a \u201cconversation\u201d about guns. Now typically, that\u2019s a request for some sort of dialog. However, a few of those asking for that proceeded to immediately disparage anyone who would disagree in the slightest with more restrictive gun laws. 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