HOW DO WE SAVE LIVES?

Many well-meaning Americans continue to hold the belief that gun-related deaths can be mitigated someday soon by laws reducing available guns. But it’s encouraging that, over time, with the recognition that there are more guns than people in the United States, society seems to be acknowledging some obvious truths.

First, Congress does not have — nor will it have in the foreseeable future — the will to ban the manufacture or sale of guns, including socalled assault weapons. Second, even if such laws were passed, existing guns are plentiful and easily obtainable and will continue to be used for deadly acts of mass violence. What do we do about that?

Across the country, thinking has been shifting inexorably among those charged with protecting some of our most vulnerable targets. Many states now allow teachers to be armed to one degree or another. Last year here in Ohio, Gov. Mike DeWine, a Republican, signed a law making it easier for public school teachers and staff to carry guns after receiving mandated training.

So far, more than 20 Ohio school districts have signed up. River Valley Local School District in Marion County is one of the latest, with Superintendent Adam Wickham explaining, “Our schools will no longer be soft targets and unprotected. Most active-shooter events occur in areas of ‘gun-free zones’ or with minimal safety measures in place. We want to ensure our schools will not be soft targets.”

Soft targets exist wherever people, young or old, gather in large numbers without trained armed security ready to respond to attackers. Such highly publicized security is the best detriment to mass carnage. Indeed, the perpetrator of the recent mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville was discouraged from attacking another location after determining there was “too much security,” according to the city’s police chief.

Gun-control advocates fear inviting guns into schools will only result in more injuries and death. But human nature suggests a dramatic and highly publicized expansion of armed security forces is much more likely to lead to diminishing attacks in the first place. Getting there will be a difficult adjustment for the segment of Americans wedded to the notion that guns are more to blame than the people who pull the trigger. But there comes a time when everyone must accept things as they are, rather than as they wish them to be.

Being precise in how we talk about guns could help persuade more Americans to be less resistant to their increased use as a deterrent. For instance, a recent story in the New York Times about the mass shooting at a birthday party in Alabama

included this misleading line, typical in mainstream media: “Guns are the leading killer of children in the United States, making it an extreme outlier compared with similarly large and wealthy nations.”

Guns, of course, are not the leading killer of children or any other population. People firing guns are the leading killers of children. And the United States is not an outlier, because no other country can be fairly compared in its historic devotion to and protection of individual liberties. By their very nature, our unmatched freedoms — including gun manufacture and ownership — result in more risks, including, sadly, injury and death.

We can debate why more people are committing terrifying acts of violence, and those discussions have merit. But to save lives, more Americans should directly confront the realities of a society that is heavily armed and increasingly dangerous. The growing episodes of mass murders should logically result in a more direct response to the tragedy of bullets flying only in the direction of the innocent and defenseless.

Federal, state and local authorities have occasionally utilized funding to “harden” schools and other public facilities with metal detectors, advanced camera systems, automatic door locks and bulletproof glass. But those precautions don’t terminate a shooting in progress. Attackers are assaulting targets left defenseless because lawabiding people are respecting “gun-free zones.”

Pointing out that the only way to stop bad people firing guns with the intent to kill is to immediately confront them with good people firing guns may play into a cliche. But it also happens to be true — which is why more schools and other soft targets are taking the sensible steps they are. But getting the critical mass that’s needed to follow suit will require reshaping social attitudes about guns reflecting the reality that they are inanimate objects, their purpose determined by the character and intent of the person in whose hands they rest.

We all wish we didn’t live in such a violent and unstable society. But that’s not changing anytime soon. Recognizing that reality, let’s join with those who have left the finger-pointing and recriminations behind in favor of taking effective actions that can save lives. lived with ‘twinkle in his eye,’ dies at 103” (April 21): What a wonderful tribute about a wonderful gentleman.

George Coburn was the first person my wife and I met when we moved into our retirement home a year and a half ago.

He was up to the end just as it was reported: clearheaded, fun-loving and humble. Up to that time, I hadn’t met anyone his age.

Trailing George by a dozen years, I’ve learned what a treasure people who have lived for more than a century are. There are others here who match George’s age who I also admire.

I can only hope that in some small way I too can be an inspiration to those who are younger.