One of the cliches that the people who don’t want any gun control constantly repeat is that an armed society is a polite society. And while that’s always struck me as not something we need to achieve, we at least know what they mean. If you’re worried the stranger might be someone with a gun, you’re less likely to be rude to them.
But today puts the lie to the general premise. Whatever curt words and gestures were avoided by the possibility that guy might have a gun pale compared to today.
A society that can’t prevent someone from opening fire on an elementary school loses its right to be called polite.
A society where a Sikh temple or a Unitarian church have to deal with people murdering their congregants isn’t a polite society.
A society where people watching a movie have to run in horror because someone is shooting the place up isn’t a polite society.
Cafe Racer was a great place for society, until an act of horror levels beyond impolite shattered that for the people there that day.
No, there are a lot of things arms do to a society. Making it polite isn’t one of them.