Don’t Tread on Me – A slogan popular among those asserting a strong commitment to the 2nd Amendment, the right own firearms and to form militias, as a code of living.
The original slogan, from the Gadsden flag, also known as the “Don’t Tread on Me” flag, of the American Revolution, symbolized vigilance and “resistance to perceived tyranny.”
What greater tyranny than a nation of children living in fear of going to school and being shot because of another’s “perceived tyranny”? This is what is known as a positive feedback loop.
1775 Gadson flag
- Since 1999, Columbine High School, there have been 434 school shootings. [Washington Post, Aug. 28,2025]
- More than 397,000 American children have been exposed to a school shooting since 1999 [ibid]; 203 children and educators have been killed.
- Research indicates a higher rate of antidepressant use among those exposed to a school shooting in the years following the gun violence.
- School shootings lead to drops in student enrollment and a decline in average test scores.
- School shootings also lead to an increase in student absenteeism and the likelihood of needing to repeat a grade in the two following years.
- Students exposed to shootings at their schools are less likely to graduate high school, go to college, and graduate college, and they are less likely to be employed and have lower earnings in their mid-20s.
Irony Warrior 
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