Talk of The Villages Florida - View Single Post - Year anniversary of the VTU shootings
View Single Post
 
Old 04-16-2008, 06:18 PM
SteveZ SteveZ is offline
Banned
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: 32162
Posts: 1,835
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Default Re: Year anniversary of the VTU shootings

The event was tragic, and there have been several over the years of similar ilk.

The problem is the ultimate conundrum. In a country of 300 million persons, if 99.999% of the population is "okay," that still leaves approximately 3,000 potential crazies roaming the nation. Combine that with our Constitution and the civil liberties it guarantees, the finding and monitoring of that 0.001% is almost impossible, and can only happen with severe reduction in the civil rights and liberties of the 99.999% of the population.

No institution can replace with "mechanisms" what the personal vigilance and willingness to be involved of people, singular and combined, at large can accomplish. "Mechanisms" invariably become restraints on liberty, and their implementation as a risk-reduction tool can cause more harm than the good intended.

There's an old FL saying: When your up to your @$$ in alligators, it's tough to remember your original intention was only to drain a swamp.