Letter to the Editor: Guns are tools
BY Michael Galazin, Broken Arrow
Thursday, December 27, 2012
12/27/12 at 3:01 AM
Firearms are tools, neither evil nor good. Like any implement, they can be used or misused.
In the Oregon mall incident, a shooter misused a gun only until he saw a citizen pointing a gun back at him. The shooter immediately stopped harming others and executed himself.
Monsters target places such as malls and schools because these are "safe" targets, where no one is likely to shoot back. If principals and teachers were known to carry protective firearms and possess extra training in their use, our children would be safe from such attacks. Let's change the law to allow this.
As a side benefit, children would learn that firearms are not evil things but are implements handled and used only by responsible adults.
We teach kids not to touch the hot flame of a gas burner; we do not ban gas stoves or gas itself.
Automobiles, likewise, are tools. One man misused a Ryder truck to kill 168 individuals in Oklahoma City. We do not ban trucks or limit their cargo capacity. We recognize that the fault lies with the person misusing the implement.
Public shootings are horrible tragedies. Let us put the blame where it belongs: not upon the implements, but upon the monsters.
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