You know our Founding Fathers had a lot of flaws, but they did understand human nature quite well. Perhaps their own flaws gave them insight as to what men might do, given the means and the opportunity.
Back in the 1700’s they witnessed first-hand what men would do given the opportunity and they came up with a plan to prevent anyone from killing their children wantonly.
They decided it was best if they would have armed guards in schools, just in case an enemy decided to strike at a soft target instead of a military one. To accomplish this defense would not be easy so they devised this scheme in order to make it easy to guard schools and at the same time prepare young men for violence.
To start with, they encouraged all young men to learn to use a gun at an early age, perhaps as early as 12 or 13. In this way, guns would not be feared when they got older, and each man knew how to use a gun well, and would learn to shoot at an early age. The American frontier was a dangerous place, filled wild animals and hostile natives. It was important that a young man learn to defend himself and prepare for the rigors of life, so each father took their sons out and taught them to shoot.
A long gun would be in each home for self-defense. They also decided that the same gun could be used in time of national crisis—when enemies arrived either by overland crossing or by landing at the docks, a herald was sent by horseback from town to town warning those that were equipped with it to be ready in a minutes notice. They were called “Minutemen” and would fill in as a stopgap until the colonial army could arrive.
Furthermore, teachers had the ability to carry guns. In the early days of American life, women learned to shoot as well, or at least had the rudimentary skill at firing a weapon. Schoolhouses, even in some of the bigger cities, were places where a shotgun or rifle would be found leaning in the corner and were commonplace. The teacher was often the only one in town with the kids while the men were out hunting, so it was important that they knew how to use a gun, and could fire it with some skill.
This was a great plan, it was easy, efficient and cheap to implement. Moreover, our kids were safe and the plan allowed for a supplementary defense force to the regular army. They didn’t have a standing police force in those days, so it was a plan that allowed also for prevention of crime and malicious behavior.
The greatest thing about the plan is that it reduced the need for standing forces like police and armies. The Founders believed that these types of forces could be used against a population as much as it could an enemy. Thus without a pressing need for police and armies, you did not have a need for heavy taxation, and what taxes you did collect could be used for things like public works, roads and bridges. This also expanded the economy, and made people wealthy.
What was this great plan, one we abandoned for the most part years ago?
It was called the 2nd Amendment, the right to keep and bear arms. We even put it in writing so that future generations would understand its importance.
So the next time someone suggests that we hire guards for schools, tell them that we have them already in America, thank you very much. We can defend ourselves.
