In the 1930s Americans had a keen memory of the agony of WWI, and fresh scars from the Great Depression. It was widely believed America should just take care of itself and let the rest of the world enjoy the same luxury. There was a widely held belief that the arms manufacturers and banks had been the great motivation to join in the carnage of the First World War, and an urgent fervor to avoid the same mistake.
With a growing need for raw materials to feed industry Japan invaded Manchuria with an empire’s vengeance. Over time they surrounded themselves they surrounded their homeland with fortifications on islands from The Philippines and New Guinea to Wake Island and Midway. They were building a picket fence. Germany was invading and conquering from Poland to Paris. The air raids on Britain were constant and terrible. America sat behind her ocean frontiers and read about the carnage, in the newspapers. One can only assume there were thoughts and prayers offered.
“December 7th, a day that will live in infamy.”[1]
Japan dragged America into the war. By some stroke of good fortune all three aircraft carriers in the Pacific Fleet were out to sea on maneuvers that day and were still afloat. It was the only reason the war didn’t last even longer. Though, that is a cold comfort 2,403 people who were there and didn’t live to hear FDR’s solemn speech.
Certainly, nobody can say with any certainty what would have happened had America been less reactive and moved more quickly to thwart the expansion of what became the Axis powers. There is no doubt, there can be no question, that assuming we were safe and could stay out of the fray proved foolish and carried an enormous cost.
The world had become such a small place that it was impossible to hide from danger. It could strike, without warning, and destroy most of the America’s ability to defend herself. And that was over eighty years ago. It has continued to shrink and become more perilous, demanding a constant calculation of risk aversion and preventive measures.
Yes, we could ignore the Ukrainians. We could let Russia attempt to rebuild the Soviet Union. But it would probably be a bad idea. We spent years, and a fortune attempting to break it apart. Who can forget Lech Walesa rising from lowly shipyard troublemaker to Chairmanship of Poland? It was a glorious moment for representative democracy.
We could stop sending Javelin Antitank Missiles, and Mobile Artillery units to the embattled, outnumbered, but stout Ukrainians. But it would probably end up poorly, possibly catastrophically. And we could send those weapons to Wilder Elementary to defend itself from armed invasion. But it would probably be a bad idea.
There was an armed guard at Tops Supermarket in Buffalo. He died, heroically, and futilely trying to stop the assailant. I think, it would be safe to assume he would have felt there were already too many guns involved in the exchange. The shooter purchased the gun and body armor that still held the bullet fired by security guard, Aaron Salter, legally.
In Uvalde, Texas, the assailant purchased his guns legally, two semi-automatic assault rifles and 375 rounds of ammunition, and body armor legally. Had a teacher been armed they would have faced the same odds as the brave security guard from Tops, in Buffalo. Outgunned, fighting a losing battle, a hero’s death, but just another casualty.
The answer is not an arms race in elementary school, a machine gun nest at every entrance, waiting to mow down the next armed, armored menace. Children don’t need that kind of baggage. And we can’t ignore the world hoping it will ignore us, it doesn’t work that way, these are two problems, with different solutions, they can’t be wed. We need to control access to guns. We need to protect our children at the state government level, not the entrance to the school.
[1] Roosevelt’s Speech to the Houses of Congress on December 8th, seeking a declaration of war.
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