by JACK LINDEN
I wonder if Wayne LaPierre of the National Rifle Association ever reads the newspapers, watches any television, or listens to the radio. I guess he must not listen closely, or else he is so blinded by weapons manufacturers that he cannot understand that guns don’t always stop bad guys.
LaPierre says there should be trained school officers in schools. Really? La Pierre is not comprehending what has recently happened in our nation in the last couple of week. Good guys with guns were not able to stop some of the violence, used some bad judgment in using the weapons, or actually used the weapons to do harm.
The most glaring example of good guys being killed by a weapon happened right here in Texas. A veteran known for being an accurate sniper in the military was killed at a firing range – by another veteran. Does that sound like we should have veterans in schools armed with weapons?
The airwaves last week were filled with a police standoff in California. A former police officer, who had been fired by the Los Angeles police years ago, went on a shooting spree, having written a manifesto. He killed civilians and police officers and wounded many others. According to news reports, hundreds of rounds of ammunition had been used before the fugitive took his own life after setting on fire the building he was in.
Leading up to that confrontation, there was a manhunt. Again, we saw trained police personnel firing their weapons at the wrong people. Two vehicles that the police thought contained the fugitive were fired upon, wounding one person. Trained personnel making a judgment that proved to be wrong. It happens.
The last example happened in a Delaware court house. The assailant barged in, opened fire and two people before being killed by the police officers on duty. The police stopped further bloodshed, but not before the gunman shot two people.
My examples are not indictments of police officers or military personnel, nor am I saying that everyone in those professions would do the same. I am pointing out that it is ludicrous to think having an armed person in every school is the answer to mass killing. All of these people were trained and have experience. But having all of that did not keep two former military personnel who were armed and two policemen who were armed from dying. Having experience did not keep police officers firing at the wrong people. So, do we really want a teacher in the classroom who has taken only a course in weapon safety to actually carry a weapon into the classroom? When military and police experts have problems, can we really say a teacher can do as well?
There must be better ways to stop all the incidents. The more we do to reduce violence, the more humane we are. I believe in Second Amendment rights. But even the Supreme Court has ruled that there can be limitations. All rights have limitations.
Everyone having total and complete freedom means having no freedom at all. That is especially true when it comes to gun ownership.
Mr. LaPierre needs to learn that.
