Texas NRA Guy: Spank The Hell Out Of Kids So I Don't Have To Shoot Them Later

A guy in Texas says if you don't do this to kids now,
you might end having to shoot them later.  

I'm sure he didn't mean it this way, but a guy named Charles Cotton in Texas has found another use for guns: Shoot kids.

That's too harsh, but if you go to the logical conclusion of his recent statements, then that's kind of what you get.

Here's the deal: It's still legal for teachers in Texas public schools to spank and paddle kids who they believe are misbehaving.  It's one of 19 states that still allow corporal punishment in schools.

A lot of child behavior experts say corporal punishment doesn't really work to get kids to behave. But tradition being tradition, a lot of people believe differently.

There is a lawmaker in Texas, Democrat Alma Allen, who wants to make corporal punishment in public schools illegal in Texas, and to have teachers and school administrators use less physical, and frankly less weird forms of discipline.

Cotton hates, HATES Allen's idea. As an aside, he's a board member of the National Rifle Association.

Here's what he had to say about Allen and her no spanking bill, says Talking Points Memo. His views appeared on a Texas firearms information and advocacy forum.

"I'm sick of this woman and her 'don't touch my kid regardles of what he/she did or will do again' attitude," he wrote 'Perhaps a good paddling in school may keep me from having to put a bullet in him later."

OK, if I have this correct, if you don't spank a kid, he'll keep misbehaving and then the only way to stop the behavior is to kill the kid, like you would a rabid raccoon raising havoc in your neighborhood?

I guess his point is that kids that don't get spanked grow up to be criminals. But you're supposed to summarily execute, say, a robber on the street? We're no longer supposed to arrest criminals, try them and throw them in jail? Just shoot 'em?

Well, it's clear Cotton likes his guns. Which is cool, as long as he doesn't execute random people on the streets who might have commited crimes. There are plenty of fine shooting ranges in Texas he could enjoy, I'm sure.

Boy, is Cotton a Texan! Just check out this gem from his bio on NRAPublications.org.

"At the age of 4, Cotton took aim with his uncle's Remington .22 LR rifle for the very first time. His target was an old motor oil can on a fence post. When he squeezed the trigger and saw the can split open, his love of shooting was affirmed."

Well, I can understand that. When I was a teenager, I went with a friend to the town dump, when it was closed with no people around, and had some fun shooting discarded televisions.

Yeah, shooting oil cans and TVs is weird, but whatever.

So, we'll let Cotton enjoy his guns. Let's not put him in charge of child discipline, though.