Whether you’ve been waiting with relish or trepidation for Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke to weigh in on the Sandy Hook shooting, the suspense is over.
In a column that surfaced today at teapartyperspective.com, Clarke calls for installing “an armed tactical trained officer or security officer in every school and public place (theaters, malls, etc.) in America” using funding derived by cutting “going green” projects and “other waste of money social service spending.”
In further support of the proposal, he references a recent trip to the Middle East and how safe he felt in Jerusalem surrounded by guards toting heavy weaponry. “You couldn’t go too far without seeing an Israeli border patrol agent, national police officer or security guard all armed with Uzi’s,” he says. “It was impressive, and I felt safe.”
He also suggests that business owners take down signs prohibiting concealed carry, especially those posted at front doors, because they’re not doing any good. “Do liberals really think that a sociopathic killer or even a hold-up man is not going to enter a place with a gun because a sign says ‘guns prohibited’?” he says.
We’ve seen the guns-to-fight-guns argument before in response to Newtown, Connecticut’s tragedy, including last night when Larry Pratt, executive director of Gun Owners of America, sat for an interview with Piers Morgan. The national NRA is promising to break its silence at a news conference on Friday and contribute meaningfully to the discussion, but we’re in no position to guess what that will mean.
Clarke’s column says gun control arises from a “sheep mentality,” and the existing ban on carrying a firearm within 1,000 feet of a school sounds “warm and fuzzy” but actually stands in the way of safety.
Good ol’ safety.
“1,000 feet away and that’s just to get to the building,” he says. “Then it takes awhile to figure out where the killer is even for law enforcement. Do you realize how many people will be killed by a mass murderer in that much time?”
