Guest Post: What Should I Have Done

Dear President Obama, Senator Feinstein, Mayor Bloomberg, Vice President Biden, Milwaukee Police Chief Flynn, et. al.,

I write because of your many outspoken statements regarding violence in our society.

Perhaps in your greater wisdom, you can resolve some moral dilemmas I have wrestled with for many years.

More than a decade ago, my elder brother was pursuing his avocation of nature photography in a Milwaukee County park when he was stabbed in the back by a young man who declared at trial that he wanted to be "the next Jeffrey Dahmer." Happily, the young man's knowledge of anatomy was poor and he did my brother no lasting harm. But I remain vexed. How did being in a "weapons free zone" protect my brother?

Just a few years ago, I was visiting friends for the 4th of July when a domestic dispute broke out across the street between a young man and woman, both in their mid-twenties. When he knocked her to the ground, my friend stepped inside to call the police. When he returned, the dispute had escalated and the young man was pursuing the woman, armed with a metal pipe. My friend reported that the police had responded: "We're busy; can you handle it?"

What should I have done?

Tom Hall

(Tom is a friend, but not a direct Hall relation. ~Bob)