We Live In Fear

I used to chuckle at the people who recommended that everyone be required to bear arms.
Now I cringe.
We are no longer a tolerant society, and I am not referring either to religion or race.
We are not tolerant in general. Zero tolerance is the rule now.
A boy writes a short story that a teacher finds frightening, and the boy is shipped off to a psychiatric hospital.
A kindergarten student is suspended for sexual assault. Yes, you heard that right. He touched her underpants. Lucky for him it was a girl - who knows what they might have accused him of it he'd touched a boy's undies.
People are going mad over cartoons. Religious leaders order assassinations - both Muslim and Christian.

And someone wants to arm these whackos?

We live in fear.
We are afraid our kids are going to shoot, that our beliefs can be destroyed, that our civilization will crumble.
We see terrorists under every bed. (Guess the communists have moved out.)
More than we ever did in the Fifties, we live under the Sword of Damocles, certain that doom is a day away, and that there is nothing we can do but decisively crush any threat, or possible threat.
We steer away from dark alleys, stick to our "own kind", and cling to the belief that only brute force can get out of this situation. That's why we want guns. We think that with a gun in each hand, we can get them before they get us. Like Rambo.
Unfortunately, our enemies are not coming after us with AK-47s any more. Rambo didn't have to deal with an enemy that planted a nuke in the city he was in, or released a toxin into the water he drinks. These, you see, are not enemies you can handle with a machine gun.

It's not the Wild West anymore. We no longer live in a world where a fast draw and a 44 can keep you alive, anymore than we live in a world where a rapier and some swordmanship will suffice. It is a new world, and we need a new defense.