Stick Control!! Stick Control!

I just read that in Brooklyn, an 12-year-old boy was "impaled in the head" with a stick by an 11-yr-old boy. The victim is clinging to life in the hospital. This is a blatant indictment of our "stick culture" and raises serious social questions:
1. How was the male child able to get his hands on a stick?
2. Why have we made it so easy to acquire sticks?
3. Was this not a stick-free zone?

Clearly, by restricting access to sticks, we could avoid such ruthless attacks. Had it not been so easy for this troubled pre-teen (surely we'll soon find that this 11-yr-old was "teased" and likely "pushed down" by others in his short life) to get a stick, perhaps he would have "used his words", not only for the "give me your change" part of the attack, but also the last part of the confrontation after the victim refused.

Why didn't the victim simply quickly surrender?

According to Tom Plate, former editor of the editorial pages at the Los Angeles Times, quickly responding to the assailant's requests (surrendering) would have been the thing to do, as he did when mugged at gunpoint recently.

Mr. Plate also points out that in his opinion, the "NRA mantra" of "Guns don't kill people, people kill people" is flat out wrong. He asserts that the people at VATech were, in fact, killed by a 9 mm handgun and a .22 caliber handgun.

So, by Mr. Plate's esteemed logic, the 12-yr-old boy has been attacked by a STICK. Not a crazy 11-year-old. People don't impale people in the head, sticks impale people in the head.

I say then it is high time we get sticks off of our streets. Perhaps law enforcement may be permitted to carry sticks. If Teddy Roosevelt were still alive, he might be afforded a stick, although probably not a big one, as those are scary and can only be meant for one thing: Impaling someone in the head.

No one needs to have a stick. We certainly don't need to allow for people to keep a stick on them in a public place. It's also time to go after the stick manufacturers. This would include the Louisville Slugger people, and, well... trees. If we could remove those menaces to society, we need never read such a tragic tale again.

Oh, and Mr. Plate... I'll humor you for a moment and remove all blame from the psycopath who loaded, pointed, and pulled the trigger... and place the blame on the hardware. However, even in your idiotic assertion, you should be condemning the BULLETS, which actually entered the bodies of the victims, causing the wounds that in 33 cases lead to death. Even in your twisted logic, Guns don't kill people, bullets kill people. If you're going to misplace your anger, at least misplace it properly.