"Zero Tolerance": Invasion of the Brain Snatchers

By Bruce A. Beatty

Marie Morrow, Honors student, Young Marine, and Drill Team Commander at Cherokee Trail High School in Aurora, Colorado, knows how it feels.

So does Jeffery Maxwell, and honorably discharged (I never did like the term "ex") Marine and veteran of the war on terror in Iraq.

And, of all people, suspended Wisconsin schoolteacher Betsy Ramsdale.

All have become the latest victims of the incredibly stupid war on sanity and common sense also known as "Zero Tolerance".

"Zero Tolerance" really came into vogue with the American left after the more than preventable horrific tragedy at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999.

In the aftermath of the murderous rampage committed by two psychopathic, violent video game addicts, laws and policies were put into effect in the name of "safety". As with all other thoughtless, emotion-based, reactionary laws and policies, the unforeseen consequences are bubbling to the surface.

Maria, Jeffery, and Betsy were snagged by the broad net of "gun control" efforts that punish the mere mention of the subject of firearms in/around/near schools. Hello, thought police. In Maria’s case, she was found to have "mock" rifles in her car. These are made of plastic, wood, and duct tape, were never designed to use any type of ammunition (not even caps), and could only be used as a club, if one intended to use these "weapons of war" (a favorite anti-gunner's term) to cause harm.

Jeffery, our combat-tested Marine, was tried in a kangaroo court (and they should have used REAL kangaroos) assembled by Western Oregon University for carrying a concealed handgun on a (gasp!!!) college campus, which is legal under Oregon state law. He was ordered by the Head Marsupial and his fellow hip hoppers (pun intended) to write a "paper" and take a mental health examination before the suspension can be lifted under university "policy". No mention was made as to whether he must attend "Women's Studies 101" or "Physics of the Rubber Spine" (elective).

Betsy, our schoolteacher, committed the unforgivable sin of being caught on camera, on her own time, away from school property, holding a legally owned firearm. What is this world coming to when a schoolteacher will actually touch a firearm? Better keep a sharp eye out for the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse! Wait! That's from the Bible! We can't have that associated with our schools! O Mercy! Now whatever shall we do?!!!!

Under "Zero Tolerance", the Brain Snatchers have suspended or expelled: teenagers for wearing National Rifle Association t-shirts, grade schoolers for drawing pictures with guns in them, and kindergartners for pointing very lethal fingers and even French fries (regular, curly, or the deadly "assault" fry?) and saying "pow, pow, pow." We certainly cannot condone this type of conduct from future mass murderers.

The Brain Snatchers, in their unending quest for Utopia, have a self-prescribed sworn duty to save our society from itself. This will be accomplished by banning any threatening behavior that could lead to death by French fry. Honestly, officers, Little Johnny was absolutely normal until lunch period. Then, with no warning, he pushed his tofu hot dog aside, threw down his chocolate soy milk, picked up the zero transfat French Fry, and, then.....oh, I'm just too upset to speak (sob, sob).

There's just one little problem with "Zero Tolerance." IT DOESN'T WORK. In the relatively rare instances of mass shootings, virtually all have taken place in "Gun Free Safety Zones." Paducah, Kentucky; Jonesboro, Arkansas, Virginia Tech, the shopping mall in Utah (thankfully, there was an armed off-duty cop there, although he was violating mall "policy"); and many other areas all prohibited possession of a firearm or "dangerous weapon". Being a military retiree, it has been my experience that weapons are supposed to be "dangerous".

You can pass all of the "gun control" laws and policies you want, and the results will be the same. Criminals will disregard them, and people, especially law-abiding, disarmed people, will be victimized. In the majority of cases, the perpetrator(s) did not expect to survive, and usually committed suicide.

The way I see things, we can solve, or at least mitigate, this problem in one of two ways: either convince the miscreants to seek help (or at least commit suicide before harming others), or allow trained, fingerprinted, photographed, background-checked, honest, decent, law-abiding adults to carry concealed firearms (you know: the same group of people cops come from). Of all the "gun" laws, ONLY "shall-issue" concealed carry has a proven, successful record of reducing violent crime.

Those who support and/or propose further restrictions upon firearms ownership, carry, and use have been proven wrong so many times, in so many different ways, that only an absolute idiot could believe that more "gun control" is the answer. It is also a symptom of insanity to keep doing the same things over and over and expecting different results. How obtuse can these people be? It is obvious that those areas where severe limits on firearms exist also suffer very high rates of violent, firearms-related crime. Washington, D.C., New York City, New Jersey, Los Angeles (actually, most of urban California), England, Australia, most of Africa, Russia, and more recently, an upsurge in "gun crime" in "Gun Free" Japan and China.

Exactly the opposite is true in places like Kennesaw, Georgia, North Dakota, Vermont, Switzerland, and Israel, although terrorists still commit a great deal of violence there. However, there are many documented cases of armed Israeli citizens permanently ending terrorists' careers. The same holds true here in America regarding criminals versus armed citizens.

This country was founded by very wise men and women who knew firsthand what living under a despotic regime was like. That is why they created the first government on Earth of, by, and for the People. We, with the "help" of what I prefer to call "academia nuts", dishonest politicians, and other Utopian dreamers, have done an excellent job of dumbing down our society, creating a dependant class, and erasing or ignoring our history and heritage. Thanks, Brain Snatchers. The Death of common sense, and Freedom, is closer than you think.

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