Riffing on school shootings

Or: Smart stuff for students

Some *expletive* walks into a one-room Amish schoolhouse, kicks the teachers and boys out, zipties the girls, and shoots 5 of them in the head before eating his own pistol.

According to his notes, he picked the Amish schoolhouse because he knew he wouldn't face any resistance from the inhabitants (apparently victimhood is Godly to them or something) and because there weren't any police in the community.

As Lawdog http://thelawdogffiles.blogspot.com said, for all the resistance they offered up, he could've walked in with a pliers or a baseball bat and the outcome would've been the same.

Fortunately, the Victim Disarmament gang has kept relatively quiet over all of these murders. The call right now is for better mental health screening at schools. Me personally, I think they're waiting to spring the Victim Disarmament on us as soon as their socialist candidates get voted into office by the Anybody-But-Bush crowd in a little less than 2 months.

As promised a few posts prior, I'm now going to speak on self-defense.

My dad's a highschool chemistry teacher at a public school, and he says the invasion drills they practice are death. Tip the flimsy desks up, cower behind them, turn the lights off, pretend no one's home...never mind the fact that any intruder will KNOW the classroom isn't empty simply because it's the middle of the day. To that end, my dad has decided to turn the "stop or I'll say stop again" drill on it's head. He makes it known to his students that he has access to the chemical closet, and in the unlikely event that there's ever an invasion, anyone coming through the door is getting a beakerful of nitric acid in the face.

THAT, ladies, gentlemen, and assorted transgender beings is taking responsibility.

To return to Lawdog for a moment, he recently had a controversial post to the effect that you and ONLY you can truly be responsible for your safety. You can't be paid off, you're always there, and with the proper mindset, you can never be truly disarmed, only incovenienced.

Principal Klang in southern Wisconsin realized that, and while unarmed, fought an armed intruder to protect himself and his charges, and sacrificed his life so that many more could live.

The Amish in Pennsylvania did not realize that (or if they did, they chose the Godly route of being shot in the head) and so 5 of them died.

The 6 girls held captive in Colorado did not realize that, and they were assaulted, and one of them was killed.

Do NOT depend on anyone else to save you. Only you are responsible for you. To abdicate authority over your life is foolhardy and a burden on everyone else.

Therefore, I propose that if you are a parent, you send your kid to school with a knife. If you are a student, I propose that you buy a knife and carry it with you.

I was going to do a post on my knife eventually, but I might as well do it here.

My fully-serated Spyderco Endura is with me all the time. If I'm alive and awake, it's clipped to the back of my belt, where only the most thorough of patdowns could find it (and even then, probably not, likely only if I was strip-searched). If I'm alive and asleep, it is less than a foot away from my hand. I carry it everywhere I do not expect there to be metal detectors. My employer would fire me if they found out - I carry it anyway. My knife is always with me - I no more consider it a tool than I consider my hand a tool. I can tell you where the discolorations on the handle came from, the mars on the blade. I have beat that knife up and it's still as sharp and reliable as the day I got it.

It is utterly reliable and dependable. I would bet my life on my knife's ability to perform, with as much hesitation as I would (and do, in case of emergency) bet it on my battle-rifle: Specifically, no hesitation at all.

It's not necessary to buy a $400 knife like a Kerambit or a Benchmade butterfly, or a Microtech Halo. It is however necessary to buy a $50-$80 knife. Any full-size knife lower in price, or sold at the mall is probably crap. It should be thin and light enough to carry all day long, and not print in a pocket, and you should be able to forget that it's there. It should have a blade at least 3 inches long, with a handle at least an inch longer than that. Serrations are IMO better than none, but it's a matter of personal preference. It should have a point on the end of it (you laugh, some knives don't have a hardly any point). It should NOT be a switchblade or butterfly knife. You'll have an easier time explaining to Officer Bacon that knife you have in your pocket is a "utility knife" if it's a rather innocent looking folder than if it's a genuine Italian stilleto with "da switch."

(Yes, if you have to, LIE about your knife. To anyone. God/Nature/Other Himself/Herself/Itself gave you the right to carry it. Everyone else's opinion on the topic is secondary, and should only matter to you based on the amount of harm they can inflict on you. Anyone who would prohibit you from defending yourself does not deserve your respect. (Look up L. Neil Smith's excellent Murder By Gun Control for his three adjective diagnosis those who would prevent self defense.))

Similar to what you carry, where you carry it is another concern, and should partially dictate what you carry: If you're a student, like me, there are lots of places to hide a knife on your person. If you're required to maintain a professional appearance (ie shirt tucked in, tie, etc), it'll be a little harder, though behind-the-belt carry like mine would be easy with a suit coat. Think of everywhere BUT the pockets first.

Of equal importance to carrying a knife for defense is knowing how to retreat. Face it, unless you're a captive and can manage to puncture his - the school shooter's (or any shooter's) - anatomy while he's distracted, your knife is of less usefulness than being able to get the heck out of Dodge BEFORE you become a captive. Look at all the exits from whatever building you're in. Try and figure out how to get out through any of them, from anywhere, without attracting attention. Now figure out how to do it in a panic, in the middle of a panic. Back routes are good, and every school has them, especially colleges. Explore. Walk around. Think about it.

Your mind is your only weapon. It is the only tool you can never be deprived of. Use it to keep yourself and others safe. It's the only thing you can depend on.