Guns won't answer

The Norman Transcript

March 27, 2008 12:23 am

— Americans are shocked and alarmed at each college shooting, but allowing armed students to attend classes is not an appropriate response.
The state House Judiciary and Public Safety Committee approved last week a bill that would allow students to carry firearms on Oklahoma public campuses if they are at least 21 and licensed to carry a concealed weapon. The committee passed the bill overwhelmingly, 14-2, but that doesn't mean the bill is a good idea.
One of two representatives who voted against the bill, Rep. Paul Roan, a former Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper, said the training required to carry a concealed weapon is minimal. He added that in the event of a campus shooting, having several people drawing weapons would create more confusion for law enforcement in responding.
Roan is correct. Even law officers make mistakes sometimes with their weapons, and they receive constant training and practice.
In a concealed weapons course, participants take, at most, eight hours on the safe use, care and cleaning of a weapon, and shoot at a target a few dozen times. That limited course allows them to carry a concealed weapon for five years with no further training. Even instructors are only required to take a 16-hour course.
Being able to carry a gun, no doubt, gives a citizen some peace of mind.
However, any law enforcement officer or most anyone in the military will say target practice differs considerably from shooting at someone shooting back at the same time.
The most recent college shooting at Northern Illinois University sickens every responsible citizen. No one wants to hear about that being repeated, whether it's on a college campus or at a high school, mall, restaurant, post office or place of business. But arming the citizenry will not resolve the problem of violence.
We shouldn't wait for armed citizens to kill the violent after they choose to pick up a gun.We should be attempting to stop violent people before they reach their breaking point,
We won't be effective 100 percent of the time, but our record of late is deplorable and unacceptable.
-- The Muskogee Phoenix