Random Shootings
Schools
A human, if you are to believe the social scientists is a communal animal, a social animal if you will.
Some people believe, apparently, that isolation from other humans is a form of torture.
One thing, however, seems apparent to me. When ever animals group together, and in particular I'm thinking of humans, they seem to require a sense of order.
In Western culture we have developed quite an array of folkways, mores, and social rules of behavior. From the time of the earliest of "the great thinkers" Aristotle, Plato, Socrates, and on to the present day we have realized that as we gather together in groups the more need there is for "rules of behavior". As we have increased the number of "things" in our culture, cars, trains, trucks, roads etc. the greater the need for and complexity of out rules.
If you don't accept this premise read no further, it will only waste your time.
How one learns these "rules" of behavior depends on a lot of conditions and circumstances.
As babes we learn from our parents whoever they may be. In some cultures eating another person is not frowned upon. In OUR culture it is not only frowned upon, generally speaking, but is usually against the law.
So, we are taught NOT to eat other people. If our parents and peers don't teach us at some point someone will.
Killing people is generally disapproved. On a conditional basis, we make exceptions. War, "self defence", insanity, all come to mind as arguable exceptions.
In our past, in the USA or "America", while our government was not founded upon a religious basis, a good many of, but by all means NOT ALL, of our organizers were men of some sort of religious belief. (That's another discussion). Our COUNTRY, the land we occupy, the dirt we tread, was populated originally, by people of strong religious conviction. It was they, I suppose, who brought their ideas of good and evil, right and wrong upon this soil. Even the indigenous occupants of the land had their own notions of these things. Different, perhaps, from the Europeans who were invading their lands, but their own brand of notions of acceptable and unacceptable behavior.
In my career I have dealt with many groups, formed groups, studied group behavior and in all my experience I have yet to find a group of 2 or more who absolutely agreed on every single thing with which they were presented. Consensus, yes. Total agreement, no. There was always SOME element of variance. It may have been very small, and totally inconsequential but it was always there.
So, for the majority of the time we have been on this continent, we have behaved according to some general sense of the dictates of the Judaeo/ Christian ethic. Not that we've ever been all that good at it collectively or especially individually.
So, that brings me to the subject of LAWS. What is LAW? Here's one definition: "the system of rules that a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and may enforce by the imposition of penalties.
"they were taken to court for breaking the law"
So, what is the "Intent" of law(s). This link is to a reasonably good lesson on Law and it's "Intent":
file:///C:/Users/Jack's%20PC/Desktop/JAX%20File%20Cabinet/JAX%20File%20Cabinet/Pay%20Pal/15%20intent%20of%20the%20law%20(1).pdf
Paraphrased I would say the paragraph above about "what is Law" pretty well sums it up.
Moving on from there, we already have laws that state that Killing people is against the law. It doesn't really matter how old you are or how sound of mind and body you are, it just ain't right to go around killing people.
Most folks learn that at an early age. In a highly secular society laws are what get the job done. Add a little religiosity or in a theocratic society and the religion gets the job done. Either way you have a society that has some rules (laws, mores, folkways, etc) that proscribe acceptable behavior. Vary too far off the path and there are consequences.
For a more detailed look at the kind of data that informs my view see the Pew Research Center, Religion & Public Life, Religious Landscape Study, via the following link:
http://www.pewforum.org/religious-landscape-study/
So, where do I shake out on all this? First, bringing weapons in or onto a school or school property is usually prohibited by law or rules or codes.
Second, Laws do not PREVENT disobedience they prescribe the penalties for non compliance.
Third, If laws DID prevent crime then our prisons wouldn't have so many occupants.
And on and on and on.
Societies basically work or don't work based on the "honor principle", In a large (or small) group, not everyone will agree or adhere to the principle.
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