“Never let a serious crisis go to waste,” is a quote attributed the current boss of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel. In the progressive Statist world we could modify that statement to “Never let a tragedy or crime fail to become a crisis.”

We have seen it play out time and again, a piece of human debris goes on a killing spree and the immediate reaction of the Progressive Statist is to pass more legislation.  “There ought to be a law!” is the rallying cry. Never mind the fact murder and felonious assault are already illegal. We need more laws to keep us safe. At no time do the big government types or their sycophants in the media point to the human element of the problem.

While the following is not a “crime” the rush for new laws or a government solutions was sadly all too predictable.

Idaho Tragedy

A tragic story from Meridian, Idaho was just brought to my attention. A two year old boy was shot in the head by his four year old brother with a emergency flare gun. At press time the victim was alive in intensive care. Certainly no one with a soul would not be upset by this story.

If you wanted to be thoroughly depressed, you could search “toddler deaths and injuries” daily online and find that they drown, are accidentally poisoned, killed in car wrecks and die from falls.  The CDC report shows that car crashes, drowning and burns were the top three unintentional killers of small children.

What is troubling about the Idaho event, besides the obvious injury to the child, is the knee-jerk reaction to blame the object, not the circumstances that led up to the injury. Cries for new laws and legislation aimed at emergency flare guns have been raised. Some call for more “Warnings” on flare gun packaging.  Are you kidding me? It’s a FLARE GUN, it shoots a burning FLARE, how much more warning do you need? Do sporting goods and marine supply stores sell flare guns to children? Last time I checked the answer was no.

There are calls for manufacturers to change the color of the emergency signaling tool from blaze orange to a color less attractive to kids. The obvious sophistry aside, are you trying to tell me that if a four year old child found a flare gun that was black or green or yellow that they would not pick it up? It has even been offered that flare guns should be classified as firearms and only sold through FFL holders. I challenge anyone to tell me that these changes would have prevented the tragedy in Idaho.

The Magic and Evil of Colors

Every time a child or teen is shot by the police while holding a toy gun the first question posed by neophytes is “Did it have an orange tip?” not “Was the kid just holding it?” or “Did the kid point the gun in a menacing way at the officer?”  It’s as if the color orange is some how a magic shield to prevent tragedy. The actions of the humans is never called into question, just the color of the object.

We know that Nanny Bloomberg went so far as to outlaw colored guns during his term as emperor of New York City. I suppose today if the NYPD responds to a call of a bank robbery in progress and the bandits run out with hot pink blasters in their hand the cops should resort to Mace because the objects could no longer be “real guns”.

Perhaps, rather than getting all wrapped around the axle over colors, we might consider the circumstances? Or, instead of calling for more legislation and government control after every tragedy or crime we might want to actually hold human beings responsible for their actions; whether those actions are negligent, reckless, purposeful, or deliberate.

Paul Markel Copr. 2014

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Paul Markel

Founder & President at Student of the Gun

Paul G. Markel has worn many hats during his lifetime. He has been a U.S. Marine, Police Officer, Professional Bodyguard, and Small Arms and Tactics Instructor. Mr. Markel has been writing professionally for law enforcement and firearms periodicals for nearly twenty years with hundreds and hundreds of articles in print. Paul is a regular guest on nationally syndicated radio talk shows and subject matter expert in firearms training and use of force. Mr. Markel has been teaching safe and effective firearms handling to students young and old for decades and has worked actively with the 4-H Shooting Sports program. Paul holds numerous instructor certifications in multiple disciplines and a Bachelor’s degree in conflict resolution; nonetheless, he is and will remain a dedicated Student of the Gun.

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