War Zones in our Schools

Tuesday, March 22, 2005

It was the worst school shooting since Columbine, and instead of focusing on how to realistically stop the carnage in our public schools, pundits and interest groups have already resorted to rhetoric.

In a new press release, the Brady Campaign blames Congress for not having renewed the Assault Weapons Ban, and for not requiring that records be kept of gun sales.

"When will our leaders have enough?" asked Sarah Brady, Chair of the Brady Campaign. "When will the government do something to help stop the bloodshed? Red Lake sends all of America's mothers and fathers a message about how vulnerable all of our children are."

Yes, Congress should do something, but the Brady Campaign won't accept anything that isn't more gun control. Gun control. Gun control. Gun control.

We could renew the Assault Weapons Ban, sure, but the attacker used an ordinary shotgun and two handguns, not "scary looking" machine guns, weapons "more dangerous than our Founding Fathers could have imagined" or guns routinely targeted by pro-control fanatics.

We already restrict the sale of weapons to minors under the age of 18 (21 for handguns in most states) so I guess we could raise the age, but the gunman, like the Columbine shooters before him, was 17 and couldn't have purchased the guns at "reckless" gun shops or "loop-holed" gun shows even if he wanted to.

So how, with all of these wonderful gun control restrictions put in place, could this tragedy have happened? What can do we do to stop it?

I have an idea, and it will surely upset the pro-control crowd, but it's more practical than the next useless gun ban or sale restriction: State laws should allow teachers to be armed at all times while on school grounds. That's right, Mrs. Appleseed teaching 10th grade Algebra should pack heat.

As of now teachers and students can only hope from under their desks that the next door to open isn't to the room they're in. They can only pray that the next vitim is in the classroom next door. Unless teachers are armed, gunmen can kill as many people in a single classroom as they want until they run out of ammo.

Schools are war zones and nobody is safe except for the gunmen who chose to exploit such easy opportunities. If you honestly believe the one SRO officer is keeping your children safe then you are living in a faily tale.

May God bless the victims and families of the nine people slain by yesterday's attacker. May He do the same for tomorrow's victims.