Arming teachers is not the answer
Re Trump tells grieving students U.S. needs more guns in schools, Feb. 22 If my memory serves me correctly, the National Rifle Association used to be an organization of hunters and target shooters. Hunting used to be an honourable sport and target shooting is still an excellent sport.
Instead of promoting gun safety, the NRA now appears to be taken over by greed and is promoting weapons of war, not tools of hunting and target shooting.
These mass shootings would not be happening if the perpetrators were using a Winchester Lever-action .30-30, a Remington Bolt Action .30-06 or a .308-calibre hunting rifle.
There is absolutely no need for magazines that hold more than five rounds of ammunition. The NRA is copping out to defend AR-15s and 15- to 30-round magazines as instruments of anything but war.
The current members of that organization should take a real good look at themselves in the mirror. They are the ones responsible for the terrible carnage visited upon innocents in schools, rock concerts and theatres. George M. McCaig, Burlington I have a suggestion for the young people concerned that their elected officials refuse to support effective gun control measures. They should crowd source a fund to hire a team of lawyers and private investigators to look into the backgrounds and business activities of those elected officials who are more interested in the continued support of the National Rifle Association than protecting the lives of their fellow citizens. These officials may then develop the backbone to do the right thing. Scott Heaslip, Stouffville The survivors of the Florida school shooting must be commended for mobilizing a nationwide “Never Again” movement that has the potential to turn the tide in favour of tighter gun controls.
This latest massacre of innocent students and staff members is yet another example of U.S. lawmakers remaining unsympathetic and astoundingly deaf to cries across America for stricter bans on assault weapons.
But marches alone will never solve the plague of mass shootings. Consistent pressure must be applied to every sector of law enforcement, along with the National Rifle Association, to not issue assault weapons to anyone with a history of mental illness. Kris Sahay, Winnipeg It is a very sad day when children are the only adults in the room demanding gun control. The children find themselves in this leadership role because the members of the Republican Party, including the president, have made a covenant with death and the NRA. Keith Parkinson, Cambridge Attackers tend to use assault rifles when they shoot up schools. Is a teacher, likely equipped with only a hand gun, expected to take on someone with a battlefield weapon? James Knott, Mississauga The latest suggestion from U.S. President Donald Trump is a horrific one: gun-toting teachers. Even if they were welltrained and able to carry concealed weapons, we would see “To Sir, with Love” becoming “Do you feel lucky, punk?”
The role of teachers is broad but it should be positive in all respects. Yes, teachers do stand in front of gunmen to protect students and, in the latest shooting, teachers saved many students by sacrificing their own lives. But it should never happen in a civilized world. Dennis Fitzgerald, Melbourne, Australia Re Teachers find themselves in the line of fire, Feb 21 Let’s not make the fatal mistake of seeing this as an exclusively American story. Teachers were in the line of fire at L’Ecole Polytechnique, the tragedy that eventually brought us the
“Yes, by all means, share your knee-jerk reaction to sue the NRA. But understand that it does more to promote the safe use of firearms than all of the groups who cloak their confiscation agenda under the veil of gun safety.” ANDREW SPENCER PARIS, ONT.
excellent gun control that former prime minister Stephen Harper and his cabinet ministers Vic Toews and Steven Blaney dismantled over nine years.
Teachers were also in the line of fire at school shootings in Taber, Alta., La Loche, Dawson College and Concordia, when an aggrieved professor murdered three of his colleagues.
Canadian teachers: do the math. There are, according to a recent CBC report, about 1 million restricted and prohibited firearms already here in Canada, in the hands of unvetted owners. We are coasting on dumb luck and it won’t last forever.
When you organize students to march in solidarity with the students of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, include calls for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Public Safety Minister Ralph Goodale to breathe new life into the gun-control file and prevent the next mass shooting at a school, mall or place of worship near you. Ron Charach, Toronto Re Gun lobby must take responsibility for shoot
ings, Letters, Feb. 20 When tragedy occurs, it is easy to strike out at convenient targets. Hence the bigotry towards Sikhs after the Air India bombing, Muslims after 9/11 and this letter writer’s suggestion that the “gun lobby” should be sued over of the actions of an individual. I am an NRA member. There are more than 5 million of us. The membership includes all ages, races, genders, professions and political leanings. You may ask why a Canadian would be part of a U.S. firearms organization. I belong because the constitutionally enshrined rights and freedoms enjoyed by Americans are under constant attack from people such as the author of this letter, and infringements in the U.S. will eventually affect Canadians.
If anti-gun Americans succeed in banning the AR-15, for example, Canadians will no longer have access to what is arguably the most popular sporting rifle in the world, used for hunting and target practice. It is not, by any definition, an assault rifle.
It’s true, the NRA funds in part the Junior Reserve Officer Training program at many U.S. high schools. So does the U.S. military. Let’s look at what else the NRA does: It instructs police forces. The NRA’s Law Enforcement Division trains police and military instructors, at the agency and academy levels. These instructors are responsible for ensuring that the people sworn to protect Americans are proficient with their duty firearms.
It teaches children gun safety. The NRA’s Eddie the Eagle gun-safety program has taught more than 29 million children what to do if they find a gun.
The NRA hosts thousands of competitive shooting programs annually. These competitions have never had an injury or fatality, which is odd, considering all those firearms in one place.
It is a civil-rights group. It reminds politicians, who already swear an oath to uphold the Constitution, about the 2nd Amendment.
So yes, by all means, share your knee-jerk reaction to sue the NRA. But understand that it does more to promote the safe use of firearms than all of the groups who cloak their confiscation agenda under the veil of gun safety. Andrew Spencer, Paris, Ont. I take strong exception to the mischaracterization of people who engage in the shooting sports and who responsibly own guns.
First of all, the letter writer criticizes the National Rifle Association and the school for having an air rifle team. The school is labelled as “hypocritical” for “reinforcing the normalization of the gun culture” while offering sympathy to the shooting victims and their families. That statement is like saying drivers’ education in schools “normalizes the car culture.”
We can be pretty sure that drivers’ ed saves lives. And I know that teaching firearms and marksmanship also saves lives. I have been to other countries four times to train their soldiers for UN peacekeeping duties. One of the things we train them in is marksmanship. Why? Because in keeping the peace, you sometimes have to shoot people who are threatening innocent civilians.
People who enjoy the shooting sports, go hunting or collect guns are not part of some evil “gun culture.” They are your neighbours. They are Olympians who compete in the biathlon and in skeet, trap, rifle and pistol competitions.
Suing the NRA and gun companies for the misuse of guns? That’s about as logical as suing the Canadian Automobile Association every time some negligent driver causes an accident or a criminal uses a car as a getaway vehicle. The same goes for the car manufacturers.
The NRA, like Canada’s own National Firearms Association, is a grass-roots organization dedicated to gun safety, marksmanship training and sane laws that reduce the usage of guns in crime while not penalizing law-abiding citizens. James Reese, Toronto