FB friend R.W. posted this:
A.G.: Everyone in Israel serves in the military, so has military training with these weapons. To suggest giving our school teachers assault rifles to go with their teaching credential is unfortunately ludacris.
B.W.: I could see this if we were at war with Canada............
R.W.: First of all. I'm not sure this is an "ASSAULT Rifle" Second, there are many in the teaching profession that have fire arm training, either through Military service or law enforcement, and to say there should be NO protection for our children is ludacris, evidenced by the number of defenseless children gunned down in the past couple decades.
Me: Ludicrous, by the way. Which it's not at all. What's ludicrous is the idea that a armed, disturbed person can enter a gun-free zone with impunity and murder people, with no one to stop him.
A.G.: Of course the kids need protecting. But to even compare Israel to the US is ridiculis. ;) We need different solutions here. This photo poorly attempts to simplify a very complicated problem, which is an insult to our intelligence and turns a blind eye to an array of other critical factors.
Me: Why is the comparison ridiculous? And why do you expect a single picture to adequately express the nuances of the issue?
A.G.: Israel is a country in a constant state of war, surrounded by hostiles, with it's entire citizenry enlisted in mandatory military service. To show this photo and say "See? We should be like Israel and have all our teachers pack assault rifles!" is like showing a a photo of swiss cheese and saying "See? The Swiss don't have school shootings - it must be the cheese!". I don't expect a single picture to adequately represent the nuances of the issue - unless it posted with that intention. Otherwise, why post it. There are too many ways our culture and Israel's differ to even bother listing here. They completely eradicate any possible veracity of this photo's intended message.
Me: The picture shows someone carrying a firearm, for the purpose of... protecting school children in a potentially dangerous environment. The picture makes a correlation with our situation, which is that a teacher carrying a firearm might be able to... protect school children in a potentially dangerous environment. Mentioning swiss cheese and the Swiss is like comparing driving a car with sleeping.
So there's a plethora of unstated reasons? Could you state one or two?
A.G.: Rich - c'mon...you strike me as an intelligent fellow. I don't believe you didn't follow the swiss cheese analogy. Second, I already gave you three examples of how one can't compare Israel and the US when it comes to this issue. You can address those (incredibly significant ones) first before I call in the plethora.
Me: Your response is puzzling. You invented an irrelevant analogy, which supplied us with no insight and said nothing at all about the matter at hand. I did note your examples, but again they do not come to bear on the issue.
The choices made by a government as far as military service or the way it responds to its enemies or what its state of war are not relevant. America is constantly at war, it is surrounded by enemies, it has a standing army, navy, air force, and marines. Much of our citizenry served, and many citizens carry arms. None of this matters. The issue is not war or government, it is the fact that a disturbed individual murdered people and what things might have averted the tragedy.
Now you will note that I respond directly to your points, and I expect the same courtesy.
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