It seems that no matter what violent tragedy occurs in our country, many anti-gun control advocates see it as another reason to arm more and more citizens. Kevin O'Brien's most recent editorial ("To make schools safer, arm trained and trusted employees," Dec. 18) is an example of this misguided thinking. His logic seems to be that since having an armed policeman isn't effective enough, arm a teacher. Since that teacher would then become a target, arm more teachers. However, they would then also become potential targets. To take his argument to the logical extreme, why not arm the students? After all, many 14-year-olds, especially in rural areas, have already been introduced to guns by their parents, so why not have them armed as well?
The argument that these people with guns are the "good guys", makes little sense. Have we forgotten George Zimmerman, who was a member of his community's block watch? Who determines who the "good guys" are? Some Ohio lawmakers now actually want to allow citizens to carry concealed weapons without any background checks or training at all. Where will this all end? Will we become like the Wild Wild West, where everyone carried a gun and settled their differences with a shootout?
It seems like people like O'Brien think that this would be a pretty good idea. I shudder at the thought.