“If there is a firearm out there that you’re comfortable being shot with, please show me which one it is,” William Lamberth asked rhetorically.
Oww, oww, call on me. Me, me, me. Raising my hand. I can answer that question.
My answer: a .22 in the arm.
I would much rather be shot with a .22 in the arm than with an AR-15 in the head. If you’re saying I must be comfortable being shot, well then, .22 in the arm, that’s my preference.
If you can ensure that the next school shooting and all the school shootings that follow are done with .22 in the arm, that would be great. That would be a legislative accomplishment by the State of Tennessee. It would be model legislation for the rest of the country.
And, guess what, leaving .22 in the arm as the shooter(s) requirement, leaves AR-15 in the head as law enforcement’s tool. When good guys with guns bust into the school to take out the shooter, they would not have to encounter greater firepower.
Then, train the law enforcement how to use them. And when to use them. And don’t send them to the wrong house. And, even if you are a private Christian school, hire a school resource officer, for goodness sake. Roll the job in with something else - custodian, football field maintenance, history teacher - if you want to, but have somebody on campus with the training to combat a threat.
That includes the threat of four parents fighting each other in the lobby. And spilling over outside. Hit them with a Taser - this business of pulling them off each other, that’s not going to be enough - pull the Taser, give clear warning, then deploy. Show the kids you mean business.
Somebody comes to our school to disrupt, they’re going down.
Period.
So, yes, Tennessee State Representative William Lamberth, I don’t want to go to school and get shot with any gun; but if you are requiring me to be comfortable in that situation, then that’s it - .22 in the arm. Because, as Uvalde showed us, AR-15 in the head is a lose-lose every single time.
Yes, Dylann Roof did show us the damage that a handgun can do, especially in close quarters; Kyle Rittenhouse did show us that a rifle in a short distance can be quite lethal; and Daniel Perry did show us a handgun can be lethal from an Uber, however, he’ll probably get a governor’s pardon - but Kid Rock showed us just the other day that an AR-17 can massacre cans of beer.
So, lawmakers, at least learn the Kid Rock lesson.
Vic MacDonald is Editor of The Clinton Chronicle. In June, 2025, Vic will observe his 50th year in community journalism. Reach him at 864-833-1900.
