Gun-free zones such as schools and churches are easy targets for killers. We should be allowing qualified and willing teachers to arm themselves. We need more armed citizens on the streets of every town and city in America. Armed citizens have stopped mass shooters. They don’t get much coverage by the mainstream press. If the freedom-surrendering socialists have it their way and ban and confiscate all firearms, it will get worse. I am a former police officer. I have some experience with criminals and mentally ill persons. We can’t fight a bomb. We can fight shooters.
In 1927 a school in Bath, Michigan was rigged with explosives in a brutal act that stunned the town when a madman bombed a school. This was America’s deadliest school massacre: 44 people died, 38 of them students.
During the annual Boston Marathon on April 15, 2013, two homemade pressure-cooker bombs detonated 12 seconds and 210 yards (190m) apart at 2:49 p.m., near the finish line of the race, killing three people and injuring several hundred others, including 16 who lost limbs. We can’t fight a bomb. I would far rather take my chances with a concealed handgun against a psycho shooter than being in fear of a bomb blowing up a restaurant, movie theater or concert.
A man wielding a knife killed nine children and injured 10 others outside a middle school in central China on Friday, April 27, 2018.
On Friday, July 19, 2019, a deranged person killed 33 people and injured 36 people, some critically by dousing with gasoline the inside of an animation studio in Kyoto, Japan.
These horrific crimes did not need a gun to perpetrate their evil designs.
How many precious souls could have been saved if a few armed citizens had been at the awful scenes in El Paso and Dayton. Resulting from mass shootings and bombings, the surviving victims often suffer permanent disfigurement and crippling disabilities for the rest of their lives, both mental and physical.
Of course, many want something done right now to stop the madness of mass shootings. Further restricting the availability of guns only allows lawmakers to tell their constituents that they have sponsored legislation to get tough on crime.
In summary, eliminate gun-free zones, arm teachers and encourage more concealed carry so ordinary citizens can protect themselves and others from this terrible scourge.
Gordon Paddock
La Center
