There is an interesting parallel between the recent spate of school shootings and the September 11 hijackings.

That is that, in both cases, the hijackees/victims were (a) physically disarmed by virtue of being there (in a school / on board an airplane) as well as (b) trained to cooperate with armed attackers. In both cases, the attackers were bent on murder/suicide, so the usual presumption of rationality on part of the attacker flew right out the window.

It seems to me that a new more violent reality is around us. Being a passive victim can no longer be assumed to be a good idea. Faith in the police as an effective rapid-response force is obviously unjustified. People need to realize that, when a life-threatening attack is underway, one has to be willing to act to defend oneself. One has to be willing to counter-attack or escape by any means necessary. This could extend to the standards of chivalry, where spontaneous heroes would throw themselves in front of a weapon to save others. No more emasculated males marching out of a misogynist maniac’s execution chamber, as happens time after time. We need more Todd Beamers, not just with terrorists, but also with violent criminals.

I wonder if this self-reliant sort of mentality can be revived in a populace trained to co-operate with violent attackers like muggers, rapists, home invaders, carjackers. I hope that it can – and that it doesn’t take too many more lives before it happens. Perhaps one day people will start to value again a heavily armed civilian population, with all the deterrent value such an empowered and self-confident citizenry would entail.