We know we live in a dangerous world -- we're warned about it enough. Almost everywhere you turn people wring their hands saying, life has never been so violent, we have never been so unsafe.
Those who survived the fall of Rome might disagree or those who lived through plagues and wars lasting 100 years.
The world has always been dangerous, and always will be. Even if no one ever picks up a weapon again, there will be tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, landslides, tidal waves and floods to survive, not to mention automobile accidents and falling in the bathtub.
Harsh as it is to say, there is no such thing as being entirely safe.
It's when terrible things happen, like the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, that our vulnerability can't be denied; when the first and most common reaction is the want to curl up at the back of a closet.
As adults, however, it is our responsibility to clear our heads and decide what to do to keep our children safer. We mean really safer.
We do not believe putting armed guards in schools will keep harm from happening for several reasons.
A guard cannot be at every entrance to a school. A single individual can easily be out-maneuvered, out-gunned or out-manned.
There are twisted people whose goal is to "die by cop." Adding armed guards may only excite maniacs to action just for the adrenaline rush.
We are most opposed to armed guards, however, because there are better and more sensible things to do.
Schools are still the safest place for children. In the first place, the odds against an attack are very low; administrators are keenly aware of danger and have created plans to respond to any attack; and teachers have shown time and time again they are willing to die protecting their students.
The object is to keep violence away from children.
Positioning cameras in parking lots and at approaches to school entrances, wired to monitors inside the school, gives those inside an early warning. That, however, certainly isn't all that needs to be done.
If we are to truly make a difference, there are bigger problems that need to be solved, one of the biggest being mental health care.
Tina Dupuy pointed out in her guest column in our Wednesday edition, that the federal Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms Agency is currently underfunded, and making due without a full-time director. This means unscrupulous gun dealers have almost free rein to sell weapons without checking a customer's background, or selling to straw purchasers who move guns along to anyone who wants one.
We need to halt the sale of assault rifles and cartridge clips with enough bullets to kill dozens of people. These weapons and accessories were not designed for hunting or target practice.
The time has come for a serious discussion and legislative action. If we are sincere about protecting our children we have to make sacrifices -- although living without assault weapons can hardly be called a sacrifice.
Friday, February 15, 2013 - www.newssun.com/edt-021713