The C word has now been said

Politicians, in general, aren't renowned for their ability to look at the big picture.

don't underestimate them. Its looking at the big picture that enables them to stay rich and powerful in the Global Marketplace and this country is very rich and very powerful and its in the interests of both sides - Republicans and Democrats that it stays like it and nothing gets in the way of that
Its also why they often lose sight of the smaller detail - the likes of us mere mortals, we are just insignificant little ants in the greater scheme of things
What seems big to us is like a splash in the ocean to these people.

This is one MN school's response to Sandy Hook:

Minnesota school is first in nation to let police move in - Kearney Hub: National

I think it's a pretty interesting idea and *could* have the added benefit of improving the relationship between cops and kids.


I'm going to add my vote to the people who live in relatively remote areas (we live close to the Twin Cities, but are a rural community) that believe that part of the reason we have so little crime is all the meth heads and other criminals know better then to break into someone's house because everyone is armed out this way. We have a pretty big problem with meth out in this area (use and manufacture) due in part to the decent amount of old farmhouses or little out of the way fields/swamps/woods. Do all of these dirtbags have guns? No. In fact a decent amount of them probably don't have guns, but if you've ever encountered a strung out meth head in a rage you'll agree that it's not something you want to face with your bare hands or even a double barrel shotgun. Don't even get me started on the comments about double barrel shotguns, I'll keep my M2 thankyouverymuch.

Are police an option? Not in particular, considering I highly doubt one could get to my parent's house in under 30 minutes. A lot of damage can be done in a half hour. In our particular experience the police have been less than helpful even when our family was being harassed by these psychos regularly and there was plenty of evidence to prove it. You'll have to forgive me if I'm unwilling to rely on them to protect me in the event of a break in. Even if they don't have guns, I'm not anywhere near the strength or skill to protect myself from one of those people. Should I lock myself in a room and hope they decide that a little rape won't finish off the night on a high note? I'm really happy that you guys don't have issues like this in the UK and other civilized areas of the world, but I'd rather protect myself than rely on the police to make it on time.

Too late to edit.

I wanted to add that I am planning a solo driving trip halfway across the country this year. I am a single woman, relatively young (not an old bat by any means, even if my niece likes to make jokes about it), fairly attractive, and not terribly muscular or intimidating looking (5'9" and 140lbs). Am I genuinely worried that I'm going to get raped, robbed, beaten, and murdered? No, if I was I'd be a fool to take the trip. However, there is always a chance that you will encounter a situation where someone decides you're a good target. It's an unfortunate reality that there are bad people out there. So I'm taking self defense classes, applied for and received my permit to carry, will be training with my gun not only in shooting, but also in retention and how to get it back if necessary. It's not about being paranoid, it's about being prepared to protect yourself if necessary. Since the government isn't going to pay someone to follow me around and make sure I'm safe, I figure I should probably be prepared to take care of myself. Hell not sure if I want someone following me around all the time, they'd probably think I was crazy with all the time I spend discussing topics like this.

ETA - AGAIN I will note that I'm not even worried about these people necessarily being armed. Either which way, they are probably bigger, stronger, more aggressive, and don't have many compunctions about hurting someone to get what they want. If they happen to be armed, well that's where all my practice comes in.