School shootings

With the recent school shooting in Florida we seem to have another opportunity for the far left to turn a tragedy into a political battle instead of discussing the steps that could have been taken to prevent this tragedy and those that could prevent the next.

Take, for instance, mental health. That generally is a subject we avoid discussing. The Florida shooter had a long history of anti-social behavior. He was on strong meds. He killed small animals for fun. He was expelled from school. Police visited his home 39 times. The FBI was told that this criminal was planning to be a professional school shooter. None of that made it into the existing, current background check system.

Then there was a Florida sheriff's deputy on duty in the school. It seems he was hiding outside during the shooting. Recent news reports show that the first responders took an inordinate amount of time before entering the building. Not good.

On the chatlist last week a poster suggested repealing the Second Amendment, the one that says the right of the People to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed. The phrase well-regulated does not mean controlled. It means well-practiced, or well-drilled. In colonial America, all able-bodied males were part of the militia during threat of war, and all were expected to own, and be proficient with a firearm.

The Second Amendment is part of the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights does not grant rights, it restricts the government from interfering with rights. The Second Amendment is not about hunting. The Second Amendment is about the defense of the Republic. America was founded by a bunch of insurrectionists, and they wanted to make sure the citizenry retained a military force to guard the Constitution. 262 million people were murdered by their own peacetime governments in the 20th century after being disarmed by their governments. Let us not head down that path in America.

The first amendment covers new technologies like the internet. The fourth amendment includes modern items like cell phones. Likewise, the second amendment updates with new technologies. The second amendment is not restricted to muzzle-loading firearms and swords. That scary-looking AR-15 so-called assalt rifle? It was first available for purchase in the US 57 years ago, and it is not an assault rifle. For true assault rifles one needs look to those used by our military, or perhaps look in the homes of most Swiss males who keep their assault rifles after completing military training.

There is evil in the world. Individuals intent on killing others will always find a means to accomplish that. How do we deal with it? Not by one political party repeatedly calling to restrict our liberties. Lets look at our cultural morals, at our treatment of the mentally ill, at our family values, at the entertainment industry that has no shame, at a drug industry that depends on ever-increasing sales of powerful psychiatric medicines, at a news industry that promotes citizen dissention to generate sales, and at the dwindling numbers of Americans attending weekly church services. Therein lies the true way to minimize future atrocities.

Commissioners spending money

I just finished looking through the latest Chatham County Commissioner's Meeting Agenda for the January 16th meeting. A couple items caught my eye:

First, an organization called Go Global NC seems to be asking for money to send local government officials on a boondoggle to Mexico to participate in an 'in-depth program for economic and workforce development', at a meager cost of just $6,375 per person. Each participant gets nine days in Mexico, including transportation, meals, and 'other expenses'.

Other than that this seems like a nine-day vacation for government officials, the US State Department has just imposed Travel Warnings on Mexico, particularly on the areas around Mexico City (Level 2 - increased caution due to crime) along with five Mexican states who were stamped Do Not Travel (Level 4), similar to Syria and Somalia.

I hope the Commissioners decide not to spend my money on this visit.

Second, in other Commissioner spending, the County is basically giving away the former Henry Siler School in Siler City to a group that will put up low income housing.

Low income housing may or may not be a worthy goal; it has not seemed to work in the long term for as long as governments have been trying it.

My understanding, however, is that a group tried to purchase the former Henry Siler School site (cash money to the County) but that the Commissioners did not like the idea of having someone pay for the land and then try to make a profit on it. If that is not the case, I would be interested in hearing a more complete explanation.