Arming teachers is a ridiculous idea
President Trump believes that arming teachers will help to reduce gun violence in our nation’s schools? Well, if this National Rifle Association backed political neophyte is willing to give up his armed bodyguards and carry his own concealed weapon to defend himself, then this educator is willing to consider his outlandish proposal to defend herself and her young students.
Or we can both do the jobs for which we were hired — which does not include being a sharpshooter — and leave our protection to those who are trained experts, like the police and security/military personnel. Phyllis Ramirez, San Francisco
State of country
The real question isn’t whether every school should have armed guards or whether teachers should carry weapons. The real question is, what has happened to America that such proposals have to be considered? Richard Sanborn, Bayside
Firearm training
In response to “Arm teachers instead” (Letters, Feb. 17) with the “common sense” idea of arming teachers rather than regulating guns, I have a few questions. How much time would teachers be spending in sharpshooter training?
And who would be paying for that? Where would these “secret” teachers keep the guns for easy access, and how would they keep kids from stealing them? What if a teacher gets sick and can’t make it to school; do we have “gun subs”? And what if a teacher accidentally kills a student in the attempt to nail a shooter?
Francesca Preston, Petaluma
Sore loser
Regarding “Shaky money” (Editorial, Feb. 22): Is it any surprise that this 45th president doesn’t want to provide federal funding for an earthquake warning system here in California? President Trump lost this state to Hillary Clinton by more than 3 million votes in the 2016 presidential election. He’d be deliriously happy to see California fall off the geographic and political maps of the United States.
Bennie Oosterhaus, San Francisco
Sensitive tests
I’m all for suspending the drivers’ license of anyone, not just a minor, who’s caught driving under the influence of marijuana, but first we need a test sensitive enough to determine whether they had ingested marijuana an hour earlier or two days earlier, when they would no longer be impaired. Matte Gray, San Francisco
Campaign donors
When asked (at a CNNsponsored town hall meeting) by a Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student who survived last week’s mass shooting if he would continue to accept campaign donations from the National Rifle Association, Florida Sen. Marco Rubio stated “People buy into my agenda, and I do support the Second Amendment.” Rubio, who has accepted more than $3 million of NRA money during his political career, has made his position clear: Money matters more than human lives. His loyalty, like President Trump’s and so many other political leaders, is to his campaign donors, not to the people of this country.
Julian Grant, Pacifica
Create visual wall
As I watch the student protests concerning the latest school gun violence in Parkland, I wonder what else can be done besides once again discussing the same arguments for more gun control laws versus the protection of gun rights, along with blaming the mental health of the shooter. Rather than the usual do nothing and it will go away, arming of school staff, or implementing more restrictive gun laws, each with its own issues and limitations, can we use modern technology to help solve the problem?
Facial recognition is everywhere on social media and photo album apps. One possible solution is to leverage this technology to create a visual wall around a school that identifies everyone entering the school grounds as a student, staff or unknown. A staff member can then intercept the unknown person. The visual wall solution will ultimately be more complicated and there may be better solutions. The government should sponsor a public competition to encourage development of a safe school solution similar to the way the X Prize foundation encourages technological development. It can also help fund the acquisition and installation of the winning solution. Karl Bizjak, Orinda
Morally deficient
It seems that the political “phrase du jour” is “witch hunt.” President Trump has used this phrase to describe the continuing investigation of Russian collusion in his presidential campaign, and now Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is using the same words to dismiss possible corruption charges against him.
Perhaps these two morally deficient leaders should team up in a show called “Donny and Bibi’s Witch Hunt Follies.” They can perform their act while wearing matching orange jumpsuits.
Jeremy Davidoff, San Rafael
Freedom to profit
I hope our young people can sustain their passion and insist on effective gun control. This includes reinstating a ban on assault weapons. It will be a long battle.
Meanwhile, I hope the media will give extensive coverage to the costs of the carnage: medical care, loss of breadwinners, funerals, active shooter drills, extra staff in schools and elsewhere, etc. Most of these costs are borne by taxpayers. Time to tax the weapons industry for their freedom to profit.
Joan Zweben, Berkeley
Focused on money
Regarding “Gun-control push may achieve little” (Feb. 22): To slightly rephrase an old quote by Upton Sinclair, it is difficult to get a politician to understand something when his campaign contributions depend upon his not understanding it.
Brian Klein, San Francisco