Whenever there’s a tragedy, we hear the cries for greater controls, more legislation, abundant regulation and more restrictive oversight of anything remotely approaching violence. People want more firearms control. The restrictors become constrictors of constitutional guarantees as they try for a choke-hold on people’s right to protect themselves. They expect the government to intercede when danger and violence confront them.

What’s happened in the past week is a travesty of the greatest proportion. It’s the greatest and most heinous sin to kill children. There’s NO way anybody can justify violence toward children. It tears the mind, shreds the soul and leaves us barren for our inability to protect those most dear to us.

The politicians are already chanting their mantra to see guns removed from the streets and their personal possession by law-abiding people curtailed. We already know filling out paperwork stops nothing. Bureaucracy is only a temporary postponement of an act. Criminals never fill it out. Breaking laws is a job requirement for a crook.

We, as a people, have become cowards. We expect to be nursed from womb to tomb by somebody; anybody can make life easier for us. We seek somebody, anybody to keep harm at arm’s length. We want picket fences and universally understood boundaries demarcating our points no danger or enemy can cross. A friend asked me once about a nuclear reactor’s radiation. “How does the radiation know not to cross the yellow and black striped lines on the floor?”

It’s an illusion. If you work in hazardous areas, you work where somebody or something can hurt, maim or kill you. That means you live in the real world; not some fantasy land where the sheriff always rides in at the right time and stops the bad guys from doing their evil deeds.

When I retired from active law enforcement and from a position where I witnessed the growth of immorality, impropriety of actions and burgeoning criminal careers; I was asked if I’d still carry a firearm. The answer was: “Yes. Because I know the criminals aren’t retiring along with me.” A new generation was born and growing in our schools.

I’ve taken responsibility for my own safety and that of my family (as should you). I am an American Warrior (albeit old). It’s my responsibility to assure the continued safety of those I love. They, in turn, have been instructed to allow no one to believe we’re victims waiting to be preyed upon. We’ll stand our ground, we’ll fight and we’ll win.

It doesn’t always take guns to stop an assailant. An assailant armed with any weapon that may batter, beat, break bones or pound you into unconsciousness (that includes fists) needs to be met with the same level of force being directed toward you: Lethal Force. The thought of Martial Arts training allowing you to vanquish any assailant is a fantasy. There’ll always be a need to have and know how to use some form of weaponry to counteract the efforts of the assailant.

A stick, a cane or a pocket knife can equalize your assailant’s attack. It’s better to be prepared and ready to fight than to be slaughtered where you stand because you refuse to learn how to take responsibility for your own safety.

It’s better to ask what safety precautions are in place to protect YOUR child at the school he/she attends than to assume educational administrators understand security and protection matters. Most educators think they know something, but they know NOTHING about securing their campuses until after they suffer a tragedy. Until that time they’re just quoting theories. If they allow law enforcement on campus, they play politics and interfere with the School Resource Officers. They don’t appreciate giving up control of anything.

It’s time people shut-up and LOOK at what’s going on around them. There are 300 Million people in this country. There are no more than a million cops to handle the bad guys after the crime’s been done. The odds aren’t in your favor.

The one fact of any criminal encounter is there is a criminal present. It’s up to the other person whether there’s a victim there or not.

Thanks for listening.