by Bob LeFrank
I had some business this morning which took me to the legislative office building here in Concord. I was a little early, so I wandered up to the second floor. I saw a few dozen citizens holding up signs that called for protecting the school children. (I made a face at the lone fellow without a sign from me and he knew right away I was on his side of the issue.)
It was clear to me that these “concerned citizens” want school zones to become gun free. Their idea is that somehow another law is going to protect the children magically. The reality of the situation is that the good guys leave their guns at home and the bad guys will bring their guns along on their evil mission to kill as many as they can.
This legislation will do exactly the opposite they intend. Rather than make their children safer, it will only make them sitting ducks.
Making our Schools gun-free zones would be an open invitation to every nut looking for their 15 minutes in the spotlight.
I think the sane solution would be to train the faculty to handle sidearms and let those that want to conceal carry do so. I would certainly put my trust in a teacher to protect my children. Law enforcement may be minutes away, and a lot of death can transpire in just a few minutes. I would suggest that teachers and faculty be trained.
I hope that there might be a reasonable number of teachers who would feel comfortable with carrying, and the numbers would probably grow over time. There may be a certain amount of relief or pride knowing that a shooter situation can be handled in a short time.
A simple sign outside the school that explains the teachers are trained and armed with a smattering of NRA bumper stickers in the parking lot would go a long way towards making the bad guys rethink their position.
That is how you make your children safe.
