Suck It Up, You're Not Dead!

On Thursday, another nutjob showed up at Northern Illinois University and killed five students, wounded many more, then saved us from having to deal with his worthless ass by capping himself. End of story. So in the wake of this shooting, the debate on whether conceal and carry permit holders is back in the news. I have no doubt whatsoever that this would be the best way to make our colleges and universities safe. To allow those who are licensed and vetted by the state to carry weapons they are legally allowed to carry will have a clear deterrent value, as well as stopping power when a wacko shows up to put holes in people. So if you're anywhere near college, visit Students for Concealed Carry on Campus and learn.

But theres more to it than just the weapons discussion. It comes down to the psychology of the victim compared to that of the self-reliant.

Before I continue, I do wish to extend my deepest condolences to those who were killed and injured, as well as their friends and families. The situation was truly horrific, and I recognize that it will be a challenge for many people to work through the emotions that overwhelmed them. I want to make that absolutely clear, in light of what I'm going to say next.

I was watching The O'Reilly Factor last night, and Bill had one of the students who was in the classroom at the time the gunman came in on the air. As expected, she looked somewhat shellshocked and still slightly afraid. My reaction was simple, hostile, and a great title: Suck it up. You're not dead. The source of my anger is not with that poor girl personally though. It is with the mentality that far too many people, including the guest that came on next that said the job of stopping the gunman was the job of campus police, have been inculcated with in a sick and systemic way. We have been taught to run, to hide, to be afraid of bad guys and guns and death. It is this sheep mentality that sucks our initiative out of us and turns us into whiny little bitches with targets on our backs. We seem to have forgotten that over the centuries, people either had to rise to the occasion or die. Now, when the shit hits the fan, we fold. Then we whine to someone about the feces that have been flung all over the place by the fan. This has to stop.

One of our greatest weakness as a people is this mentality that violence doesn't solve problems. Whether it be in dealing with some uber-pinhead shooting up a school or a terrorist piece of shit that is using our courts against us, only superior force, or the threat of it, can prevail. In the Cold War, this was "peace through strength," and it worked wonders. And furthermore, we have to stop the victim mentality that pervades our culture. It is absolutely destroying our ability to rise to the challenges in our lives, to such a degree that there is a whole grief counselor industry just waiting for the next damn tragedy.

So my final word is: If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. And if life gives you some crazy bastard shooting at you, do what you must to save yourself and others, preferably by taking out the gunman. I have faith that there are enough people out there that, given the opportunity, would unhesitatingly throw themselves into harms way to stop this kind of thing. Let us give them the means to do so.