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Man! I Like That Horse!

Chuck Baldwin | Published: Thursday, May 12, 2022

Growing up and into young adulthood, I was a sports junkie. I started playing organized championship sports in the fifth grade. I was born and raised in Indiana where people eat, breathe and sleep basketball. Every elementary school—not to mention junior high and high school—has its own gymnasium. The movie Hoosiers (which is based on another thrilling true underdog story about a high school basketball team from a small town in Indiana during the 1950s—before there were divisions in high school athletics) is an accurate depiction of the place basketball plays in the hearts of the people of Indiana.

I was on the La Porte Park School basketball team during my fifth and sixth grade years. In our fifth grade season we were undefeated and won the city championship. In our sixth grade season, we lost two games to Riley School, but Riley was beaten in the playoffs, and we won our second city championship.

Again, I’m talking elementary school.

Through the rest of my school days—including my first two years of college—I participated in a variety of sports, including basketball, baseball, football, track, wrestling and boxing. When I was a young adult, I still had the same sports craze in my bloodstream. I watched just about every sporting event on television that I could.

I rooted for the Chicago Cubs when Ferguson Jenkins, Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Glenn Beckert, Don Kessinger and Billy Williams were playing on an unlit Wrigley Field. I rooted for the Boston Celtics when Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, Danny Ainge and Dennis Johnson were on the parquet floor.

I was a Green Bay Packers fan from grade school, watching Vince Lombardi’s star-studded players: Bart Starr, Jim Taylor, Boyd Dowler, Elijah Pitts, Carroll Dale, Marv Fleming, Jerry Kramer, Bill Curry, Ray Nitschke, Herb Adderley, Bob Jeter, Willie Wood, et al. And, of course, I watched plenty of Bob Knight’s Indiana Hoosier’s games. I’ll never forget Steve Alford’s seven 3-pointers and the game-winning 3-point shot from the corner at the buzzer by Keith Smart to win the national championship in 1987.

I tried to watch the big prizefights featuring the likes of Sonny Liston, George Foreman, Cassius Clay, Floyd Patterson, et al. I liked to watch Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus play golf. I even liked to watch Earl Anthony roll that bowling ball down the alley. I tried to watch the big races like the Indianapolis 500, the Daytona 500 and the Kentucky Derby.

Through the years, however, not only did I find much more important things to do than watch sports on TV, but all of the corruption, cheating, political correctness and, finally, the Covid tyranny took the enthusiasm for sports totally out of me, to the point I now watch none of it—and haven’t for several years. Plus, I have come to the conclusion that sports—especially football—is being used by the ruling class to keep fighting-age men distracted from what the elites are doing to enslave them.

But here I am writing about the 2022 Kentucky Derby that took place last Saturday at Churchill Downs in Louisville, Kentucky.

Please bear with me and hear me out.

On Monday, my wife showed me a video of Saturday’s race and said I had to watch it. Now, my wife is the total opposite of me when it comes to sports. She has never followed any of it. None. Zero. Zilch. She is a total non-sports person.

But she was all excited and said I had to watch that race. So I did. What a race! I’ve probably watched it twenty times by now. In all of my long life, I have NEVER seen a race like it. In fact, nobody living today has seen a race like it. You would have to have been alive in 1913 to have seen a race like this.

Many devoted horse racing fans are saying this was the greatest race in history. I know it’s the greatest race I’ve ever seen; and you don’t have to argue much to convince me that it IS the greatest race of all time.

Here is one newspaper account of the race—including a video of the race.

The winning horse, Rich Strike, was the last horse added to the starting gate—only moments before the deadline—due to horse number 20 being scratched at the last minute. His odds to win were 80 – 1. Horse, jockey, trainer, groomer and owner were no-names. Rich Strike was purchased for $30,000. He was racing against million-dollar thoroughbreds.

Today Rich Strike is the most popular name in sports.

For as long as I can remember, racing experts have said that no horse can win the big races—and the Kentucky Derby is the biggest—unless the horse is near the front going into the stretch. Rich Strike was in 17th place (out of 20) going into the stretch.

And he beat the biggest names in racing—Epicenter, Messier, Zandon, et al.—in the most spectacular finish perhaps in racing history.

Here is an aerial view of Rich Strike’s remarkable win.

Okay. You can read all of that in a hundred newspapers. Why is Chuck Baldwin using his weekly syndicated column to write about a horse race?

This race shocked the racing world. Thousands of people lost a lot of money. All of the experts were left red-faced and dumbfounded. This no-name horse beat the millionaire racing machines and know-it-all pundits and sports writers—and he did it on horse racing’s biggest stage.

And I might add, Rich Strike did it in STYLE. The look he gave Epicenter when he flew by him at the wire is absolutely priceless.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this race illustrated to my heart what can happen in an instant.

The Kentucky Derby is called “The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports.” Indeed it is, especially on May 7, 2022.

Two minutes. Those two minutes last Saturday doubtless changed horse racing for many years to come.

I believe this year’s Kentucky Derby is illustrative of where we are in America. Let’s face it: It doesn’t look good for the United States—or the free world. To put it in racing terms, the odds of America overcoming the billionaire machines that are orchestrating the collapse of freedom, limited government, foundational moral principles and sound economics is about the same as those of Rich Strike winning the Kentucky Derby.

But as I said in my Mother’s Day message last Sunday: “For with God nothing shall be impossible,” quoting Luke 1:37.

I am confident that the ruling class is smugly convinced they are on the verge of total conquest. First the Covid tyranny and now war and economic chaos. It is a one-two punch that has America staggering against the ropes—and ALL the signs are that it will only get worse.

Furthermore, the vast majority of Americans—both conservatives and liberals, Republicans and Democrats—are being sheepishly led around by the nose by the U.S. propaganda machine. And most evangelical churches are part of the propaganda machine.

When the Old Testament prophet Elijah was being hunted by Queen Jezebel, he cried to God from inside a cave and complained that he was the only prophet resisting Ahab’s tyranny. God reminded him that there were yet 7,000 prophets who had not bowed the knee to Baal.

As I look around at the political, civil and religious landscapes, it is easy to start feeling the loneliness and helplessness that Elijah felt. When 80% of evangelicals are a major promoter of the Covid tyranny and war propaganda, any kind of recovery seems as likely as Rich Strike winning the Kentucky Derby.

But when you watch that race, you will see something in that horse that is unmistakable. That horse ran with confidence, courage and HEART. There was something inside that horse last Saturday that would not let him accept defeat. He looked the top millionaire horse in the eye and said, “Not today!” He didn’t know that he was supposed to lose.

Even after the race, the horse was still in a fighting mood. Man! I like that horse!

Rich Strike should be all of us. Forget the odds. Forget the wannabe tyrant billionaires. Forget the corrupt millionaire politicians. Forget the lying propaganda media. Forget the pantywaist preachers.

When God Almighty is ready for His courageous, indefatigable, “Not today!” Remnant to change the race, He can do it in two minutes.

But we must have what that race horse had last Saturday. We must have the courage, stamina, strength and determination to put our whole heart in this race for Truth and Liberty. And, as with Rich Strike, we must be unwilling to accept defeat.

Man! I like that horse!

© Chuck Baldwin

By

Becky Akers, R.I.P.

Three months ago, Becky was diagnosed with a very aggressive cancer which had already metastasized into her colon, liver and lungs. Of course, she tenaciously fought it with every fiber of her being.

My darling Becky went very peacefully at 1:07 a.m. on the Monday morning following Easter. She made a beautiful little sound of goodbye and a tear formed in her eye. She is at peace. Numbers 6:26.

Becky wrote for several different organizations and appeared on many radio shows and other media. She particularly enjoyed the opportunity to participate with you monthly on Liberty Roundtable. Thank you so very much for your support of her efforts to promote freedom and individual responsibility.

God bless you as you continue to battle the Beast.

By

CESAR CHAVEZ WAS NO HERO

March 31st is celebrated annually as a holiday in ten U.S. States to honor United Farm Workers Union founder Cesar Chavez as an American hero. I beg to differ!

Cesar Chavez is portrayed to the American public as a champion of poor Hispanic migrant workers who were paid mere pennies to work in the grape and lettuce fields of California. According to the tale, the farmers got rich off the backs of the migrant labor, selling the lettuce and making expensive wines from the grapes. Meanwhile the poor, misused migrants carried meager belongings on their backs and traveled from farm to farm, hoping to find work, perhaps a meal, and a place to sleep. Even little children were forced to work in the fields – just to keep the family alive. So goes the tale.

Into the breach of this John Steinbeck vision of misery steps one of the workers who braved the wrath of the “MAN.” Cesar Chaves, so the tale continues, stood bravely against threats of bodily harm, maybe even death, to help bring the poor migrant workers a decent wage and stable working conditions. He organized the United Farm Workers Union (UFW), organized protests and set up picket lines, staged fasts to get the media’s attention. His minions took on the battle cry “Huelga” (strike) and called on all Americans to boycott “non-union” lettuce and wines.

The 1960s and ‘70s was an era of unrest and college protests. That’s when students across the nation took up the UFW battle cry and participated in the boycotts. It became fashionable for liberal leaders to stand with Chavez. California Governor Jerry Brown (the first term) joined Chavez and all the usual Hollywood celebrities in protest marches in Sacramento. Bobby Kennedy flew in to embrace Chavez for the cameras during one of his famous fasting protests.

Chavez was hailed a hero to the oppressed poor. Streets and schools all over the state of California are named after him. Children wear tee shirts with his name and image emblazoned across the front. There was even a movie produced to reconstruct his heroic memory.  However, labeling Cesar Chavez an American hero is akin to labeling Lenin, Stalin and Trotsky as Russian heroes.

Here are facts about Cesar Chavez that you will never read in a school text book, current history book, or see in the film.

  • There is no evidence that Cesar Chavez ever worked in a farm field in his life. He was a pool room thug selected and hand picket by radical communist organizer Saul Alinsky to create unrest among farm workers.
  • Chavez was well trained in the Alinsky propaganda and organizing techniques that are, still today, recognized as the most effective tools to misdirect and force radical ideas into the general population.
  • Cesar Chavez never tried to organize real migrant workers – those who had no real home, who carried their belongings on their backs and were basically nomads on the road.

For the most part, the workers Chavez picked on lived in nice homes, in stable neighborhoods and made a decent wage. The only migration they did was to move from farm to farm in their area to harvest the crops. It provided them steady work with farmers who regularly employed them.  At night, they slept in their own beds.

  • Chavez never organized “non-union” workers. They were already members of the Teamster’s Union. What Chavez sold to the nation as a fight against “non-union” lettuce and grapes was really a jurisdictional fight against the Teamsters. Pretty hard to call the Teamsters “non-union.”

And so, for more than ten years, Cesar Chavez used the media, politicians, Hollywood, and college students to change the buying habits of the nation and paint a picture of big business oppressing the poor.

In 1974, when I served as Ohio Chairman of Young Americans for Freedom (YAF) I was also running for a seat in the Ohio state legislature. My district was a small slice of Columbus that included the Ohio State University. My opponent was a dedicated left wing radical. Our district contained no farm land other than the agriculture department of the university. Yet, the main issue of our campaign became the debate over Cesar Chavez and the United Farm Workers.

In March of that year, Chavez came to the OSU campus. My opponent in the legislative race, Mike Stinziano, was seated next to Chavez on the stage. I was out front of the auditorium manning a picket line and protest. Eventually, as Chavez prepared to speak, my picketers and I marched inside the auditorium, straight down the aisle and sat on the edge of the stage to continue our protest. Stinziano and I eyed each other in this strange setting for a political campaign.

Chavez began to speak to the wide-eyed college students, teaching them organizing songs and getting them to shout “Huelga.” Then Chavez began to spin a tale of the terrible conditions of the non-union workers in the fields. Paul Bunyon would have been impressed. He told the students that to reduce payments to his union members, the farmers had developed a mechanical devise to pick the grapes. He said it was a huge vacuum designed to suck the grapes off the vine. But, said Chavez in a hushed tone, the machine also sucked up spiders, snakes and rabbits, all to be processed into the wine. As the crowd began to stir and make faces at the thought of it, Chavez quickly added, “so, if you won’t boycott Boonesfarm wine for our cause, at least do it for your own health.” That was Cesar for you… always concerned about the well being of others!

Two months later, I was invited to Toledo University by the local YAF chapter there to provide rebuttal to a separate appearance by Delores Huerta, Vice President of the United Farm Workers Union.

She taught the students the same organizing songs, peppered with the chants of “Huelga.” Then she proceeded to tell the same story of the great machine. Only this time she described it, not as a great vacuum cleaner, but as a picker with huge fingers that plucked the grapes along with the snakes, rabbits and spiders. I pointed out to the audience that if the UFW was going to fan out across the country to tell lies, they should at least be consistent lies.

Huerta proceeded to call for a boycott of all “non union” lettuce and grapes. I again pointed out that many of the farm workers picking the grapes were, in fact, members of the Teamsters Union and had been so for many years. I asked when the Teamsters became non union and the only response offered was that I was a Teamster lackey! Sigh…

Huerta went on with her well rehearsed tale of the terrible lives of the non-union farm workers, and demonstrating the success and power of the UFW by claiming that 200,000 farm workers had now joined their union. An interesting trick, since there weren’t 200,000 farm workers in the state.

What both Chavez and Hureta both failed to tell their audiences was:

  • How the UFW formed “goon squads” designed to intimidate the non-UFW workers in the fields by threatening them with physical harm if they continued to work.
  • How the UFW used Catholic priests to intimidate the deeply religious workers by calling them scabs.
  • How the majority of those on the UFW picket lines were actually college students bussed in from across the country.
  • How UFW negotiations actually resulted in less pay for farm workers.

If this is the kind of America we have become, where a pool room thug, trained by a Marxist, can be officially honored by as many as ten states, as a hero, then there truly has been a silent American revolution and truth, justice and the American way has lost.

The farm workers in California, in the 1970s, knew what a threat Chavez was to them and they hated him. They tried to tell America then, but the media, Hollywood, and liberal politicians had their own agenda to promote. Does that sound familiar? So, puffed up on their own “compassion” and in the name of their version of justice for the poor, they sacrificed the very people they claimed to help… all for the “cause.”

In a truly moral and honest society, Cesar Chavez would be relegated to the trash heap where he belongs. It’s time to push back.

TOM DEWEESE

Tom DeWeese is one of the nation’s leading advocates of individual liberty, free enterprise, private property rights, personal privacy, back-to-basics education and American sovereignty and independence.

By

Congratulations from the Volunteer State – Kat Stansell

 

Thank you, Virginia! You have sent a message to the world, and it is being heard. The results of the 2021 election go far beyond a victory for the fight against the Marxist program of Critical Race Theory. You showed America that voting still counts – that it is possible to win against the unwelcome advances of socialism, and restore traditional values. Over 50% of Americans had begun to believe that their vote no longer mattered, that results could be manipulated to reflect other than the honest majority. Americans from both parties were becoming discouraged – even depressed – sure that their voices at the polls would never be heard again; that our Republic was lost. Your strength and resolve showed them otherwise. You gave America hope! At this point in our history, that is a great gift. Thank you, Virginia.

You could say that parents won the election, not the Republican Party or their candidates. People who believe in family values took it to the other side, and won. The ethics on which this country was built carried the day. Thank you, Virginia!

The victory of the Republican ticket was far more than a change of incumbents. It was a loud statement from all those who hold those traditional values of home and family, that they WILL be represented. The bedrock of our American society – faith, family and freedom – has been under attack for decades. Virginians stood up and said, “No more!”

As the Great Reset finally got a public name, and people were told (among other things) that they should no longer have a say in their children’s education, voters took action.

While the Youngkin team gained strength in the polls, the opposition doubled down. First came the lie that CRT was not being taught in the schools. McAuliffe reinforced that with a statement saying that parents had no business having a say in what was being taught to their children. The Democrat Party brought in Biden (a man increasingly failing in popularity as well as health), Obama, Stacy Abrams and Kamala Harris , to stump for a McAuliffe victory. The union boss for the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten (responsible for school closures this last year and unpopular with many, in her own right) came to speak on McAuliffe’s behalf. Tone deaf? Many say, yes.

The candidate dug himself in, even deeper, by saying that Virginia had too many white teachers, and that those who didn’t like CRT were themselves racist! (So, if you’re not Marxist, you’re racist?) The result of such choices has now become a part of history. The purveyors of division and untruth went down to defeat. Thank you, Virginia!

The Left has become so ingrained in their Marxist philosophy that they could not comprehend the strength of family values and morals in America today. This was, I believe, the causal factor in their defeat. They support abortion, so the value of children means something very different to them. They believe that the government should raise children. They severely underestimated the strength of parental love. In short, they mistook the light at the end of the campaign tunnel as the sun rising on their impending victory, rather than the Red freight train it was. Virginians, of all colors and national origins, who share the values on which our country was founded, spoke loudly and clearly, on Tuesday, Nov. 2. They let their feelings be known, at the ballot box, in a “blue” state, on election day, 2021.

Why did it take them so long? We can only speculate. The traditionally “silent majority”, country-wide, were docile as lambs while their churches were shuttered; schools closed; shelves emptied of essentials; American greatness, denigrated, and personal freedoms lost. When they could not be with loved ones who were sick or needy, the outcry was much too quiet. They mumbled only a little as our energy independence was reversed and gas prices soared. They were sitting home, shaking their heads as our borders were ripped open to hundreds of thousands of unvetted aliens who will further burden our systems. Americans have stood by while our military was weakened, our small businesses closed by the thousands, and our economy left in tatters. Even double-digit inflation in some sectors, and material shortages across the spectrum, didn’t seem to fully capture their attention.

However, telling parents that they have no say in what their children are being taught made those silent Americans “see red”. They came awake. Attacking concerned parents with the FBI, and seeking to classify them as “domestic terrorists” for attending school board meetings, turned that silent majority into a loud force for freedom. They used the rights granted us at our country’s founding, and went to work. They organized, spoke, wrote, learned what was happening in their own communities, and took their ire to the polls. This is how America is supposed to work. Thank you, Virginia!

But, for all of us, the job is just beginning. We must stay close to those we elect. Let your representatives know what you think. Keep current with pending legislation. Go to local board and council meetings as often as possible, and stay informed on the agenda items. Don’t stop because you think you’ve won. Stay alert and stay strong. It is from the local level that this victory was born, and from which all future successes will come.

It was with great pride and pleasure that I looked on, as my former neighbors and friends changed things for the better in the Commonwealth, and that has changed it for us all. You have altered the landscape in Richmond, and in America. You’ve shown the way. It is now up to every American to keep that ball rolling. As Virginia was fundamental to the creation of this great nation 245 years ago, you have once again been at the forefront of something essential for our future. Thank you, Virginia!

_________________________________________________________

Kat Stansell, WriterKat Stansell is the Grassroots Outreach Director for the American Policy Center. A native of Cincinnati Ohio, and graduate of Denison University, Kat served the Village of Mettawa, IL, as treasurer and chair of the Planning Commission, where she got a good look at the process of civic vs. corporate interaction. She has been a local activist, working for several candidates and organizations. She has also written for newspapers and websites, and organized events highlighting issues of the day.

CONTACT INFORMATION

Phone: (540) 341-8911

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Putting Mass School Shootings Into Perspective

 

Perspective
By Robert W. Peck

When a shocking tragedy like the recent Parkland, Florida mass school shooting takes place, the media keeps it in the headlines for days. Television inundates our senses with sights and sounds that reinforce the human emotion of the calamity while the drama is relived in front of our eyes day and night. The media milks an event like this for all the ratings it’s worth, keeping it in the news-cycle for up to a week, or at least until the next natural disaster or political scandal comes along.

Our senses can easily become overwhelmed by the relentless rehearsing of the story and its horrific details, all presented in a manner calculated to elicit an emotional response rather than rational thought. If we’re not alert, and diligent to exercise critical thinking, we can quickly lose perspective and join Chicken Little in believing that the sky really is falling, that mass shootings are sweeping the land, and that if the government doesn’t do something quick, “we’ll all die!”

Mass public shootings (properly called “mass murder,” unless you’re trying to sensationalize a particular aspect of the incident) are indeed a terrible thing that we should be working to prevent. But how much of the American landscape does the phenomenon of mass shootings really take up as opposed to the amount of news headlines it’s given?

Before we start passing new laws, giving up our rights, or consent to being strip searched at every checkpoint, perhaps we should put the matter into perspective and ask exactly how many children are actually being killed by mass shootings as compared to the various other threats to their lives. We want to stop all evil and protect every child, but it would be wise to know where to focus our attention and direct our efforts so as to have the greatest effect and save the most lives.

Actual Risk of Death Due to Mass Shootings

According to a report by the Congressional Research Service, about 20 people per year were being killed in mass public shootings in the early 2000s, a number that rose to an average of 37 per year in the period of 2009-2013. Since that report, my research indicates that we’ve averaged 60 deaths per year over the past four years. This is for all mass public shootings, which includes workplace, school, restaurant and other public places. A listing of each mass shooting from 1982 to 2018 reveals that 14 percent of those shootings took place at schools (including colleges), giving us an expected annual average of fewer than 10 deaths per year coming from school campuses.

To put these numbers into perspective, in a country of 327 million people, 60 killed per year in all mass public shootings is 1 per 5.5 million. To look at it another way, that’s one person killed per year from among the entire population of Minnesota, or about the same as are killed by lightning each year (51).

While every life matters, so does the truth, and the truth is that the excessive amount of media attention given to mass shootings is creating a very skewed perspective as to the role that they actually play in our society.

The sensationalizing of mass shootings has created a public perception of our country being awash in an ever-rising tide of murder and mayhem reigning in our streets and on school campuses. However, the truth is actually just the opposite. Homicide rates in the U.S. have decreased dramatically over the last couple decades, from over 9 per 100,000 in the early 1990s to only 4.5 in 2014.

At the same time, the number of guns in America increased from 242 million in 1996 to 357 million in 2013. The number of new guns being introduced into the population nearly quadrupled during the same period, from 4.4 million per year to 16 million. While guns may be a preferred weapon of mass murders, the sheer number of guns present in our society obviously is not driving the homicide rate as the two statistics are moving in opposite directions.

Mass Shootings Compared to Other Threats to Children

Though I was not able to find a single definitive document directly comparing the rate of mass school shooting deaths to other leading causes of death among school-age children, I did manage to find the following facts that help provide context for this discussion.

Auto Accidents – The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reports that over a 10 year period more than 9,000 children ages 12 and younger were killed in car crashes. If we factor in teens and college students, most of which are beginning to drive and have higher accident rates, I expect the number could reach as high as 20,000, or an average of 2,000 per year, as compared to an average of 10 per year killed in mass school shootings. Again, every life is precious, but as opposed to panicking with fear over mass school shootings, it would make 200 times more sense (mathematically speaking that is), to fear putting the kids in the car for a drive to Walmart, or to school for that matter.

Suicide – Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the 15 to 24 year old age group, coming in at over 5,000 per year. That’s 500 times more deaths by suicide than by mass school shootings. Some of the leading causes of teen suicide are listed as, “being bullied, social rejection, relationship breakup, academic failure in school and grade retention.” Bullying generally takes place at school and most social activity and relationships also tend to be related to school activities for this age group. Academic issues of retaining grades is directly a school matter. I expect that as many as a thousand of the 5,000 annual teen suicides could be to some degree school related. As compared to the number of students killed in mass shootings each year (average of 10), teen suicides arising from school-related issues alone is an outright holocaust taking as many as a hundred times more lives.

Drug Overdose – In 2015 there were 772 drug overdose deaths among teens ages 15 to 19. That’s 77 times more killed in this very small age group, spanning only five years, than are killed in all mass school shootings. While not all drug use is the product of school attendance, school is certainly a leading place where children become exposed to drugs, discover connections for obtaining drugs, and sometimes experience peer pressure to try drugs. One addiction treatment center states that “nearly 44% of high school students know a classmate who sells drugs.” If death by mass shootings in schools is “a problem,” then, by comparison, death by drug overdose among students is “an epidemic.”

Gang Violence – The National Gang Center shows gang-related homicides at 2,363 in 2012 as compared to an average of only 60 annual deaths for all mass public shootings. Though school-age children would only account for a portion of those deaths, yet the teenage years are where gang involvement tends to begin. Seattlepi.com reports that, according to a CDC study, “45 percent of high school students have gangs or gang members on their campuses,” a number that drops to 2 percent for private schools, though it is thought that increased parental involvement plays a part in that. Though public schools certainly are not making themselves a target of gang violence on purpose, it seems obvious that the threat to the lives of children arising from gang-related activity on school campuses far surpasses that of mass shootings by many magnitudes.

Sports Injuries – According to Youth Sports Safety Alliance statistics, 1.3 million children were admitted to emergency rooms with sports-related injuries in 2012. From 2008 through 2013, an average of 45 children per year died of sports-related injuries. Even sports programs, most of which presumably originate on school campuses, appear to be killing more than four times as many kids as mass school shootings.

Sexually Transmitted Disease – 6,721 Americans died of HIV/AIDS in 2014. As of 2015, youth ages 13 to 24 accounted for more than 1 in 5 new HIV diagnoses. An estimated 44 percent of those living with the disease are believed to be unaware. By extrapolation, we can expect to lose 200 per year to this disease from among this age group as future annual deaths – and this is only one of the potentially fatal STDs. Sexual promiscuity, much of it originating on high school and college campuses, is killing at least 20 times more of our youth than mass shootings. Yet I don’t hear the same cries to ban sexual promiscuity that I do to ban guns, but that’s a matter of hypocrisy that will have to be addressed another time.

Transit to and From School – A reported 815 students die each year, and 152,250 are injured, during travel to and from school. Those numbers do not include extracurricular activities like traveling to sporting events or marching band competitions, which would likely put the total over a thousand. This is an amazingly small number of deaths considering the total number of children transported to and from schools every day. Nevertheless, transporting kids to and from school, and school-related activities, is killing a hundred times more children each year than are mass shootings. Yet no one is clamoring to “ban the buses” as that would clearly be irrational.

Now that we have some context for the subject, we can easily see that mass school shootings are among the least of the threats that children face. Nevertheless, we certainly want to take whatever appropriate actions we can to protect children from the rare, and rather unpredictable, mentally deranged and demonically tortured individuals who are driven to commit mass murder.

However, if saving lives is really the main focus, then there are much greater opportunities in areas like suicide, drug abuse, gang violence, and the spread of sexually transmitted disease. These deaths are much more preventable than are those caused by the extremely infrequent mass murder perpetrated by a random psychopath, and these activities are killing hundreds, or possibly even thousands of times more children.

Nevertheless, mass school shootings, like all threats to children, ought to be addressed.

Currently, the public is looking almost exclusively to the federal government to address the problem of school shootings. However, the federal government has no jurisdictional authority in this area. The U.S. Constitution does not grant the federal government any power over schools or education and it prohibits the federal government from interfering with gun ownership. Therefore, any actions taken by the federal government on these topics are without the force of law, or as the American Founders put it in the Declaration of Independence, they are “pretended legislation.” To be lawful, any actions taken to address schools, school shootings, guns, or school violence in general, must come from the states and/or communities.

Frankly, in light of the above listing of the ways children are being killed, the numbers of children being killed by each, and the degree to which each is associated with schools and school-related activities, I find myself questioning whether it might just be the government schools themselves that are the greatest danger to children.

© Robert W. Peck

Republish with attribution and link back to http://robertpeck.net