early warning signs

[Steve Cooke <scooke@uidaho.edu>]

Dear Visionaries,
With the shooting of students at Columbine High School, there is a call for 
increased awareness of the early warning signs of violence-prone youth. 
This is v. appropriate as long as civil liberties are also protected.

The American people produce, sell, and accept as normal nearly all manner 
of weaponry. As consumers and citizens, we demand that anti-personnel 
weapons be made available. Then we act w/ shock and horror when one group 
of irresponsible citizens uses these weapons against the innocents. I would 
argue we adults are another group of irresponsible citizens. We structured 
the laws and set the norms of the culture in a way that increases the 
probability of these tragic shootings. For example, the Idaho State 
legislature passed a bill this session to allow 18 year olds to keep 
weapons in their cars while at school. It was vetoed by Gov. Kempthorne. 
 Are the second-hand stores, the gun shows, the sporting goods departments 
with their readily available anti-personnel weapons another early warning 
sign of a violence-prone society? Perhaps we should ask sporting-goods sale 
clerks if they own black trench coats. I do.
Steve Cooke