It's that I haven't seen much in the way of viable alternatives. I just don't think the FBI or INS are up to the task. Nor will any to-be constituent components of Homeland Security immediately after the coming reorg. Maybe after massive reforms, drastic personnel change, and a few years to get up to speed. But in the meantime, what? The local police? Too, um, local. (And in some places, corrupt and unprofessional.) We need to coordinate information on a national scale, at the very least. Global would be better.

How about the National Guard? No, forget I said that.

Armed Pinkerton operatives? Um, no.

I know the sort of people who go into the Army. By most measures, they're not the brightest bulbs in the marqee. But most of them have a basic notion of right and wrong. That's better than can be said for a lot of people. Especially in the public sector.

The one good thing about a drunk with a gun is his aim is lousy. So long as your aim is better than a drunk's and you're halfway alert, no problem. Now a line of drunken soldiers firing a volley... I doubt they'd be able to pull that off. At least not by classical Euclidean notions of planar geometry. Oh, and look for shelter for when their bullets come back down.

Vigilantes? Private militia? Also too local. Tending to parochial. Sometimes wqith a distressing lack of respect for civilians. And there are those lingering questions about John Doe #2. Now private citizens with guns work out okay in Israel, as a supplemental measure. They do plug terrorists on occasion. But they have a lot more experience with this sort of thing.

Give me my Second Amendment rights and I'll trust the government with all the rest... if they know what's good for `em.

Or maybe Gomer Pyle's dark side.