Last night I attempted the impossible. I set about trying to carry on a rational discussion regarding the horrific events in Uvalde, Texas. I now have one less Facebook friend -- oh, the ignominy of being unfriended by a raving liberal -- and a newfound respect for Dale Carnegie, who, unlike myself, was able to win friends and influence people.

Realizing that the progressive left would use this tragic episode as one more opportunity to rant about gun control, I decided to pre-empt them. I offered a Facebook post picturing a gun and ammunition and stating emphatically that the only way to stop school shootings is to have at least one armed guard in every school in the country.

As the late football announcer, Keith Jackson, often said, ‘whoa, Nellie.’ I got my share of “likes” from folks I knew agreed with this no-nonsense solution. But then the fun began.

This post came from the wife of an old high school acquaintance whom I have never actually met, but someone with whom I’ve had several spirited and intelligent online conversations: “You are dead wrong! Please unfriend me, can’t stand folks who claim to be pro-life and don’t give a rat’s ass about living children.”

Huh? My puzzled response was, “How does suggesting armed guards to protect children become not giving a rat’s ass about living children? If you want me to unfriend you, I will, but I’ll miss debating one of the very few people on the other side of the political spectrum worth having a discussion with.”

She came back with, “sure… let’s have gunbattles at the schools, that should solve it! I am livid with republicans who can’t see that their love affair with guns is more important than my grandchildren. That, my friend, is not giving a rat’s ass. You may have the last word, but I will not be reading it.”

I’d like to think that I’m not so stupid as to be unable to see the complexity of the Second Amendment arguments, both pro, and anti-gun. I am intelligent enough, however, to realize that a country possessing something in excess of 425 million firearms will not be able to pass any form of legislation that would impose a workable solution for this terrible epidemic of school shootings.

I made the statement then, and I repeat it now; if you have a better solution to protect schoolchildren than armed guards, I would welcome it. Conversely, complaining about a problem, no matter how serious that problem may be, without offering a solution, is simply whining.

Being down a friend, I am comforted this morning by a post from a better, and remaining friend. Janet, who wrote: “(that same person) unfriended me years ago because she didn’t agree with my beliefs. Why are their beliefs always right and ours are not?”

Why indeed? 

Image: Facebook