RE “Students to be trained to counter shooters” (Page A1, Nov. 9): I was disheartened beyond words to read about a program that offers would-be victims of school shootings alternatives to the traditional lock-down reaction to such crimes. On Page A2 of the same edition, a half-page article, “Loughner gets life for Arizona rampage,” detailed the sentencing and victim statements in the 2011 Tucson shooting that left six dead and stole the career and future of US Representative Gabrielle Giffords and her husband, Mark Kelly, among many others.
At no point in either article did the words “gun” and “control” appear together. Neither article quoted gun-control advocates.
Comments
Paul, you are completely wrong here.
So called 'gun control' laws, by definition, can only have an effect on the law-abiding, something a school shooter is obviously not.
While the ALICE program sounds reasonable, and is probably the best you can do while unarmed, the real answer lie elsewhere.
Isreal, like the US, used to keep it's schools 'gun free'. As a result, there were shootings in schools on a regular basis.
After all, if you are a psychotic or a terrorist looking to inflict the maximum amount of damage, you pick a defenseless target. You never hear about mass shootings at police staions, right?
Isreal realized that their 'no guns' policy was makeing their schools far mor dangerous, rather than safer. SO being intellegent folks, they changed course.
Any school staff who had a valid concealed cary permit was given a short referher course, and then asked (or in some roles required) to carry their firearm while at their school.
The number of school shootings dropped almost to zero.
The lesson here is that we don't need to try and control firearms, we need to be in a position to defend ourselves and others against threats like criminals, psychotics and terrorists.
So called 'gun free' zones are typical of the gun control industry mindset, thinking that somehow passing a law will magically keep bad people from doing bad things.
Sorry, but you don't pass a law to prevent crime, you do it to punish those who break it (which is the only deterrent effect a law can have).
Look at all the mass shootings over the last 20 years. Something the media and the gun control lobby won't mention is that 99.9% were in 'gun free zones'.
If you want to make schools (and theaters, and other 'gun free zones') safe from these types of attacks, there's only one real answer.
We need to get rid of the fatally flawed and dangerous 'gun free zones' laws, and allow legal carry permit holders to have their firearms with them while working.
Legal concealed carry has reduced street crime to it's lowest levels in decades, and elimitation of these false 'gun free' zones would extend those benefits to where they are needed the most.
Another advocate for gun control for legal posessers....when you disarm the public and arm the government you have the same problems that occured in 1930's in Germany.Educated gun users are not the problem. Lack of moral fiber and Christian philosophy certainly is a contributer to illegal usage of fire arms as all referance to God and country has been obliterated from schools adgendas.
Excellent letter. Well argued and cogent.