We must harden the targets

Every time we have a mass shooting event in this country, the conversation goes something like this: “Let’s control guns.” “No, we can’t control guns.” End of discussion. Stalemate. See you next time.

In contrast, we had a single event in 2001 that involved using an aircraft as a weapon. Within months, every airport in the country was transformed to a high-security zone. Intensified preboarding inspections, limited carryons, watch lists, identity checks, random searches, random detentions. Although the vast majority of effort goes into preventing new half-baked terror plots, the airports have been “safe zones” for almost 17 years.

I hate the following solution, but if we have to live in a gun culture (fed by constant reinforcement from movies and television, that the way you solve any problem, the way you get your revenge, the way you make it right, the way you earn respect, the way you make them listen, the way to make them take you seriously is to pull out a gun and start shooting) then we need to make the schools and stadiums and shopping areas as safe as we have made the airports — fences, security patrols, metal detectors, locker and backpack inspections, cell phone dead zones, drones, FBI communication channels, etc.

I hate this idea, but maybe that’s where we need to go to keep all our children safe.

Brianna Savage

Mequon