GUNS: Signs of the times

I read with interest Dr. May’s guest opinion from April 13, and why he feels we should not want school faculty to carry concealed weapons for the protection of children.

In his defense he makes the statement, “It’s simply NOT true that Israeli teachers are all armed.”

Some time back, terrorists were after soft targets in Israel and what could be a safer target than a school bus full of young children? After a few of these raids, it was announced that there WOULD BE armed teachers riding with the children. Because of that, the raids shifted from school buses to using cars on people walking sidewalks. The question is how many armed school teachers, if any, were on the buses?

If someone buys a security system for their home, a sign is placed out front stating, “This house is protected by XYZ Company.” Is it the security system or the sign that makes a criminal think twice about breaking in?

Same question, a new homeowner buys the house, has the system removed but keeps the sign. Does the sign still have the same effect on a perpetrator?

My suggestion is to remove the signs outside schools that state, “This is a gun free zone. If you come in shooting, no one will be shooting back.” Instead, put up one that reads, “Our faculty are trained and armed.”

If any of the faculty volunteer to be armed, we should keep in mind that we are talking about a concealed weapon, one that doesn’t show nor telegraph who has one on them. And yes, any volunteer should take the same ongoing training as our police.

DALE HEDMAN

Hayden