Flags and Bullets Flying in America
Lately, I feel for the people who have flagpole duty. What a workout they are getting. The flags are going to half-staff so often that one may wish to invest in a halfsize flagpole just to save all the effort.
More and more, the half-staff occasions are mass-shooting related. It’s hard to keep track of which massacre the flags have been lowered for. Which brings to my mind the old saying about someone “bringing a knife to a gun fight.” That is referencing a person who is ill equipped to handle a situation they’ve gotten themselves into due to lack of preparation. But the literal phrase itself is interesting to me, particularly in light of one of the arguments I’ve heard used by pro gun enthusiasts in the aftermath of a mass shooting. “Would the victim be any less dead if it had been a knife instead of a gun?” Wow, good question. Going back to the phrase, the implication is that the knife is a much less effective weapon to carry to a gun fight.
I believe the same can be said about having a knife in a mass murder scenario. Put able-bodied people into a threatening situation against a knife wielding psychopath and they stand a fighting chance. Maybe better than a fighting chance. Depending on their skill set(s) and other factors such as items at hand with which to defend against a knife, a group is likely to overtake this person and prevent tragedy. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said in defending against a motivated shooter equipped with an AR, for instance.
The 9/11 hijackers used box cutters to take down the airplanes. Box cutters! At the time, the other passengers probably thought the person was hijacking the plane and would inconvenience them by landing in Cuba. A big lesson was learned there. Can you imagine someone trying that today? If someone were to try to take over a flight using box cutter, or a pocketknife, or anything else short of a gun, I would wager that Mister Knife Guy would be met with physical resistance enough to overpower him.
So, it is the gun, not knives, not slingshots, poison darts or yo-yos, that is the weapon of choice being used to commit the most recent mass killings. To assert otherwise is just folly. “Don’t bring a knife to a gun fight,” right?
Just to be clear, I am not unsympathetic with regards to these shooting victims. Quite the contrary. And I do believe that other adage that the pen is mightier than both the sword and the gun. Unfortunately, that proverbial pen is currently in the hands of the same people who are hoisting up guns with the other. For our immediate future, expect to see more guns in our society and more mass shootings on the horizon.
On the plus side, there is tremendous job security for anyone whose work involves raising and lowering the flag. Saaa - lute!
The column represents the thoughts and opinions of Johnny McNally. Opinion columns are NOT the opinion of the Navasota Examiner.
Johnny McNally is Grimes County’s Best Dressed Businessman advocating for Grimes County and writes a bi-weekly column for the Navasota Examiner.