Nobody acts irresponsibly while packing heat, right? Photo: iStockphoto

A common argument in the post-Newtown debate over guns is that fewer guns would make society safer. But not everyone agrees. Some in the pro-gun contingent, such as Texas congressman Louie Gohmert, have suggested the opposite — that more people packing heat (including teachers) means a greater likelihood that someone will be able to fight back against future gunmen faster than the police could. It’s hard to deny that this is true, but there are also some really terrible drawbacks to a society where everyone is carrying a gun on them all the times for “self-defense purposes only.” For example!

A sixth-grade student in Utah is in police custody after he was accused of bringing a gun to school Monday, reportedly claiming he wanted to protect himself in the event of a school shooting…. Some witnesses have said they saw the boy brandish the gun on the playground and point it at another child’s head. Other reports said the boy verbally threatened another student with the gun. Police have not yet been able to confirm these accounts, Horsley said, noting that it’s sometimes difficult to sort out the facts when all the witnesses are children.

Obviously, even the most ardent 2nd Amendment zealots aren’t suggesting that sixth graders should be bringing guns to school for self-protection. But they do want pretty much everyone else to carry guns, and sixth graders don’t have a monopoly on poor decision-making while packing heat. In just the past few days, a man fatally shot his roommate during an argument about “how to prepare pork chops,” another man pulled a gun on a furniture deliveryman during a dispute over a delivery fee, and another man stuck a rifle in the face of a woman who mocked the size of his penis.

These are the kinds of things that happen on a near-daily basis in between exceedingly rare acts of heroic massacre preventing.