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Statistics
Apr
22
Zero Tolerance-PC run amuck
April 22, 2008 | Tagged guns, schools, Second Amendment, shooting, Zero Tolerance |
A generally ignored area in the debate on the role of firearms in America is the almost universal left wing policy of “Zero Tolerance” of guns or any representation of guns in the nation’s grade schools and high schools. The hard left, which I believe to be in firm control of the public educational system, says that Zero Tolerance is designed to protect students. I think the real agenda is to demonize guns in the minds of young people and to create an atmosphere of fear and loathing that will facilitate more gun “control” when students reach voting age.
From a logical standpoint, firearms’ education and training in the schools would seem to reduce gun accidents and prepare young people for service in the police and the military. Of course, the left, which insists that sex education saves lives, does not believe that gun education would do the same. Go figure! The hard left has often expressed the view that the police are “pigs” and that the military are “baby killers,” so I guess I can understand their desire to discourage young people from any activity that might lead to public service in those areas.
The situation has reached the point where a picture of a gun results in disciplinary action. I heard one story, which I believe to be true, of a boy who was disciplined at school, because he drew a picture of a fort and said that there were weapons inside the structure. The weapons were not even shown in the picture! Scary! Really Scary!
One practical effect of Zero Tolerance is the near destruction of competitive shooting in our high schools. When I went to high school in the 1960’s, I participated in small bore shooting on the ROTC rifle team. As far as I know, no one was accidentally shot, nor did any team member “snap” and wipe out the student body.
In recent years, I am aware of one national-level high school competitive shooter who was forced to call in sick to school to compete in an out of town match. A request to be excused for SHOOTING might have resulted in disciplinary action. (The rifle team in question was not sponsored by the school.)
This month, the NRA-ILA cited a case in North Carolina where a high school principal cancelled his shooting team’s participation in a match ONE DAY before the event. Sixteen young people, who had practiced for months for the state-sponsored tournament were left out in the cold by political correctness. (http://www.nraila.org/Legislation/Federal/Read.aspx?id=3813)
Finally, a student competitor was disciplined for showing a classmate a PICTURE of his highly specialized, heavy, expensive, target rifle. Holy cow! How Dangerous! That picture might have gone off and killed hundreds of students!
We need to confront the left on their mental disconnect regarding firearms’ education in the schools. A basic knowledge of guns is beneficial both to citizen safety and national security.
The only way to eliminate Zero Tolerance is to elect pro-gun, usually Republican, politicians to state and federal offices. It will take legislation to break the left’s grip on the throat of the educational system in this country.
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