The Friday Rant: Gun Control

Okay, moderate Republican woman (and daughter of a cop, who was regularly shot at, so I hate bad guys having guns) here with my opinion:

— You can’t get rid of guns. Only having the bad guys armed is bad.

— You can’t keep crazy people from shooting people if they really want to.

— Having your average teacher armed isn’t going to help; most of us civilians would have trouble pulling that trigger, especially against a troubled teenager. Could you? And going to the gun range isn’t a teaching requirement. They’d probably shoot themselves.

— If a crazy person gets a gun, he will kill fewer people and take more time to do it if he doesn’t have a huge bullet drum or a semi-automatic weapon.

— No one wants bad people to have a gun. The only way you know if someone is bad is to check their background.

— The world is full of wanna-be’s, and unfortunately, crazy people who wanna be cool right now attack schools. Not malls, where they have guards. Not stadiums, where they have guards. Not airports, where they have guards. Schools, where they don’t have guards. What do you expect from a bunch of crazy cowards?

— If someone wants to get in a school, they will. They’ll break a window. They’ll buzz their way in and then shoot the secretary and the principal and have free rein on the kids.

— Cops and retired military keep cool heads in bad situations. They’re trained in those situations, and they know how to shoot straight.

So I’m thinking we have rigorous background tests, even at gun shows, we outlaw new sales of the big drums and the semi-automatic weapons, and we put cops and retired soldiers in schools. (My school district’s middle schools and high schools already have active-duty cops.) If something is happening, a cop on the premises will better control the situation and get the shooter shut down quicker. And cowards might not attack schools so readily if they know someone there can actually fight back.

I understand that you can have lots of spare magazines for your non-automatic pistol in your pocket, and it’s quick to change out the magazine, but if you have a few seconds between changing magazines, maybe one more kid will find a hiding place. And if one more kid survives, it’s worth it to me.

Doesn’t this seem like common sense?