Thoughts on Colorado

Thought one

If you are an opponent of the death penalty, do you oppose what Jeanne Assam did to the church shooter in Colorado?

But Gordon, they are hardly the same thing.

In my mind, they are exactly the same thing. Jeanne Assam was confronted by evil. She didn’t try to figure out why the shooter was evil, she didn’t try to negotiate with evil, she didn’t weigh God’s commandment not to kill, she didn’t wait around for the police to arrived and sort it out, she knew she had to confront evil and manage the situation so more innocent people were not injured or killed.

That’s the same thing as capital punishment. We as a society have a duty to protect the citizenry from evil.

But Gordon, we can put people in prison forever so they won’t hurt people.

Right. Tell that to the family of Robert Valandingham, a guard at Lucasville prison who was killed by a pack of death row inmates.

You can also tell that to other prisoners who are raped and/or injured by these lifers. After all, what are you going to do with them…. Sentence them to life? Lifetime prison makes other prisoners fair game to violence.

Thought two

After the Jeanne Assam shot this murderer, it did give me pause to think about one particular issue.

What if there was an ongoing shoot out when the police arrived, how would the police be able to tell who the bad guy was?

In this case, I’m assuming Ms. Assam had some type of uniform, but that wouldn’t necessarily be the case if she were a public person with a concealed carry permit.

My guess would be the concealed carry person would identify themselves, but they could be at risk of getting shot themselves if police arrived on the scene & saw an armed person shooting.

Thought Three

When are people going to get that good guys with guns are a good thing, not a bad one?

Thought Four

Has anyone noticed that since the University of Cincinnati has banned guns from campus, it’s become open season for criminals to victimize their students. There’s been at least 10 armed robberies of students on or around the campus since the school year began. When will they allow students and faculty to carry guns on campus?

Thought Five

If you own a business with a gun ban sign on it, do you realize how many people you put at risk by declaring you have a business full of defenseless people. When’s the last time someone opened fire in a gun range or a police office? For that matter, a biker bar?

Thought Six

Can you see how Jeanne Assam’s management of this situation is not unlike Bush’s management of terrorism?

People forget that the whole war effort is an effort to confront evil at the door; to confront it before it gets on planes and flies them into buildings. You cannot negotiate with people who want to kill you. You can only take the offensive and stop the threat.

So you can be critical of the Bush Administration on the execution of the war but you can’t fault the rationale. Unless you’re the kind of person who would simply let the Colorado shooter run around a church killing people until the police arrive and arrest him.

Let’s face it, since 9/11, how many US targets have been hit as compared to the time prior to 9/11.

Thought Seven

A long time ago, I heard Dennis Prager discuss the differences between liberals and conservatives and he made a point I will never forget. In a liberal belief system, there is no effective way to confront and manage evil.

Final Thought

I’m sure when Jeanne Assam woke up Sunday morning, she didn’t anticipate shooting and killing someone. Since it appears that she’s a Christian, I’m sure the whole incident will cause much stress to her. She should know that she did a good thing and saved a lot of people’s lives.