State Rep. Liz Pike, R-Camas, introduced a bill to allow teachers to carry loaded guns in schools. That doesn’t go far enough. For one thing it’s not mandatory. Suppose a teacher doesn’t acquire a gun? That teacher will be no help facing down an intruder carrying an AR-15 and wearing body armor. A teacher with a small-caliber five-shot revolver won’t help much more. Teachers with guns will be too few and ill-equipped. With too few teachers, too few guns and too little ammunition, what is the answer?
The answer is staring us right in the face … the kids. Arm the kids. They outnumber the teachers at least 20 to 1 (even more I’m told). From the earliest grade every youngster should be required to carry a loaded weapon to school each day. A madman would be a fool to face that many kids packing heat. We should replace P.E. with marksmanship and tactical training. As they advance kids could move from BB guns to air rifles to .22s, then on to larger-caliber ammunition. Grade school shooting teams would be fun for the kids and they’d be ready to face the “bad guy with a gun.”
What could possibly go wrong?
Kenneth Campbell
Vancouver
