...In other news, Holy Shit! It's legal to carry on college campuses in Utah! http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/02/20/cnnu.guns/index.html?iref=mpstoryview
Well maybe the next time some killer goes batshit crazy he'll take out his anger by shouting dirty words, or punching all his classmates to death - but I'm guessing they'll use guns instead. The students and teachers aren't carrying guns to solve "everyday problems".....they're self defense for a nutjob that could snap. I don't blame those carrying at all.
People will still die but the killer will be killed by a student. But that student will be shot by another student who thought HE was the crazed killer. Then the cops show up and shoot everyone with a gun out.
What you'll wind up with is a deranged loon who pops one or two people before a properly prepared citizen double-taps him into the next life, instead of a deranged loon who kills 5, 10, 20 people before offing himself.
Properly prepared citizen will still be taken into custody. And he better hope that there are witnesses willing to testify on his behalf. Lets hope properly prepared citizen has good aim.
At least there'll be no worries about them being under the influence. What? My other reply was going to be "in Utah, 'Flow would be even safer--all his wives would be packing."
Not under the influence of alcohol, but guess which state has the highest rate of anti-depressant use per capita?
OPTION 1: Everyone in the world agrees to respect and love one another, and to work out their differences in a civilized manner. Also, the mentally imbalanced will be identified early and given the prompt treatment and compassion they deserve. Humanity enters a new era of universal brotherhood, er, siblinghood. OPTION 2: The status quo. The vast majority of the time, things are okay. But every now and again, a deranged psychopath walks onto a campus and slaughters students wholesale while they cower under desks waiting for help that won't arrive in time. The cops will probably arrive in about 3 minutes, presuming they even enter the building right away; that's about 2:58 too late. OPTION 3: A few well-attested and responsible individuals carry concealed firearms. When the psycho from Option 2 shows up, he is dealt with as befitting a psycho. Presence of guns in schools will occasionally lead to misunderstandings, perhaps a fatal accident or two, but students will not be led like lambs to the slaughter when the psychos show up. Clearly, Option 1 is not going to happen, so let's forget about that. Option 2 works most of the time, but when it fails, it fails big. Option 3 worries some people, but their societal programming may be overcome with statistics showing that carrying of concealed weapons--something that people in 36 or so states of the Union have the right to do--has never led to the bloodbath the gun-grabbers always proclaim. I like Option 3. I'd rather live with the increased risk of an accident than with the possibility of being slaughtered without a fight. I'm sure there were students at Virginia Tech, cowering under their desks, desperately praying that the good guys would bring their guns and stop the madman. It's too bad none of the good guys cowering under nearby desks could've brought theirs...
I've by no means got a huge sample to work from, but based on the seven or eight Mormons I've known reasonably well, my impression is that they're disturbingly upright people. I see no reason to expect they'd be any less capable or responsible with a firearm than anyone else.
It's the high incidence of antidepressant use I'm thinking about, coupled with any religionist's belief that there's a better life waiting on the other side. Not saying it would lead to a greater *or* lesser propensity for "oopses," just find it intriguing.
Mormons, like most judeo-christian sects, believe suicide to be a sin. So you're left with the deranged individual "religionist waiting for a better life on the other side" to go nuts with a firearm, same as the non-"religionists". Nice try at a troll, tho.
I've often heard the claim that people who have a religious belief in a next life don't care about this one, but it seems to me it's usually just the reverse: people who believe in a next life behave BETTER in this one because their beliefs usually couple entering that afterlife with moral living in this one. I wonder how their driving record compares?
It would be interesting to compare it to another state with similar climate, topography and spread out population.
It's funny how they try to rationalize it: http://www.deseretnews.com/dn/view/0,1249,640196840,00.html
