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In Littleton, Colorado, yesterday afternoon, a convicted felon and lunatic opened fire with a bolt-action rifle on children leaving a middle school. He shot two students, one of whom was reported to be in critical condition. A teacher who was on parking lot detail tackled the shooter and held him with the assistance of other teachers until police arrived.

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- Jim

Right attitude produces good results. This teacher is a HERO!

Very brave, good for the teacher.

While unarmed, this teacher did a lot of things we can learn from.

First, he had thought about what he would do in this kind of situation and had decided he would attack the BG and not let the kids get hurt.

Second, he maintained good situational awareness, seeing the gunman quickly recognizing the situation, even recognizing that the gunman had a bolt action that took more time to work than an automatic would.

Finally he attacked the gunman as quickly as he could, immobilizing him until others came to help.

Lessons for all of us.

There are more lessons to be learned than just what the teacher did. I commend him for his brave actions, but this could have been a whole lot worse. Suppose the gunman had a semi-auto/multiple firearms? Suppose there were more than one gunman as in the columbine massacre? LUCKILY, he only brought a bolt action rifle which allowed Dr. Benke enough time between shots to tackle him.
When are people going to put their fears of firearms behind them and accept the fact that firearms in the hands of responsible citizens WILL save lives? I hate to say it, but in any of the other situations listed above Dr. Benkes efforts would have been futile and most likely cost him his life.

I know, just preaching to the choir.

OK folks, I am feeling like a dinosaur and I am going to give you an idea of how old I am.

Concerning Columbine and all the other school shootings, my father gave me a 20 Ga. when I was 12 years old, taught me gun safety and took me hunting with him.
The gun was in an unlocked closet and the shells were on the shelf. It never even once occurred to me to take the gun to school and use it on bullies or anyone else. When I was growing up you never heard of a student taking a gun to school and shooting classmates and teachers.

We watched a lot of children’s westerns where all the good guys carried guns and used them when needed. Each one though showed the good guys using violence only as a last resortfor self defence.

Today’s shows teach children that violence is permissible for revenge.

I don’t know what to say.

By the way, I tell people my social security number is "2".

As a side not, the guy is a Texan!

VoiceofReason wrote:Today’s shows teach children that violence is permissible for revenge.

If TV or video games "made" kids shoot up schools, it would happen once a day, not once a year.

I think the cause is a combination of negligent child rearing -- mostly absentee fathers -- and mental illness in many cases.

The shooter in this case was not a kid. He was a convicted felon and most likely mentally ill.

- Jim

seamusTX wrote:

VoiceofReason wrote:Today’s shows teach children that violence is permissible for revenge.

If TV or video games "made" kids shoot up schools, it would happen once a day, not once a year.

I think the cause is a combination of negligent child rearing -- mostly absentee fathers -- and mental illness in many cases.

The shooter in this case was not a kid. He was a convicted felon and most likely mentally ill.

- Jim

My comment was aimed at other school shootings by students, not this particular man.

I did not say that present movies “made” children do anything and I didn’t even mention video games.

I agree with you that the majority of the problems with kids are caused by poor parenting. But I believe to deny that what children see on TV and movies, has some effect on them, would be “burying ones head in the sand” and refusing to see the facts.

VoiceofReason wrote:But I believe to deny that what children see on TV and movies, has some effect on them, would be “burying ones head in the sand” and refusing to see the facts.

The movies and TV available to kids have some effect, all right. They probably contribute to poor educational achievement and sexual promiscuity.

It is not a fact that TV and movies contribute to school violence. It is a proposition that has been studied and debated for years. No one can separate out the effects of divorce, absentee fathers, lack of other male role models (formerly supplied by relatives, pastors, etc.), decreased church attendance, increased use of alcohol and illegal drugs at earlier ages, contact with older gang members, etc.

- Jim