Roverron
12-18-2012, 09:01 PM
"Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom."
— John F. Kennedy, 1961
Once again we sit stunned, watching the news coverage of a slaughter committed by an active shooter in Newtown, Connecticut. This time, far different from most school shootings, it was not a current or recent student but an outsider who forced his way in to attack the school. Even worse, this time the monster attacked little children — first graders.
Retired U.S. Army Ranger Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman has predicted such an attack for years and he compares his fictional scenario to the 1974 Ma’alot Massacre, a watershed attack on school children in Israel.
Colonel Grossman describes a worst-case scenario in which the attack is carried out by a terrorist team, similar to the 2004 massacre at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia (Russian Federation).
In Grossman’s worst-case scenario, the American public will demand armed protection for every school and every school bus. Since our police and military resources are already stretched to their limit, would every school in the country close until sufficient protectors are hired and trained?
With so many children out of school for a year or more, how many parents would be forced to quit their jobs to care for their kids? Our already fragile economy would collapse.
Since the attack at the Sandy Hook Elementary School was not committed by a team of terrorists, but by yet another “troubled” young man, the public reaction will be more subdued. But the need to protect groups of innocents from attack by “lone wolf” active shooters has reached a point that demands action.
As a nation, we will argue in the coming months about potential preventions for these mass murders. Some will demand gun bans. Others will blame the mental health system. While our politicians and media point fingers and argue over causes and solutions, we sheepdogs can ignore the rhetoric and establish a system to protect our flock.
As I stated, there are simply too few active police or military personnel (including national guardsmen) to staff every school and every bus long-term. But, by looking back to our nation’s founding, we have a no-cost solution readily available.
We need Minutemen to come forward and guard our lambs. Unfortunately, the noble concept of a militia has been bastardized by right-wing fringe groups adopting that name in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but we must overlook them.
Webster defines a militia as: “an organization of citizens with limited military training who are available for emergency service, usually for local defense.” I suggest we organize Minutemen at the state and local level, using these individuals to put an armed protector (in plain clothes with concealed weapons) in every school and on every bus.
The volunteer Minutemen would be required to train periodically — at least a few days each year. Minutemen would, of course, need to be screened to keep out both those of evil intent and ill-equipped “wannabes.” We already have the perfect screening process in place in every state, the background check system we use to hire police and issue concealed weapon permits.
Minutemen must be exempted from every geographic restriction placed on those who currently carry concealed weapons. Virtually every mass killing in recent memory has occurred in a “gun-free zone.” We must authorize our Minutemen to carry everywhere, especially in gun-free zones.
http://www.policeone.com/active-shooter/articles/6067353-Newtown-shooting-Why-Minutemen-can-protect-against-active-shooters/
— John F. Kennedy, 1961
Once again we sit stunned, watching the news coverage of a slaughter committed by an active shooter in Newtown, Connecticut. This time, far different from most school shootings, it was not a current or recent student but an outsider who forced his way in to attack the school. Even worse, this time the monster attacked little children — first graders.
Retired U.S. Army Ranger Lieutenant Colonel David Grossman has predicted such an attack for years and he compares his fictional scenario to the 1974 Ma’alot Massacre, a watershed attack on school children in Israel.
Colonel Grossman describes a worst-case scenario in which the attack is carried out by a terrorist team, similar to the 2004 massacre at a school in Beslan, North Ossetia (Russian Federation).
In Grossman’s worst-case scenario, the American public will demand armed protection for every school and every school bus. Since our police and military resources are already stretched to their limit, would every school in the country close until sufficient protectors are hired and trained?
With so many children out of school for a year or more, how many parents would be forced to quit their jobs to care for their kids? Our already fragile economy would collapse.
Since the attack at the Sandy Hook Elementary School was not committed by a team of terrorists, but by yet another “troubled” young man, the public reaction will be more subdued. But the need to protect groups of innocents from attack by “lone wolf” active shooters has reached a point that demands action.
As a nation, we will argue in the coming months about potential preventions for these mass murders. Some will demand gun bans. Others will blame the mental health system. While our politicians and media point fingers and argue over causes and solutions, we sheepdogs can ignore the rhetoric and establish a system to protect our flock.
As I stated, there are simply too few active police or military personnel (including national guardsmen) to staff every school and every bus long-term. But, by looking back to our nation’s founding, we have a no-cost solution readily available.
We need Minutemen to come forward and guard our lambs. Unfortunately, the noble concept of a militia has been bastardized by right-wing fringe groups adopting that name in the ‘80s and ‘90s, but we must overlook them.
Webster defines a militia as: “an organization of citizens with limited military training who are available for emergency service, usually for local defense.” I suggest we organize Minutemen at the state and local level, using these individuals to put an armed protector (in plain clothes with concealed weapons) in every school and on every bus.
The volunteer Minutemen would be required to train periodically — at least a few days each year. Minutemen would, of course, need to be screened to keep out both those of evil intent and ill-equipped “wannabes.” We already have the perfect screening process in place in every state, the background check system we use to hire police and issue concealed weapon permits.
Minutemen must be exempted from every geographic restriction placed on those who currently carry concealed weapons. Virtually every mass killing in recent memory has occurred in a “gun-free zone.” We must authorize our Minutemen to carry everywhere, especially in gun-free zones.
http://www.policeone.com/active-shooter/articles/6067353-Newtown-shooting-Why-Minutemen-can-protect-against-active-shooters/