According to a recent statewide poll by EPIC-MRA (a Lansing polling firm) Michigan voters would like the luxury of not having to worry about people walking around their schools with firearms. Not to be picky, but I don’t really think that’s all that much to ask for. If anything, it’s weird that it was ever okay to do so.
Growing up in a rural area, I never really had to worry about gun violence in my school. To be fair, I did have to worry about wads of chewing tobacco dislodging themselves from the ceiling and landing on my person or possessions, but at least my campus was gun-free. I’m not kidding about that, by the way.
Before any of you start, I’ve never really held to the old adage of “the only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun,” partly because you could stop an armed intruder with everything from a baseball bat to an improperly marked wet floor, depending on the situation, and partly because most shooters are very inaccurate under pressure.
Just to be clear, if an armed intruder is in a school the odds of someone who can openly carry their firearm and has said firearm on them in a situation where they could prevent a tragedy, are minuscule. In fact, I’m willing to bet that it’s astronomically more likely that someone with a firearm in a school would do something reckless with their firearm and accidentally maim or kill someone.
Not that facts or human cost will change a pro-gun nut’s mind of course. If that were the case people like Ted Cruz wouldn’t use tragedies like Sandy Hook to appease their NRA overlords.
Due to the overwhelming support of the issue, open and concealed carry are both likely to be banned on school campuses in Michigan. Hopefully, this attitude will kick off similar action across the country. It probably won’t, but we can all hope.
Image provided by Elvert Barnes via Flickr, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial license.
