When I was a substitute teacher at the Sherburne-Earlville Elementary School, I heard all the common arguments often associated with kids just being kids. I heard all the complaints, everything from “Johnny took my pencil,” and “she keeps touching me,” to the less expected “you’re doing things wrong. That’s not how Mrs. Smith does it.” Really? How many ways are there to change the date on the blackboard, kid?
I also saw that nothing – be it a toy, book, marker, empty swing, a place on the rug during reading time, etc. – was ever so badly wanted by a child as when someone else had it first, or worse, if I threatened to take it away simply because they’re not cooperating or following classroom rules.
Unfortunately, a lot of the same kind of behavior can be seen in Colorado, where after the horrific events of last Friday’s shooting, gun sales spiked in the days that followed – by almost 25 percent over an average weekend period – as people scrambled to buy firearms before new gun legislation, or current laws, are amended that might deny people the privilege of gun ownership. It’s the “I didn’t want it until you told me I couldn’t have it” mentality for many, and it’s certainly not the first time it’s happened. Gun sales also picked up nationwide after President Obama was elected in 2008 out of fear that the Democrat might tighten gun laws; and again in 2011, following the shooting in Arizona that left six dead and Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords in intensive care.
Speaking from a personal perspective, this attitude’s just a bit unsettling. Sure, some are saying they just want a gun to defend themselves, but if everyone has a gun for their own defense, how is it making the world a safer, less scary place? If anything, I would think that senseless shootings and fatal tragedy would discourage one from ever wanting to hold, see, touch, or hear a gun, let alone own one. Unfortunately, as the upright, civilized, freedom-fighting citizens we are, we like to take advantage of personal and constitutional rights – such as our right to gun ownership – and as soon as one right is threatened, we appreciate that right even more (and I use the word “appreciate” loosely in this case. We appreciate the crap out of it).
