Wayne LaPierre Makes Some Valid Points While Turning a Blind Eye to One

Although it pains me to agree with National Rifle Association Executive Vice-President Wayne LaPierre on anything, and although I question the lack of courage that was demonstrated in his refusal to answer questions from the media after his monologue of Friday, Dec. 21, as one who strives for objectivity, I must credit a number of the statements he made.

LaPierre called for armed guards in our schools. Although I do not support arming teachers and see a host of problems it would court, I believe a well-trained armed guard, which many schools already have, is one part of the puzzle. LaPierre seems to feel that the federal government can provide the funding for an armed guard at every school, a mammoth undertaking for which there in fact is no money. We must allocate sufficient appropriations to protect our children, however, so we would need to reduce expenditures elsewhere. Is a Congress that is currently paralyzed up to the task? It would not seem likely.

LaPierre also criticized violent video games, citing one that is particularly horrific, "Kindergarten Killer." The website promotion for this vile and disgusting product reads as follows:


"Kindergarten Killer
Description
As a hitman for hire, you were recently given orders to take out the headmaster of a kindergarten school. Your job is to not ask questions, so you carry on with the job and head to the school. One thing leads to the next and you accidentally kill a teacher. The kids saw it and they get riled up. The children rise up in arms and open fire at you at every chance they get. But despite everything that happened, your target still roams alive so you head back to the office and kill your target before heading back to the office. Enjoy a crazy shootout in Kindergarten Killer.  Source: http://freegames.thetechherald.com/onlinegames/3933/kindergarten-killer.html"

Such a game may not instantly created homicidal monsters like the mass murderer of Newtown, Connecticut, but it is reasonable to conclude that playing it can exacerbate the condition of one with some degree of mental illness, a large segment of our population, and that it serves to desensitize the player to actual violence.

Mr. LaPierre also took on the many vile films and music videos that glorify violence and killing, appropriately noting that these products violate every standard of decency and accurately classifying them as pornography.

Mr. LaPierre, of course, concedes nothing to those who believe that there should be some restriction on the ability of the gun enthusiast to secure lethal weapons and ammunition which aid a potential perpetrator in his drive to mow down human beings in rapid fire. How much more valuable LaPierre's comments would have been had he been willing to address all of the potential causes of our gun homicide epidemic.

Now turning to President Obama: along with his appropriate plea for restrictions on certain types of weapons that no hunter or home protector needs, would he be willing to call out the producers of violent "entertainment" products, whose proponents include his friends at the American Civil Liberties Union. If he were to be so courageous as to challenge the creators of entertainment slop, would any appeal to the producers of it on the ground of common decency be fruitful, and if that should fail, would a free speech-obsessed Supreme Court be inclined to act?